Arteta speaking at a press conference

Arteta reveals if Arsenal trains with ten men to prepare for red cards

Arsenal has now received more red cards this season than any other team in the Premier League, a worrying statistic for a side that is in the midst of a title chase. However, many of the decisions have been controversial, with the red card shown to Myles Lewis-Skelly against Wolves being a prime example. While it’s difficult to justify some of the dismissals, Arsenal has largely responded well to the setbacks and demonstrated resilience in their performances.

Michael Oliver
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

The frequent sending-offs have led fans to wonder whether the team prepares for such situations in training. After the match, a reporter asked Mikel Arteta if he trains his team to play with ten men, in light of the number of red cards Arsenal has received this season. Arteta responded via Arsenal Media, acknowledging the situation while explaining the limitations on training time: “How often? In the time context of game scenarios and when we have overloads, underloads. But we don’t have time to train so. The time that we have to train I expect, at least, most of the time that we are playing with 11. Unfortunately, this season has happened too many times.”

While the question of whether Arsenal prepares for playing with a man down is understandable given the number of red cards they have received, Arteta’s comments underline the reality of their limited training time. Ideally, they would focus on playing with a full squad, but the repeated dismissals this season have made it a valid concern. Going forward, the Gunners will need to improve their discipline on the pitch and avoid situations that could leave them a player short, especially in crucial matches.


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72 Comments

  1. “Going forward, the Gunners will need to improve their discipline on the pitch”
    I sometimes wonder what this phrase means. I assume it means controlling aggression or not cheating and trying to get away with things? Another cause of red cards is playing poorly and putting ourselves into too many positions where we’re making hail Mary tackles or something.
    We’ve had four red cards this season, and for me, two of them were harsh beyond belief (trossard and MLS). The other two were fair enough (saliba and rice – though reasonable concerns about referee consistency have been raised with the latter). If we have had two “legitimate” (reasonable might be a better word) red cards this season, well it could be better of course, but it’s not a discipline crisis imo.

    1. How about the Monoco game where Martinelli clearly should have got a second yellow card but didn’t ?
      Or do we casually pretend that didn’t happen ?

      1. It didn’t happen.
        I disagree that Martinelli should have got a second yellow. It is possible that in a different game he could have got another yellow especially given the way some of our games have been officiated. That does not mean that it would have been the appropriate decision.

        1. It doesn’t matter if you agree
          If there was a conspiracy he would say ‘ yes a chance to send off an Arsenal player ‘

      2. I’m not one of those who pretends we never do anything wrong (as shown in my comment where I clearly said I thought we deserved 2 of the red cards we have received!). Honestly I don’t know the incident you’re talking about as I didn’t watch it, and would probably agree with you if I did. Is your point that we do have a problem with discipline because of that? If that’s the case, maybe you’re right – from what I’ve seen this season, I wouldn’t say we have a discipline problem, but that may depend on how you define “discipline”. Rice and saliba did show a lack of impulse control in the 2 legitimate/reasonable (as I see it) reds we received, and if martinelli got very lucky with another one, maybe?

  2. “situations that could leave them a player short” like having Oliver be the on pitch ref that day.

    1. Nail on the head!

      Ever since the club backed Arteta after his comments after another corrupt reffing performance a season or so back the pgmol have had it in for Arsenal even more than they normally do.

      Now they’re whining and gaslighting because no-one can believe how ridiculous that red card was, even pundits who absoluteluy hate Arsenal are deriding them for it.

      But instead of looking in the mirror they are doubling down on it.

      There’s no point in being nice about it, the pgmol are too corrupt, dishonest, and arrogant to be allowed to continue to exist.

      Time to take out the trash and replace them with something that has a smidgen of honesty and fairness.

      1. Didn’t we wrongly get a pen against Man United who then had a player sent off
        So zero conspiracy that day ?

        Spurs we scored from a corner that was wasn’t ?
        Zero agenda that day

        Monoco – Martinelli doesn’t get a second yellow ?

        Last Xmas Odegarrd lays on pitch at Anfield and handles the ball ? Nothing
        Just like Gabriel escaped a handball in the Emirates fixture

        Bayern denied an obvious pen at Emirates

        The ball hits Havertz arm before our winner against Everton

        Tell you what for a club where there is an agenda against them I seem to have very quickly been able to name decisions that go our way ?

            1. No mate that’s off the top of my head
              I’ll make you a list
              But 2 are enough right ?
              Common sense would say if he’s got an agenda against explain why he gives us a pen and not Liverpool?

