Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal will not back down over their toxic outburst against referees and wants his fellow managers to help stop the VAR ‘stink’.
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Arteta has been widely condemned for remarks he made about VAR and English officiating following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Saturday.
Despite many pundits slamming the Spaniard, Arsenal came out with a statement insisting that they were fully backing their manager.
The Football Association has now written to both Arteta and Arsenal and there could be a charge depending on how talks progress.
But Arteta is refusing to stand down and lauded Arsenal for their statement which called out ‘yet more unacceptable refereeing and VAR errors’ against the club.
‘[The statement was] great from my point of view, I didn’t expect it,’ Arteta said. ‘I said it’s my duty to stand in front of you guys and give what I think and then the club has got many options, and they decided to do that one.
‘I really appreciate it. I think the players did, everybody at the club did. It showed again that we are one and ready for anything that comes across to fight it in the best possible way. I and the club would do it again until this is right.’
Meanwhile, Arteta wants other Premier League managers to help Arsenal stop the ‘stink’ surrounding VAR.
‘If you have a problem and you put it in your drawer, the problem is still there and at some point it’s going to stink,’ Arteta added.
‘So we have to talk loudly to improve things and that’s what we are trying to do. When we are all together for the managers’ meetings, we all share the same feelings about this.
‘And I am sure I have the support of those managers when they are not directly affected by these decisions.’
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has defended Arteta over his explosive rant on the state of Premier League officiating and says it is ‘difficult to handle’ controversial decisions in the heat of the moment.
Meanwhile, Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has hit out at Premier League managers who call VAR a ‘disgrace’ when decisions go against them – but insisted he was not talking about Arteta.
MORE : Mikel Arteta dodges chance to explain why Newcastle goal vs Arsenal shouldn’t have counted
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