Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Mikel Arteta has been discussing James McArthur’s foul on Bukayo Saka on Monday, and it’s fair to say he’s not happy.
McArthur booted Saka on Monday as he tried to catch a ball on the volley, but many believed that the midfielder was acting recklessly and endangering his opponent.
Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher believes that he should have been sent off and the £96,000-a-week Arsenal man believes that VAR should have had another look at the incident and sent McArthur off.
What’s been said?
Arteta was asked if he’d had any explanation as to why McArthur wasn’t sent off, to which he replied:
“No, we had communication with the referees and the association to try to explain why they didn’t intervene in that action. The explanation we had at the start of the season is that they would when there is an obvious error there. They need to take action, and they didn’t. These actions determine a football match and the result, and for me it’s unacceptable.”
Controversial
The McArthur foul on Saka is bound to split opinions within the footballing world, and, in our view, it’s hard to find the right answer.
On one hand, McArthur could have seriously injured Saka here and he did force a substitution, but on the other hand, The Irishman could argue that he was making a genuine attempt for the ball and that Saka was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Can you penalise a player for an honest mistake like that? Well, by the letter of the law you can, just look at Antoine Griezmann’s red card against Liverpool this week, but in some ways, it seems a bit harsh to send a player off for misjudging a volley.
It’s certainly a tricky decision for a referee to make, but it’s clear to see which side of the fence Arteta is on.
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