Arsenal are unhappy with the way Bukayo Saka has been treated by referees this season.
Arsenal recently submitted a formal complaint to the PGMOL over the treatment Bukayo Saka has received.
The Gunners’ contention is that too often opposition players are not booked for their first poor tackle on the Hale End academy graduate, and are instead given something of a ‘free hit’.
Over the course of 2023, Saka was the third-most fouled player in the Premier League. Mikel Arteta understandably wants to see officials doing what they can to protect Saka so that the player isn’t put at undue risk of injury.
It will be fascinating to see if there is any noticeable difference in how fouls on Saka are policed by referees in the coming matches in light of this complaint.
To some extent, a player such as Saka is always going to get fouled a lot, and part of his game includes trying to draw such challenges in order to win free kicks in dangerous areas. The 22-year-old is a quick, tricky winger who regularly has the beating of his opponent. Therefore, defenders are likely to resort to less than fair means of stopping the Arsenal man.
That being said, referees have a responsibility to protect players, and there is no logical reasons why the first foul committed, if it would otherwise be worthy of a booking, should go unpunished on the basis of it being the first offence.
Gabby Agbonlahor sends scathing message to Mikel Arteta after Arsenal complaint
However, talkSPORT pundit and former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agonlahor had a less than sympathetic response to the news of Arsenal’s complaint. He said, “shut up, it’s all you hear from Arteta, Arsenal. Look at the clips of Maradona, he used to get two-footed in the chest. No yellow card. Messi, kicked, he just gets up, quick free kick. Messi just gets on with it.”
“Honestly just stop moaning. Get on with your game. Yes, Saka might get fouled a lot, that shows because you are a top player and people have got to stop you. You get on with it. If you weren’t a good player you wouldn’t be getting fouled so much and sometimes managers will say take it in turns to get a yellow card and stop the top, top players. So Arteta, Arsenal, whoever is moaning, get on with it.”
There is a chance that Arsenal’s complaint may well make officials less sympathetic to their cause. It will also invite additional scrutiny and media attention. Arteta would also certainly now be unwise to complain if any of his own players are ever booked as a result of their first foul in a match.
In this writer’s opinion, though, the club had every right to raise their concerns with the PGMOL. As does any club. What’s more, they did so via the proper channels, as part of a dialogue with PGMOL, rather than it simply being a case of Arteta sounding off to the media and venting his frustrations in a press conference.
All Arsenal fans will simply be hoping that Saka can get through the rest of the season without sustaining an injury.
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