Arsenal’s Manager, Arsene Wenger, in the aftermath of his side’s 0:0 draw with West Brom on Sunday, was scathing in his assessment of the standard of premier league officiating. The long serving French Manager, was left hugely unimpressed and angry after veteran Premier League referee, Mike Dean, denied the Gunners what would have been an important three points by awarding West Brom a controversial penalty with just two minutes of normal time to be played.
Wenger labelled the situation as one which is “difficult to accept” and reiterated his earlier stance on the poor standard of refereeing in the English top flight calling for the introduction of Video Assistant Referees(VAR).
On a chilly night at Hawthorns, Arsenal produced a laboured performance that lacked the necessary cutting edge to trouble relegation threatened West Brom. The Gunners having having been given less recovery time than West Brom were understandably slower than usual in their passing and the looked headed for a draw. However, the clock ticking away, Alexis Sanchez stepped up to take a free kick in the 83rd-minute after he was fouled by serial offender Craig Dawson a few centimetres away from the box. The Chilean’s goal bound effort found its way into the net taking a huge deflection off James McClean.
The Gunners respite lasted barely six minutes. With the stark reality of a loss staring them in the face, the Baggies committed men forward in the hope to salvage something from the game and it paid off. On the 89th minute, Danny Welbeck’s attempt to locate a teammate was intercepted and West Brom looked to a counter. A pass found Kierian Gibbs and the former Arsenal man’s cross into the box struck the flaying hand of Calum Chambers from what seemed a point blank range. Given the close range between Chambers and ball, and the little reaction time available to the defender, a foul had been the least expected call from the man at the centre–Mike Dean– but that was exactly what was given and with the event occurring in the box, a penalty.
Angers flayed with several Arsenal players feeling the decision wasn’t the right one. Jack Wilshere and Petr Cech were both given yellow cards for dissent while Jay Rodriguez stepped up to impose more misery as he levelled from the spot.
At the final whistle Wenger, visibly angry, waited in the tunnel to let Mike Dean know his opinion about the decision. The Frenchman wasn’t in a better mood when he faced the press minutes after and is quoted to have said:”It’s disappointing to see that but what can you do? You can talk and talk and talk but it doesn’t change anything.
“I would like to remind that I did fight very hard with David Dein [former FA vice-chairman] many years ago that the referees become professional but their level, unfortunately, doesn’t go up.”
Asked whether the decision was 100 per cent wrong, Wenger replied: “Yes in my opinion. It’s difficult to accept. It’s more than the decision that is involved in that and it is not the first time it has happened. But it’s best we don’t talk about. We know deeply what it is going on and we just have to deal with it.”
Wenger also said he welcomes the introduction of Video Assistant Referee technology, which is set to be used in the FA Cup next weekend.
“It’s time,” he said. “I don’t know why we want to be the best league in the world and wait for such a long time when other leagues use it already.”