Arsenal have had plenty of refereeing controversies this season and we are only six games into the new Premier League campaign. There have so far been two red cards and 19 yellow cards, four of which combined to send off Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard.
Both second yellows in these incidents were for the same reason: delaying the restart. This has since become something of a phenomenon and obsession for Arsenal supporters this season as unpunished incidents are being collated by fans and highlighted.
Mikel Arteta himself appears to be doing the same as was seen against Leicester City in the 4-2 win last weekend. As he threw the ball to Gabriel Martinelli to take a quick throw-in, James Justin got in the way and stopped the Brazilian from taking the throw.
This incensed Arteta as he stormed down the touchline toward the fourth official, pointing toward his chest and gesticulating, clearly annoyed that the full-back wasn’t punished for what two of his players have been given their marching orders. A former rival of Arteta however has perhaps indirectly offered some advice for how he could better get his point across… although it may not be too smart considering it also earned a yellow card.
Former Tottenham and Chelsea head-coach Jose Mourinho was booked on Sunday for placing a laptop screen in front of a camera after a VAR decision to disallow a goal was made. Fenerbahce went on to win the game 2-0 regardless, but Mourinho was still open to explaining his actions post-match.
"For us, it's a good goal," Mourinho said. "I like good VAR … I just want a VAR that helps the referee to take the right decisions."
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While Arteta was certainly angered by the incident during the Gunners' clash and has been frustrated by the sending off of players, this technique would certainly be a shock to see the Spaniard employing. The Arsenal manager has so far not been booked despite 12 other coaches receiving at least one yellow card, with both Nuno Espirito Santo and Fabian Hurtzeler being sent off in the clash between Brighton and Nottingham Forest.
Arteta served a touchline ban last season after clocking up too many cautions, but appears this season to have continued the improvement in avoiding the bookings. Arsenal lost the clash with Aston Villa that Arteta missed on the touchline and perhaps this was enough to give him more restraint.
There is, however, plenty of the season to run. These incidents and inconsistencies in officiating continued into Sunday's Premier League games and so there appears no end in sight to the potential triggers of frustration for coaches such as Arteta.
