Arsenal news: Mikel Arteta accused of ‘trying to be clever’ as VAR call

Arteta accused of trying being clever

Arteta’s decision to swap Ramsdale for Raya has divided opinion and Simon Jordan has accused the Spaniard of trying to look “clever” insisting he’s being “innovative for innovative sake”. Ramsdale has commanded the No 1 spot for the best part of two years.

Eyebrows were raised when Raya was bought in, especially given how vocal he’d been about making a name for himself at a major club. Now Arteta’s thinking has been criticised on TalkSport by Jordan, who said: “It feels like a bit of innovation for innovation’s sake.

“It feels like Arteta is making sure that everyone thinks he’s a clever, innovative manager who isn’t just following in the footsteps of Pep Guardiola.”I don’t understand the context of this interview and the structure of why he said it and what benefit this wisdom gives us.”

Ref questions offside call

Ex-Premier League ref Mark Halsey has called out the decision to rule out Gabriel Martinelli’s strike in Arsenal’s win at Everton.

The ex-official isn’t convinced the footage was “clear” as Arsenal secured a rare win at Goodison Park. Martinelli, 22, thought he had handed the visitors the lead after he calmly slotted the ball beyond Jordan Pickford. But, after a VAR check, the goal was ruled out after Eddie Nketiah was judged to be offside during the build-up.

There was general confusion within the ground as Gabriel’s pass deflected off Beto before it reached Nketiah. The officials though deemed that Beto’s touch was not deliberate and, according to the laws of the game, Nketiah would therefore be in an offside position. Halsey has revealed he is unsure whether the lines were drawn right to determine that Nketiah was, in fact, offside

Read more here.