Stan Collymore has strongly criticised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta in CaughtOffSide.
The former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker is not happy with how Arteta acts on the touchline during Arsenal’s matches.
The pundit believes that the £160,000-a-week (The Sun) manager does so to intimidate the referees.
STAN COLLYMORE ON ARSENAL MANAGER MIKEL ARTETA
Collymore wrote: “I want to talk more specifically about Mikel Arteta’s antics on the touchline against Aston Villa on the weekend which saw him mock referee Simon Hooper.
“What Arteta is doing, and he isn’t the only one by the way – Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho have all done it too – is to influence the referee by intimidating them.
“I understand why they do it, I get that they want to give their team a competitive edge but I don’t like it.
“We’re struggling to get enough top-quality officials into the game as it is and it’s no wonder why when they see a Premier League manager openly and unnecessarily mocking a referee in the middle of a game like we saw Arteta doing to Hooper on Saturday.
“It’s about time PGMOL and the other regulatory bodies got together and demanded that their officials are shown a certain level of respect because the next generation of referees will probably be looking at the kind of incidents on the weekend involving Arteta and be thinking ‘we’re allowed to be mocked and we can’t say anything back, what’s the point?’ – It’s about time benches stopped the intimidation tactics, whether that be by getting in the fourth official’s face for 90 minutes, or by taking the mickey out of the on-field referee.”
LET’S BE RESPECTFUL
Now, we understand why managers such as Mikel Arteta act like the way they do during matches.
After all, all managers want to win football matches.
And football is a hugely passionate sport.
And there is a lot of pressure.
So, when we see Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta or Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp act like the way they do, it is because they want to win and because of the pressure they are under.
However, we have to be respectful towards the referees.
Let’s be clear about that.
There is no need to go wild when the referee blows the whistle against your team.
Or when the referee makes a mistake.
Because, and let’s be honest about this, your player will make more mistakes during the course of a football match than the referee.
So, instead of moaning at the referee all the time, get your players to do better.
This is the message that ALL football managers need to get into their heads.