            1. Probably, and it was very similar to the one given against us a while back (Clichy I think) who fell & couldn’t help handling the ball. But an accidental handball is still very often a foul,

  3. Just because decisions also go Arsenal’s direction doesn’t mean that the officiating is not either purposely biased or planned by the ref for any particular game whether it is in Arsenal’s favor or not. In this case, much evidence exists that have us expecting Oliver to be biased against Arsenal more times than not albeit not necessarily for every game.

    Why? I don’t know but given that these are highly trained professionals, I believe the possibility exists for something at play other than just incompetence at least when looking at the behavior of individual refs.

    No consideration of whether “conspiracies” or “agendas” exist against Arsenal or any other club is even necessary (for Dan).

    1. No mate
      The moment a wrong decision goes in our favour proves that official cant have an agenda as that wouldn’t make sense
      Why would he be biased in some games and not others ?

      Point is if we are going down this road we have to call out also the many decisions that go In our favour

      1. No mate
        It doesn’t even prove an agenda does not exist against the team he’s hurting with that particular call. It only proves that an error has been made. The question is Why was the error made and how does it materially effect the outcome (i.e. is the result 4-2 Arsenal or only 3-2 Arsenal) of the game one way or the other? Hint: Vegas, Atlantic City, in back of a London pub..
        The point is: The only potential reason for consistently poor officiating is not incompetence from those who are purported to be the best in the world.

        1. I agree with you that errors are made because officiating is terrible
          Some though are suggesting that officials are deliberately making bad calls when Arsenal are playing . That’s the bit I disagree with

          1. Dan, can you explain why, even with the support of VAR, it has seen a, nigh on 99% agreement that Mr Oliver and the PGMOL referees working VAR, got it completely wrong.
            If four official representatives from the PGMOL can’t see what’s in front of them, where does the game go next?

            I find it difficult to understand why you cannot see the pattern of Mr Oliver’s decisions, as produced by numerous media outlets and individuals, that show such an incredible positive to city over other clubs as just him being a lousy referee.
            He’s being promoted as the PL’s best referee, wears the fifa / eufa badge on his shirt and yet he has this record (as you see it) as just a lousy referee!!

            I received an email from Jon Fox this afternoon and, among other things, he says he has changed his mind about Mr Oliver being squeeky clean.
            At least Jon can see what is going on, even if you can’t.

            By the way, Jon sends his regards to all on JA.

            1. Jon Fox agreeing with you certainly will not impact my opinion lol

              Because simply I see bad decisions every week including those against Man City .
              The worst decision I saw last season went against Man City against Spurs ( does that mean that official has an agenda )

              This idea that it only exists against Arsenal is not true
              So if we are accusing someone of an agenda ,a huge accusations that the man and his family now get threats over , I need 100 percent evidence
              In my opinion the moment he gives any decision to us that can’t be an conspiracy

              1. Of course threats to his family are not on and I hope they find out who it is, just as they did re. Kai Havertz… that goes without saying.
                Meanwhile Dan, you carry on denying the circumstantial evidence put before you, after all, one doesn’t always need a body to prove a murder has been committed does one?

                1. I’m glad you said that
                  No you need evidence not just a theory

                  Or we know for true is all officials every week are making mistakes towards every club
                  We don’t know why that is ?

                  1. No, you need evidence and it’s there if only you wanted to look.
                    We’ve had Dean admitting he broke the rules, we have the PGMOL insisting that retiring referees sign a non disclosure agreement in order to get their golden handshakes, we have the PGMOL policing itself and yet you say there is nothing to worry about, as they are just not good enough at their jobs 😂👍

                    1. I’m asking for evidence that you can prove M Oliver is corrupt
                      Evidence that he went into that Wolves game being told ‘ screw Arsenal today ‘
                      You can’t prove that
                      And if the man and his family are now getting vile threats because some fans say this every time they disagree with a decision, you have a responsibility to give evidence

  4. Fair play mate. I just believe there has to be an answer other than the terrible calls being simple mistakes in at least some if not many of the cases (whether it’s Arsenal or not).

      1. But VAR couldn’t even get the offside right, as was proved the other year in our home game against Brentford. They equalised with an offside goal.

