Arteta fumes at referees amid recent struggles
The Arsenal managed lamented that the world would be “different” had certain decisions gone their way.
Travelling into the past has been a conquest for humankind that has passed through the minds of everyone from Albert Einstein to L. Ron Hubbard, and appears set to remain there, at least on a level bigger than atoms and things I really feel uncomfortable taking a stab at. Instead of dipping backwards in time and scaring butterflies, we are consigned to sitting at the water’s edge, tapping the glass walls around the pool’s edge. As such, over time, ways have developed to deal with the past; some positive, and some negative.
On the darker side of things, there’s hindsight, regret, and frustration. Then there’s whatever Mikel Arteta appears to be choking on. The Arsenal manager has said that things aren’t going their way in “crucial” moments of the season, and his finely clipped fingernails are pointing square at the referees. If only he could go back and change things.
“The world is different” if there’s a red card in Manchester, for example. But where do we stop? JFK’s assassination? Why not go back to Archduke Franz Ferdinand? Rasputin? Alexander the Great? Pick your historical figure to have a peek at while we’re in Arteta’s TARDIS.
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta living every moment of a title race blockbuster 🍿 pic.twitter.com/1eVc2y9DrQ
— Premier League (@premierleague) April 22, 2026
“If you have ever played football, it is a red card”
Basically, the recent flashpoint of Arteta’s rage comes from a foul by Nick Pope on Viktor Gyökeres in Arsenal’s win over Newcasltle. The referee didn’t give a red card, and neither did the VAR check.
“I have to say as well in my opinion, it is a clear red card,” Arteta fumed after the game.
“I have watched it 10 times. If you have ever played football, it is a red card. It is the second time in two games because against Manchester City when Kai Havertz goes through and Khusanov’s fouling him at 1-1, the title is there. It is a red card.”
“So these are the margins as well. Hopefully that is going to change," he added, not explaining what this actually means. “Everyone will have their opinion, I am here to give my opinion.
“I’m somebody who has been in the game for the long time. You talk to any of the players because the trajectory, where the ball is, there is no keeper there. If that had happened the other way around, it is a red card.”
“The reality of the last two games at crucial moments when everything is at stake, we need everything to go our way and it hasn’t. I am not giving any excuses. I am the first one to understand. I didn’t talk about it when we lost the game. I am doing it when we won. It is a red card today. It is a red card in Manchester and the world is different. That’s it.”
Mikel Arteta lo grita como nunca. El Emirates lo sufre y lo canta 💥
— DAZN España (@DAZN_ES) April 25, 2026
El Arsenal vence 1-0 al Newcastle y vuelve a ser líder, con un partido más que el Manchester City, y a falta de cuatro jornadas para el final#PremierLeagueDAZN ⚽🏴 pic.twitter.com/VQHz5A0iUl
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