So gradual was the slide from grouchy to righteous anger that it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when Mikel Arteta and Arsenal went over the edge, but after another uncontroversial refereeing decision was rebranded as controversial on Saturday we can safely say the transition is complete.
Not that they will care, but Arsenal have become the club that most irritates Premier League fans, which is quite the achievement for an historic club and a team built without billions of investment, petrostate or otherwise.
Their natural place, as young challengers to Pep Guardiola, should have been as a neutrals’ favourite, and it was - up until some foggy time over the last 12 months when the mannerisms and petulance of the manager began to grate.
That might sound irrelevant, but perception matters.
The football industry’s soap opera begins with pundits and fans but eventually seeps inwards, affecting the players, shaping results, and nagging at the minds of boardroom bosses.
There is no need to actively court positivity from anyone outside the club, but there are fringe benefits to not getting under everyone’s skin.
That’s a side point, anyway.
Of far greater significance is what the whinging signifies about how Arteta and Arsenal view themselves: under siege, unfairly targeted, and, therefore, vulnerable to the slings and arrows of fortune.
Brighton’s penalty was a penalty.
William Saliba lightly grazing the ball does not negate thwacking Joao Pedro in the head, just as a minor glance with the boot would not stop the award of a penalty should the foot thump straight into the opponent.
Jamie Redknapp and Steve Sidwell debate whether Brighton’s penalty should’ve been given 🤔
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 4, 2025
What’s your take? Let us know! 👇 pic.twitter.com/BF89awDxos
But even if the call was wrong, and even if the red cards earlier in the season for Saliba, Leandro Trossard, and Declan Rice were wrong (they weren’t), Brighton’s penalty is not the reason Arsenal didn’t win the match, as Gary Neville put it succinctly on his podcast.
“At the end of the game, [there was] this feeling that what cost them was the penalty decision. No, what cost you was you’ve not gone grabbing the name by the scruff of the neck and seen it out.”
This is where Arteta’s fury becomes an issue, increasing anxiety and infecting his players with the sense there is a curse upon them.
Some teams might have put the game to bed long before the penalty call. Others would have shaken the moment off and risen again to score a winner.
Arsenal gave in to the feeling that the world is against them, a process that started with Arteta saying he has “never seen something like this in my life” and ended with supporter conspiracy theories re-emerging.
To win Premier League titles you cannot let things happen to you. You have to take control of your destiny.
If that sounds corny it’s because it is; it’s because to win a soap opera requires the psychological beliefs to match.
At Brighton, Arsenal were architects of their own downfall once again, yet by refusing to take responsibility for the dropped points they are, once again, unable to stand tall and seize the day.
It is a viscous cycle and one they will not break unless Arteta resets the narrative.
Until then, Arsenal will keep believing referees are tying their hands, will continue making mistakes, and will find themselves perpetually cursing the gods for their certain fate.
Nobody has ever won a Premier League title thinking that way.
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