        1. Yeah but then a City fan will tell you VAR couldn’t disallow Rashford offside goal

          A Wolves fan will say they should have had a pen at Old Trafford

          A Cherries fan will say their goal.against Newcastle was wrongly dissolowed

          Happens to every club

          That’s not an conspiracy

      1. In this case, life that doesn’t make any sense without a thorough investigation by impartial authorities.

        1. For what ?
          You need evidence
          My morning bus is always late that makes me late for work
          That’s because he’s bad at his job not an agenda .
          The council keep saying the trains will lay on more then 2 carriages so we don’t have to stand and have not
          They dont have a conspiracy they are just rubibish
          It took months for me to get compensation for my lost luggage when I flew to Barbados
          That’s not a conspiracy
          People are simply bad at their job

          1. Yes, non-circumstantial evidence is needed of a multitude of potential crimes none of which likely include “conspiracy” imo but very well could include an agenda by any particular ref for any particular game. Thus, the need for an impartial and thorough investigation. imo, you cannot simply write this off as incompetence of highly trained professionals.

            1. Not at all
              Your the one making the accusation so it’s on you to prove he’s deliberately going out of his way to hurt Arsenal
              Think if your presenting this in front of a judge or your evidence is ….’ I don’t like this decision ‘
              You need solid evidence that he woke up that morning with the incentive of I’m going to cost arsenal

                1. Well you saying it doesn’t make it true
                  Of course your entitled to make any accusation but you need evidence for it to lead anywhere
                  Why do you think the police have not investigated M Oliver
                  Corruption in sport is illegal
                  I’ll try one more time
                  What evidence do you have that M Oliver woke up Saturday morning with a motive to cost Arsenal?

                  1. I’ll try one more time. Only circumstantial evidence. That why as INVESTIGATION is needed. Because neither I nor anyone else outside of the parties in question KNOW THE TRUTH!

                    I’ve never even come close to arguing so much with someone telling me I’ve stated things that I have not and over some things that I’m even in agreement with.

                    1. Exactly mate ….you don’t know it’s a feeling
                      I’ll give you an example
                      My best mate supports Liverpool and he noticed last few seasons in big games at Emirates Arsenal got a pen against City , United , Liverpool and Spurs but two clear handballs are denied when Liverpool want a pen

                      So in your opinion should an investigation get under way based on his feeling?

  5. Although I don’t want to get involved in the conspiracy theories and bias arguments.

    I do think that Michael Oliver has some questions that need to be answered regarding Arsenal’s games v Manchester City away, where he wouldn’t send off the player because he didn’t want to spoil the game, but didn’t have the same thought process when sending Trossard off also away at City.

    Brighton at home, sending Rice off for kicking the ball away.

    And now Lewis Skelly away at Wolves.

    While I don’t think it’s a conspiracy or bias, I do think that there’s enough for the powers that be to have a conversation with Michael Oliver.

    They need to at least ask some questions of some of his decisions, because he seems to interpret the rules in ways that are not strictly correct.

    Although on yesterdays red card, the VAR were no help to him what so ever.

    1. But then ask him why when Gabriel handles ball against Liverpool once he didn’t look at it ?
      Although anyone sending vile threats to him is out of order

      1. Dan,

        To be honest we could be here all day giving examples of bad decisions in any given game.

        All I’m saying is with the three big talking points regarding his decisions against us, and his explanations. I think that there’s enough there for the powers that be to at least have a conversation with him.

        Something needs to be done, you can’t go into games wondering about certain officials who have a record against you.

        It’s not good for the official, the club, or football for that matter.

        1. But if you want to prove he is doing it on purpose they will point to the times his decisions have favoured us

        1. Nope
          Strange isn’t it ?
          He gives us a pen for handball but not Liverpool yet he’s got an agenda against us
          make that make sense

        2. INCIDENT: Granit Xhaka crosses the ball into the Liverpool box and Gabriel Jesus competes for the ball with Thiago Alcantara. The Arsenal striker goes down under Thiago’s challenge and Michael Oliver immediately awards the penalty. VAR does not intervene to either look or overturn the decision.

          I guess that day he had zero agenda ?

            1. So when I goes for us it’s simples lol
              When it does against us it’s a conspiracy lol
              Literally what Jamie Redknapp said

              No wonder our fan base get mocked so much

    2. Derek, the game against City 115 where he didn’t want to spoil the game was at the Emirates last season. He’d already booked Kovacic for a bad foul on Odegaard before Kovacic the fouled Rice.

