I’d rather be wrong
An Arsenal blog from a coach’s perspective
I don’t know what the world is like where you live. Where I live it is safer and better than most it seems.
I watch and read ‘the news’ too often. Well, Lori tells me I do anyway. She’s probably correct. I came to the conclusion many years ago that what I was watching from mainstream media was ‘narrative shows’ not ‘the news.’ It helped me to question and understand what I was actually watching.
I’ll admit to finding life tough sometimes. Not often but when I think about the world my children are likely to live in, it’s tough.
If I could have a genie and one wish I’d ask for accountability for those in power. Those who run countries, big companies and powerful organizations. Clearly, having enough power, enough money and enough notoriety isn’t enough. They have to have more. And more. It’s endless. Like a competition to find out who can get the most. These people are absolutely riddled with corruption.
The way I see it is like a domino effect. I’m not sure who started it but when elite people see other elite people getting away with corruption, they feel empowered to try it themselves. Then they find out that there is no accountability, so they keep doing it. The domino hits somebody else’s domino, who tries it, and realizes that they are not held accountable either. And so it goes.
I have also learned that you are going to be far closer to the truth if you believe what the media call ‘conspiracy theories.’
As an example, I closely follow life in England. I miss my home country. Nothing made sense starting about five years ago when the leaders were making weekly horrific decisions. One scandal after another after another after another. Nothing made sense until I changed the lens with which I was looking at it with.
I was being trusting. I was believing that they had the best for the British people in mind. I’ll be honest, I felt really stupid when I changed my lens and started to look at the leadership with the lens that perhaps they are intentionally trying to make everything worse for the British people. When I changed my lens, everything they were and are doing, suddenly makes sense. Maybe they aren’t inept. Maybe it’s intentional.
Personally, I feel naïve believing anything else because I feel like I’m being treated as an idiot.
As the George Orwell quote from 1984 goes, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
1984?
So are the PGMOL part of this world?
They are running the elite league. The league that everybody agrees is the best.
I was in Chattanooga, TN with EllieAnn and Lori and watched the game with a big bunch of hardcore Gooners and these Arsenal pubs are everywhere. There are no MLS pubs. It’s the Premier League that they love. The PL is the most popular for sure. Probably has the best players. It certainly has the best depth in top level coaching. The atmosphere is unrivaled and the excitement is a different level.
The refereeing and VAR isn’t just poor in quality and completely unsuited to the prestige of the league but there isn’t a single weekend that goes by without at least two utterly ridiculous refereeing decisions.
I’m writing this whilst watching the highlights from this weekend and last weekend. I didn’t see last weekends highlights last weekend and after writing my last sentence I’ve just been proven right after watching Newcastle been given a penalty for absolutely no reason whatsoever against Wolves, and Burnley being robbed by VAR not even reviewing a clear handball that won the game for Bournemouth.
I am now at the point where I don’t want to be naïve anymore. I want to believe the evidence of my eyes and ears even though I don’t. I’d rather be wrong. To think that the Premier league is being influenced by those refereeing it changes everything. I desperately don’t want to wake up one morning to find out that I am right because if I do then what is the point in following a football team?
Because I refuse to be conned again I have to see it as a possibility at the very least.
For those of you who read my work regularly, I hope that you will have seen that it is rare that I waste time talking about referees and decisions. You can read that replicated 1000 times over on social media, television, and on the Internet.
Today is different though. Hard to describe why but let’s just say that I fully understand why Mikel Arteta finally lost it. We all have a limit, and this was so far beyond ridiculous that I think that it was everybody’s limit.
Here are the questions that I would want answering by the PGMOL….
(Note that these are just based on Saturday’s game. I have another 756 from all the other games I’ve watched)
There were four reasons to disallow the goal.
Why did the TV companies not show us more than one bad replay from the wrong angle of the ball going out?
Why do you even need lines to see that Anthony Gordon was offside. The eyes that God gave us were plenty for this decision.
Why would Gabriel not header a ball that was coming directly to his head?
Are you allowed to jump on a defenders back whilst pushing him in the back and the back of the head in order to stop him heading the ball?
Not a foul?
Why did you not spot that there was a possible handball by the attacker?
How did I spot it and you didn’t?
Why is your excuse that you do not have the correct angle to make decisions?
Why can I access the correct angles on the social media and you can’t?
Who is to blame if there isn’t the ‘available angle?’ Don’t you have enough money to put more cameras up for the world’s elite league?
Why does it take for this incident to happen for you to realize that you need to get technology for the byline when I figured it out long ago?
Why are you letting a linesman make that decision from 50 yards away when the goal posts are probably in his way, and trusting your boothies who have been proven to be inept?
Are they listening to the British commentary feed? If they are then are they being influenced by the opinion of the pundit? It was Gary Neville who was opining on this incident and he was vehemently stating that it should’ve been a goal. We all know that he is utterly biased and his opinion is filtered this way.
