Edu breaks silence on Newcastle vs Arsenal VAR farce following PGMOL statement
Arsenal Sporting Director Edu has taken to social media following the club’s statement on the refereeing during Saturday’s defeat to Newcastle United.
The north London outfit lost 1-0 to Eddie Howe’s men at St. James’ Park as Anthony Gordon’s close-range finish secured all three points for the home side.
However, the game wasn’t without controversy, with Gordon’s goal checked by VAR for three potential offences before it was eventually awarded.
After the full-time whistle, Gunners manager Mikel Arteta came out firing in his post-match press conference, criticising the refereeing in a passionate speech.
Arsenal then followed this up by releasing a statement on Sunday, where they fully backed the Spaniard’s comments.
Now, Gunners transfer chief Edu has taken to Instagram, writing: “@arsenal (pointing emoji)”, alongside a picture of the statement, clearly showing his support.
However, the viewpoint expressed by north London didn’t receive unanimous agreement. Specifically, Manchester United legend Gary Neville expressed his dissent on X (previously referred to as Twitter), acknowledging his lack of enthusiasm for the formal statements issued by clubs in written form.
The ex-England international stated: “I played for a club where a manager went mad after games if we felt a decision had gone against us. You feel like it’s us against the world. I get it.
“Everyone hates us, the refs are out to stitch us up and theirs bias v us. However I can never remember the club writing letters undermining the system and the whole refereeing community.
“When I look back now I don’t think as players we always covered ourselves in glory with refs and also at a big club we all feel entitled and you have to leave and retire to be able to see that. Arsenal’s letter and even the Liverpool statement a few weeks ago ( they had a genuine bad one v them ) are wrong. Do it privately .
“If I was Howard Webb I would stop apologising to them and get on with it. Managers and players make far more mistakes than refs!”
Edu breaks silence on Newcastle vs Arsenal VAR farce following PGMOL statement