      1. Also at the Ethiad allowed our goal to stand when Walker was out of position because he called him over
        If there was an conspiracy he would have said ‘ fantastic , a reason to rule this goal out’

        1. When he blew the whistle, Walker was back in defence, check it out Dan.
          How could he have pulled the game back, when he had, himself, restarted the game?

          1. He could have said oh wait Walker was out of position my bad
            Remember this is an official is corrupt so he would do anything to stop us correct ?

            1. No he couldn’t, because he had already restarted the game.
              You’ve obviously never refereed a game Dan, because part of the job is to ensure everything is in order before blowing to (re)start a game.
              Your argument is so weak regarding this particular incident, as we all saw what happened, yet your trying to rewrite it in order to back up your view.
              So, when would he have said it, thirty seconds after we scored?
              Come on Dan, your digging a hole mate.

                1. Didn’t say he was said that’s Man City’s accusation

                  Dermot Gallagher analyses Arsenal’s equaliser after Manchester City insist Kyle Walker was not given enough time to return to his position for the free kick that led up to goal.’

                  1. But Dernont Gallagher wasn’t the referee and did he say that Odegaard was given enough time to get into position?
                    Mr Oliver checked, he was happy and blew the whistle… end of.

                  2. When you say it was Man City’s accusation, would you be referring to the rant that Pep had on the touchline ?

              1. You know your last line
                It’s a classic ploy when someone is not doing well in debate
                You saying I’m digging a hole does not mean I’m digging a hole at all lol

                Like Jamie Redknapp said today when a reff is correct he’s correct
                When he’s wrong , he’s corrupt
                You proved my point
                Man City felt our first goal was wrong …..you say ‘ your digging a hole ‘
                Trossard kicks the ball away on a yellow ….’ there’s an agenda ‘

                Havertz dives for a pen ….that’s okay
                Martinelli doesn’t get a second yellow against Monoco …..no conspiracy

                Arsenal get a red card …. conspiracy

                1. Dan, read what I actually said mate – “this particular incident” and “your digging a hole”.
                  Walker was not out of position, as he was lined up in defence.
                  Mr Oliver blew the whistle to restart the game after Walker was spoken to and retreated to said defence.
                  Arsenal then took the free kick and thirty (?) seconds later, Califiori shot into the opposite side of the goal that Walker was defending.
                  How on earth you could even think that Mr Oliver could then call it back after that is beyond any logical sense – no matter whether Oliver wanted to or not.
                  How would he explain it, when he knew what the cameras recorded?
                  As I say, in this incident, trying to say that Mr Oliver could have done anything differently once The Arsenal had scored, is digging that hole deeper and deeper . LOL

                  1. No I’m saying that’s what City complained
                    I don’t find it funny
                    Arsenal used to be known as class now fans cry conspiracy the moment they don’t get their way
                    This leads to a man and his family getting vile threats
                    So I simply ask you to prove his mistakes are based on a conspiracy and you can’t ?
                    Football is a beautiful game but it’s just that ……a game

                    1. It’s my opinion that he is corrupting the game with his decisions.
                      I haven’t said it’s a conspiracy if you can find anywhere I’ve said that then I’ll apologise.
                      Football as a game is only part of the description.
                      It’s also a lucratuve business, where individuals are paid enormous sums of money, while thousands of people are employed and rely on correct decisions being made.
                      Referees are part of that and are paid to officiate by the rule book at all times.
                      Mr Oliver plainly sees his role differently and does not go by the rule book and some of your own examples prove that.
                      He is a corrupting influence that has no checks and balances to worry about.
                      He wouldn’t last five minutes in the world where ignoring the rules means being sacked.

      2. Herr Drier,

        Thanks for correcting me regarding Kovacic at the Emirates.

        This is the second time you’ve had to correct me today.

        At this rate, you’ll have me in detention.🤣😂👍

  6. Questions have to be asked why referees find it so easy to be harsh on Arsenal, with infringements committed by every other team, but without similar repercusions. In the same match where MLS got a red card, a Wolves player crushed Gabriel studs on, only to get a 2nd yellow. Not a direct red, but a 2nd yellow that earned him a red.

  7. The referees should be called out for bad decisions. However, it is not helpful to suggest there is an agenda against Arsenal unless there is proof or very good supporting evidence.
    The use of ambiguous language and misrepresentation of comments by certain contributors is fascinating in these supposed debates. Cunning and mischievous as usual.

  8. I’m not going to comment on individuals, but I think much of this concerns a Northern dislike of all things South, and half the PL is Southern and with no Southern refs.

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