Arsenal fans have highlighted the hypocrisy of Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou.
On Saturday, following his side’s 1-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle United, Mikel Arteta protested against the VAR decision to allow the Magpies’ controversial goal to stand.
The Spanish coach called the decision a “disgrace” and claimed that the standard of refereeing in the Premier League simply is not good enough. Despite having the club’s publicly stated backing, Arteta has come under considerable fire for his outburst.
It is easy to see why the manager felt so aggrieved. There were many things about that Newcastle goal which were suspect. However, former Newcastle striker Michael Owen deemed Arteta’s complaints as “classless.”
Owen seemingly has far more time for Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou.
On Monday evening, his Spurs side received two red cards on the way to losing 4-1 against Chelsea. Asked if he had any issues with the referee’s decisions during the match, the Australian said, “you have to accept the referee’s decision – that’s how I grew up. This constant erosion of the referee’s authority is where the game is going,” as quoted by BBC Sport.
Taking to Twitter, Owen said of Postecoglou’s response, “if every manager was this gracious our game wouldn’t be in the mess it is.”
Arsenal fans react to Ange Postecoglou statement
However, many Arsenal fans feel that the Spurs manager’s comments are hypocritical. After all, there was no doubt that both Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie deserved to be sent off on Monday. There really was nothing for Postecolgou to complain about in terms of refereeing decisions, but that didn’t stop him from picking up a booking during the match himself.
Arteta had good reason to question why Newcastle’s goal against Arsenal was allowed to stand. Even if the ball did stay in play and Anthony Gordon was onside, there was still the foul on Gabriel Magalhaes which was not given.
Arsenal fans on Twitter are now calling out Postecoglou. One fan said, “he’s just being hypocritical about it.”
Arsenal supporter and journalist Charles Watts stated, “the Postecoglou fawning today is pretty mad. It couldn’t be more different to what happened at the weekend. He had absolutely nothing to complain about, so it’s very easy to sit up there and say what he did after the game. He also ended the night with a yellow card.”
Another support said it was easy for Postecoglou to be magnanimous when “there was no bad decision in the game and your team was deservedly battered.”
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