To a certain extent we’re just waiting for young players to gain a bit of wisdom: wisdom enough to know when to calm things down and control the über-enthusiasm and über-commitment; and also wisdom enough to learn how to apply the dark arts and get away with it (I appreciate Arteta trying to bring a bit of that back to our game, but right now a lot of these guys have no subtlety about it).Originally Posted by dazthegooner
The other side of it is going to come down to Arteta - we need him to start going to war on this in his pressers and start putting some pressure on the referees association. Go through the data every week and highlight the ridiculously high fouls-to-bookings ratio. Highlight the zero-tolerance, pedantic approach that is applied to us for every minor offence vs what other players at other clubs routinely get away with. How is a team that’s universally regarded as soft also getting hammered with more bookings and sending offs than anyone else? Something doesn’t add up here.
Basically Arteta needs to change the narrative because this is a reputation and perception issue as much as anything else. At the moment we’re regarded as ill-disciplined by the footballing world and therefore deserving of what we get. And we’re also regarded as timid and meek by referees - they’re itching to make a name for themselves and dish out cards, and they do it to us because we don’t kick up a fuss. Arteta needs to start kicking up a fuss. He needs to start changing the perception of us from ill-disciplined to victims of bias (unconscious or otherwise). Klopp and Pep would do it. Conte and Mourinho would do it. Wenger and Fergie would have done it. Even if the refs were 100% in the right, we should still be putting them and their decisions in the spotlight. If it makes them think twice about even one booking then it’s worth it. And all it’s cost us is some words.
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