Gary Lineker and Micah Richards have now been praising Mikel Arteta’s response to all of the VAR controversy that has surrounded Arsenal of late.
The duo were speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast and discussed the point that Arteta was repeatedly making in the interviews that followed the win over Burnley.
Lineker said that Arteta was consistently praising VAR’s role in Arsenal’s victory over Burnley even when he wasn’t asked.
Both Richards and Lineker enjoyed the gesture, and the latter did think it was an omission that the manager had gone too far last week after the Newcastle United game.
Lineker said: “I don’t know whether you saw it yesterday and the interviews after the game.
“Mikel Arteta was wanting to make the point, and he said it in every interview – because when we are doing Match Of the Day we have lots of screens – and we see every interview they do, whether it’s to the press or various TV channels and stuff.
“He said the same thing to every person, are you not going to ask me about VAR because they were really good today? It’s so much easier when you have won!”
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Richards replied: “I loved it!”
Lineker: “I liked it as well. It was sort of a nod that he had probably gone a bit strong in the past week.”
Arteta was quick to praise VAR following Arsenal’s win against Burnley
Of course, it can’t have been too easy for Arteta to move on from the wrongdoings he felt after defeat at Newcastle.
The Spaniard has rarely been so incensed in his Arsenal career thus far.
However, Arteta must have clearly recognised no worth in continuing to criticise the role of VAR and the officiating in Arsenal’s games.
Instead, the manager saw it best to create a more positive atmosphere heading into the international break.
Of course, as Lineker mentioned, it is a lot easier to be light and breezy following a win.
And one player who stood huge for Arsenal in that victory was William Saliba.
Despite receiving some odd criticism from some of his compatriots of late, Saliba was crucial at both ends of the pitch.
And whilst praising his performance, Mikel Arteta did also point out an area in which Saliba is now trying to improve.