When Mikel Arteta meets the press today ahead of our game against Brighton, he will do so after the FA charges against him following his comments after our defeat to Newcastle were found to be ‘not proven’.
The Independent Regulatory Commission finally released their verdict yesterday, and throughout I wondered why it was taking so long. The 37 page document reads more like a court-case than a football disciplinary hearing, and it’s packed full of stuff. Some of it quite complex, some of it very simplistic.
For example, the FA argued that Mikel Arteta’s high profile in the game was relevant to the charge, saying:
The FA contended that MA’s status was relevant to the substance of the Charge – in other words, that words spoken or conduct committed by an individual such as MA could breach FA Rule E3 even though the same words or conduct, committed by a lower profile individual, might not amount to a breach of FA Rule E3.
Arsenal via their legal representative, argued that profile was irrelevant, saying:
Words or conduct either do or do not breach FA Rule E3, regardless of the status of the individual whose words or conduct are under scrutiny.
That was something the commission agreed with. There were linguistic arguments, and the Spanish word ‘desgracia’ will now become a meme forevermore. In his initial letter explaining his words, Arteta had said of the English word ‘disgrace’:
[It] has a very similar spelling and pronunciation to the Spanish ‘desgracia’ … the Spanish word has connotations of misfortune, tragedy or bad luck rather than the connotations of the English equivalent which suggest contempt, dishonour or disrespect. While the English meaning may lead to interpretations of abuse or insult, this was not the intended meaning of the Comments’.
At the hearing itself though, he put that down to an internal miscommunication, saying he fully understood the differences in the words, and used the English word knowing full well what it meant. The Commission said:
We accepted that explanation.
I don’t know why that made me laugh so much, but there you go.
Just ordered my new Arsenal shirt. pic.twitter.com/j5GksolNPT
— Andrew Allen (@AAllenSport) December 14, 2023
Then there’s the bit where Arteta’s post-game emotional state is not helped by the fact that Joe Willock, formerly of this parish, apparently told Arsenal players that the ball had gone out before he crossed it for Joelinton to push Gabriel out of the way to head down to Anthony Gordon to score the goal.
Those matters increased what MA described as his ‘sense of injustice and frustration’ that the goal had been allowed to stand.
You can easily understand why! There’s obviously a lot more in a 37 page document (which you can find here if have the time or the gumption to peruse it). There is some genuinely interesting stuff about VAR processes, previous comments by managers, Arteta’s frustration after a PGMOL/managers meeting which took place just two days before the Newcastle game, and lots more. The commission say:
We found MA to be an impressive witness. Despite on occasion failing to address directly the subject matter of questions asked of him – a trait frequently seen in witnesses – we considered that he gave his evidence carefully and honestly, and we accepted the evidence that he gave before us.
He plainly had a good understanding not only of the need for respect to be shown to match officials, but also of the reasons why such respect is essential at every level of the game, and particularly why respect must be shown by individuals who are role models to others in the game.
I’m sure some out there will feel he’s gotten away with something, others who will feel justice has been done. Again, I’ll make the point that when a manager like Mikel Arteta talks constructively about officiating, raising standards and improving them for the benefit of the game, there is an absolute need for him to follow through on that if he’s really serious. That means acknowledging a ‘mistake’ when a decision goes our way (although when that might be is anybody’s guess).
If you’re genuinely serious, you can’t only be concerned about refereeing standards when you feel decisions go against you. I know people are fed up with referee chat, but I honestly think there’s an important discussion to be had around this, but it is too often obscured by emotion, tribalism, and self-interest. If managers could be a bit more honest post-game, it would help. For example, if Eddie Howe had said after the Newcastle game, “I understand why Mikel might be frustrated by that” (because he absolutely must understand it), rather than, “Maybe he’s seen something I haven’t”, it’d be more beneficial. Nobody is going to take the points away from Newcastle, but the discourse afterwards would be markedly different, and almost certainly more useful. Then again, if Arteta was in an emotive stage and didn’t choose his words as well as he might have, the same must apply to an opposition manager.
As I said though, Mikel Arteta is front and centre with this stuff. I’m glad he’s been cleared, I think it will be something he learns from although perhaps the outcome will just be bland, anodyne responses to questions we actually have some interest in him being asked. I hope not. And I hope that when this conversation circles back around again and when he’s in the spotlight for it, he’s honest enough to recognise it publicly when Arsenal benefit at the expense of the opposition. Let’s see.
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We’ll bring you coverage of the manager’s press conference a bit later on Arseblog News, and join us over on Patreon later as we preview the Brighton game on Sunday. For now, I’ll leave you with a new Arsecast, recorded yesterday evening just after the Arteta news dropped.
Have a great Friday folks.
