Well, is there any point in mentioning it this time?
We all know it’s a farce and the continuing conversation would only add to a topic that is fast becoming a snooze-fest in all honesty.
However, given the fact it’s affected Arsenal so much over the course of this season, we do have to look at the impact this may have on the Gunners’ season.
Referees.
Are refereeing decisions costing Arsenal this season?
Yes
No
They seem to get a decision wrong every single week, whether it’s for Mikel Arteta’s side or any other club in the Premier League and the standard at which they’re officiating is scarily low.
What seemed like quite a blatant offence from Erik Pieters was seemingly waved away from VAR referee Kevin Friend on Saturday afternoon and it’s a farce really. It was such a bad decision that even BT Sport’s Peter Walton voiced his shock at it and we’ve all seen his level of ‘expertise‘ this season.
I can’t remember a time in my years of watching football were so many bad decisions were made, and I grew up in an era where supporters and experts demanded the introduction of video technology.
Arsenal are already counting the cost of the numerous bad decisions the club have been on the end of this campaign. A supporter of the club has even gone to extreme lengths to prove how badly the side have been screwed over by official this year and it’s quite bonkers.
Bruno Fernandes raking his studs down Granit Xhaka’s heel, the disallowing of a perfectly fine goal after the Swiss midfielder was adjudged to be in Kasper Schmeichel’s eyeline despite being nowhere near him, and the funniest and most blatant of them all, Sadio Mane’s sensational arm into the face of Kieran Tierney, which didn’t even warrant a lengthy review from VAR.
So, how has it got this bad?
I grew up in an era where if something happened on the football pitch, the rules surrounding it were pretty clear cut. For example, imagine David Luiz committed his offence against Wolves in around 2006, would many Arsenal fans argue against a red card for his denial of a goalscoring opportunity? I dare say, they wouldn’t.
And that’s because the rules were absolute in that if you denied a goalscoring chance, you would be sent off. However, times have changed and the rule has changed in that if you attempt to play the ball you only get a yellow. It has given scope for debate amongst fans and experts in every single last-man red card that is awarded nowadays, which only brings officials under even more pressure.
Change needs to come sooner rather than later because you can’t imagine a scenario where such circumstances continue. The FA are counting the cost of continually allowing referees to get away with murder and it’s hurting the Gunners and English football.
