22 December 2023 , 06:00
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Jamie Carragher claims it is "nonsense" that Mikel Arteta avoided a ban after a translation issue was one of the reasons he saw his charges revoked.
The Arsenal boss went on a full-blown rant after he saw his side lose for the first time this season at Newcastle several weeks ago. Anthony Gordon's controversial goal proved to be the difference and Arteta was left fuming, claiming the decision to award the goal was a "disgrace".
He was initially charged but an independent regulatory commission dismissed the charges as “not proven” and in its written reasons it was revealed that Arteta’s evidence stated: “The word ‘disgrace’… 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.”
Arteta has copped criticism for how he's handled himself on the touchline, which has led to bookings this season and last term. Carragher concedes that the conduct of managers is becoming an issue and was stunned that the Arsenal boss escaped punishment for his rant at Newcastle.
He said on the Stick to Football podcast : “I think it’s bubbling [the issue of manager behaviour] and I think it does need stamping down. Maybe a couple of managers, Jürgen Klopp being one, might be the ones who get the full force of it – maybe Arteta.
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“The thing that fascinates me with Arteta is what I see on the touchline, it’s almost a completely different person to the person I played against. He wasn’t that emotional. We played derby games, he was one of Everton ’s best players – he was a silky player – but you’d never think he was at a referee or into his own players.
Mikel Arteta was unhappy with the officials after his team lost at Newcastle (Stu Forster/Getty Images)“I think some of the bookings he’s got – the over celebrating, the odd thing where you think, ‘Come on, there’s no need for that’. But I do think he shouldn’t have got away with – once he’d been charged with what he said after Newcastle, and the defence was there was a translation difference between what you’d say in Spain about something was a disgrace, it means something different in Spain. That was nonsense.”
Arsenal released a statement in the aftermath of Arteta's press conference at Newcastle backing their manager. The north Londoners claimed that they "wholeheartedly support" the Spaniard and that the "PGMOL urgently needs to address the standard of officiating."