Why wasn’t Arsenal given a penalty when Eddie was thrown to the ground in the first half?
Why was there no replay of this incident at all? It was a stonewall penalty yet it seems like you want us to not notice?
It seems like you are in cahoots with Sky Sports who give us all the feed. There are so many times that you don’t show us a replay or the best angle. Is this deliberate?
Is it cool now for players to start forearm smashing opponents after the ball has gone?
After Bruno assaulted Jorginho, I don’t suppose you noticed that he did it again when he ran into his back and pushed him to the ground with both hands?
Why did you decide not to use semi-automated offside for the most elite football league in the world when it was proven to work and improve the game? This must be the most suspicious of all the issues you are involved with.
Why does the Dutch league have full transparency and access to video and audio of the boothies and the Premier League doesn’t? If they can afford it then the reason isn’t money. The reason is yet again, highly suspicious.
Wouldn’t it be a really good idea if you truly wanted to improve standards that you made a stand and rattled the cages of those refereeing and the boothies? Perhaps you should fire a few of them because there is nothing else that you can do that would make them step up than this.
If this wouldn’t work, then you would know that they are either corrupt or inept.
If I want to take a best guess and put my money on what is the most likely reason for games like Saturday, I would point to this…
Is it too far fetched to think that the PL refs who are now infrequently refereeing in Saudi Arabia are taking bonuses from those who own two PL clubs? The same two clubs that keep getting favorable decisions.
Link Up Arsenal on X revealed that It was Andy Madley & Stuart Burt on VAR – who take officiating jobs in the Saudi league which is owned by Saudi PIF which also owns Newcastle…
I might be putting my eggs in this basket because I want to continue watching football and believing that the playing field is even.
For now, this is where I stand.
Corruption? I’d rather be wrong.
I have no energy to write about the PNH of this game. I’m sorry. I’m too upset and on this occasion I think it’s partially worthless because it should be the main event but it looks like it might be irrelevant. I’m sure I’ll get my motivation back but there is no point faking it.
Thanks for reading and if you want a little more then read my ‘World Exclusive’ below….
WORLD EXCLUSIVE – England caught in a Webb as Webb leaves England
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Former Highbury regular. Moved to TN, USA in ’99. Married with 3 kids. Coached in UK and US for 27 years.
Mike McDonald Soccer Academy in Morristown TN, Olympic Development coach, Regional Premier League Champion.
Mike, didn’t think I’d see your feathers ruffled so much. I agree completely about not trusting main stream media or what government organisations tell us. You can fool us once etc.
However, referee and media bias against Arsenal is nothing new. George Graham would use it to motivate the team and you might recall the tv documentary with the ref miked up at an Arsenal game. The Arsenal team weren’t told the ref was miked up. Showed us in a bad light. Then there is the constant sending off of Viera for dubious offences. Then there was the allowing of teams to ‘get stuck in’ and the horrific injuries that followed.
We always won despite this. The injustice will motivate us to success.
Well done Mike and well said, it needed saying…
We who contribute on this blog and the others many of us frequent, do it because we love the game, it’s intensity, it’s skill, it’s excitement, it’s honesty, it’s integrity, it’s very much part of our very different lives, but maybe the honesty and integrity are most at risk?
Qatar got a World Cup and Saudi Arabia are being lined up for one which might explain the new league in that country, the suspicion of nefarious agreements eased along by large financial inducements is never far away from FIFA, a totally discredited organisation with UEFA not far behind but we consoled ourselves in the UK by the thought, illusion possibly, that our competition the Premier League was clean and above board.
But I’m not so sure anymore?
Sky, the pundits on Sky and other media outlets are completely at the will of the big players from the oil rich part of the globe, nobody can believe a word they say, not least because of their determination to ignore what’s in front of us or to investigate.
PGMOL are thoroughly untrustworthy, there are no checks and balances on how they conduct themselves, it’s all jobs for the boys and don’t rock the boat.
Nobody wants to peer too deeply into what’s going on at Stockley Park but let’s roll out the Webb/Owen show to deflect from the numerous cock-ups and give the public the veneer of transparency.
I’m sick of Sky, sick of the North West bias and the pundits who bring nothing to the table, no honest, untainted analysis, they are nothing more than trolls.
I most certainly wouldn’t engage with them on X if I was bothered to go on that medium, they’re just laughing at us and following the Sky narrative.
I’m not sure where this leaves us now but I’m fairly sure that Arsenal will not be allowed to usurp Man City this season – that’s a given.
As for Newcastle, well be prepared for their gradual climb up the greasy pole until we have a Man City/Newcastle duopoly dominating the Premier League.
Paid for by us, every time we fill up our car…
Thanks Mike!
I might go and find my team in the Sunday League.