Jamie Carragher says Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is "becoming the Sir Alex Ferguson of the Premier League" after strongly criticising the penalty awarded against his side in Saturday's 2-0 win at Sunderland. A furious Arteta described the saved second-half penalty as "unacceptable" after referee John Brooks pointed to the spot when Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa brought down Dan Ballard. The Gunners have subsequently sought an explanation from refereeing body Pro Ref over the penalty award.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Arteta's anger has led Carragher to draw a comparison with ex-Manchester United boss Ferguson, who was famously unafraid to publicly criticise match officials, even while his side were the dominant domestic force. Arsenal did not concede a penalty in last season's title-winning campaign and Carragher believes "don" Arteta is using his Premier League-champion status to influence referees' decision-making. He told Monday Night Football: "This was Mikel Arteta becoming the Sir Alex Ferguson of the Premier League right now.
"He's the don at the moment; he's the Premier League champion. "A lot of new managers about... he's been in his role for six or seven years, and he feels he's in a position of power to say, 'Yeah, it wasn't a penalty'. And I don't think it was a penalty.
"But it'd be interesting to see how long it takes for another referee to give a penalty against Arsenal in a similar situation. "I thought it was very interesting in the press conference; one of the journalists made a point about, no matter what question you asked him, he kept going back to the penalty, so he was determined to get the narrative out that this won't happen again to his club. "But that's a manager - we've seen it with Sir Alex Ferguson, we've seen it with Jose Mourinho." Former Luton, Middlesbrough and Wolves boss Rob Edwards was the special guest on MNF and concurred with Carragher's view on Arteta.
He said: "I think Jamie's right. He's put himself into a position now where he's looking after his team and his football club, and people will listen to the Premier League-winning manager, won't they? "They will listen to him; he's a powerful voice there now." Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m!
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