We more than held our own; if you asked any neutral they would agree that we were on track to win with 11 men. I am furious but also so hopeful. We’ve always been the team that crumbles when it gets down to the wire and this is how you undo that label
I think it’s simpler than that - I think this generation of refs grew up chanting “Same old Arsenal, always cheating” as our players were brought down with brutal tackles. We’re slowly rebranding ourselves as a tough, no-nonsense team, but public opinion takes time to catch up and that of referees takes even longer.
On top of all of that, psychologically the team that wins the league is going to get a lot of leeway due to confirmation bias - they won, so they must be a good team, so of course they didn’t mean to snap his ankle or timewaste.
I think it’s even simpler than that: Michael Oliver got paid by Man City’s owners. Publicly. Subconscious or not that’s bias and conflict of interest there.
We more than held our own; if you asked any neutral they would agree that we were on track to win with 11 men. I am furious but also so hopeful. We’ve always been the team that crumbles when it gets down to the wire and this is how you undo that label
Just to add, I stand by my conspiracy theory that we’re getting these bullshit calls because Mikel was a good lawyer and beat his charges.
I think it’s simpler than that - I think this generation of refs grew up chanting “Same old Arsenal, always cheating” as our players were brought down with brutal tackles. We’re slowly rebranding ourselves as a tough, no-nonsense team, but public opinion takes time to catch up and that of referees takes even longer.
On top of all of that, psychologically the team that wins the league is going to get a lot of leeway due to confirmation bias - they won, so they must be a good team, so of course they didn’t mean to snap his ankle or timewaste.
I think it’s even simpler than that: Michael Oliver got paid by Man City’s owners. Publicly. Subconscious or not that’s bias and conflict of interest there.