Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta hopes Liverpool ‘get what they deserve’ from PGMOL and the Premier League following Saturday’s VAR controversy.
The Gunners’ manager watched his own side held to a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur little over a week ago, but without anywhere near as much controversy in that North London derby than what occurred when the Reds travelled to the capital on Saturday.
Other flashpoints in the match were cause for disputes, but none more than Luis Diaz’s wrongly disallowed goal in the 34th minute. An as-of-yet unclear breakdown in communication between the on-field and VAR officials was to blame – something Liverpool themselves hope to rectify having requested the recorded referee’s match audio.
Liverpool would have gone 1-0 ahead had the goal correctly stood in the match they went on to lose 2-1. The controversy spilled over into Monday, when Arteta addressed the media ahead of Arsenal’s Champions League match tonight.
“For sure, you know at the end you want to get what you deserve,” he said. “You want to minimise errors that you cannot control away from the work and the job that you do on a daily basis.
“Everybody is trying to have a really clean and honest game but at the end you have to earn the right to win it and play in the conditions that the rules allow. When that doesn’t happen it’s extremely frustrating.”
The Spaniard was also asked his general thoughts on the technology, highlighting what was done ahead of the start of the current season as all 20 top-flight clubs met to debate the way the game if officiated in this country and his initial response having played seven matches.
He revealed: “We had some big discussions before the start of the season and everyone had the right intentions to improve the game and find the best way to take it forward.
“But it’s true that with everything that already happened this season, not just in the Premier League but in other countries as well, the pressure is increasing. It’s not easy for them. It’s not easy for any club or any manager because that really affects part of the season or a result and that is a dangerous thing to do.”
Finally asked if referees need greater help through improved training, Arteta responded: “Well I don’t know. When they explain all the processes of what they’re trying to do it sounds really logical, but in the heat when you’re talking about millimetres and interpretation of other things like the frames of the camera it’s very, very different.
“It’s a shame that it’s happening but at the moment we haven’t got the right answers I think.”