Mikel Arteta right to set Arsenal record straight after 'aggression' label irks amid Saliba red
Arsenal received their third red card of the Premier League season in just eight matches. Granted, the first two were somewhat controversial with both being related to delays of the restart in different contexts, but William Saliba’s against Bournemouth was more clear-cut.
Red cards were a part of the early days of Arteta’s tenure at Arsenal. There were many and the team suffered as a result, to an extent, in both this and the last season any red cards have been dealt with far better.
Arsenal could have won against all three teams they were down to 10 men in this season. They had chances with Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka vs Brighton, a lead into the final seconds at Manchester City and Gabriel Martinelli's chance on the south coast this past weekend.
Yet there is little doubt that despite this context, it cannot go on. Arsenal need to take the officiating out of the game and let their football overshadow any potential controversies.
Despite the reds, two points from three could have been nine from three with better finishing. Arteta was asked about his side’ disciplinary record in the press conference ahead of the Champions League game with Shakhtar Donetsk.
"Well, I mean, playing with ten men, obviously there is an issue. The truth is when you analyse the three very different actions and the outcome of them, the reasons are very different.
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"Regardless of that, we cannot continue to play with ten men, especially at this level. And you see how struggling, all the teams have to win football matches.
"When you want to do it against ten men for 65 minutes, the task becomes almost impossible. So, we need to eradicate that. It's clear why, the reason and how, it doesn't matter. We have to focus and it has to happen.
Arsenal have seen players sent off against Liverpool in the past. Granit Xhaka famously saw red at Anfield in the League Cup semi-final as the Gunners held on for a clean sheet on Merseyside.
However, Arteta was not afraid to point out that despite being asked about whether his team should be less aggressive to help in avoiding red cards, this was not the cause for his players receiving their marching orders.
"Well I think for example what happened in those three cases has nothing to do with aggression in my opinion. But yeah, everybody has got his own opinion.
"We want to be super competitive when we are and we show that it's great. When you show it and it doesn't go your way and you lose, it's something else, it's part of the judgement."
He's right. None of the red cards came from aggression and instead simple human error.
There has not been a case of serious foul play since Fabio Vieira's innocuous red card against Burnley last season. Rice, Saliba and Trossard made errors of judgment but there is not cause for Arteta's side to reconsider how 'aggressive' they are despite that being the angle of questioning on Monday morning.
Yet he is aware that something does need to change to avoid this. His players perhaps need just to be someone savvier and composed in certain situations even when it seems as though the previous instances were somewhat harsh.