Mikel Arteta has defended his furious reaction to Max Dowman's red card in Arsenal's shock Carabao Cup defeat at Fleetwood, declaring: “We are not in Disneyland, we are in the Premier League.”
Dowman was sent off late in the midweek match after reacting to a heavy challenge. Arsenal appealed the decision to try to overturn a three-match suspension but were unsuccessful.
Arteta's disappointment and warning
Speaking on Friday, Arteta said: "Very disappointed, to be fair. Especially with the reckless tackles that he received, and then his reaction is minimal in relation to the action. It could have been really bad. We are lucky today that he hasn't had a broken foot. That's clear."
Arteta was visibly angry on Tuesday night as Dowman walked past him down the tunnel after the dismissal, leaning towards the 16-year-old and directing angry words at him. It was Dowman's second red card of the month, following a dismissal while on international duty with England Under-19s.
Pre-match message and reaction
Arteta revealed he had spoken to Dowman before kick-off, warning him not to react to rough treatment from Fleetwood players. When pressed on what that message had been, he said: "It was related to what could happen. Exactly what happened and not only the red, the 10 seconds before, the way he comes to receive the ball, what kind of ball that is, whether he stood or not and after that if he gets tackled, what happens next. Exactly that. Is that clear? Good, now we don't have to guess."
Arteta has faced criticism for his reaction, which was out of character for a manager usually protective of his players. However, he did not back down in a passionate response, insisting he was not the only one left angry by the sending off and that players sometimes need to face the honest truth.
No special treatment
Arteta said: "I haven't seen the reaction to my reaction, whether it is positive or negative. But you need to understand the context, the relationship that I have with him and what we discussed just before we went out. If you see the reaction of my father and my mother with me, someday you will say, I don't like the reaction. For me, it was the best reaction ever to be able to be who I am. But you want to always see the best reaction and the beautiful one. You want to see the reaction of his team-mates? When they have to play with 10, you want to see that? What do you expect? And the England ones, they are his age, 16, the same. What is their reaction? That's the level and that's the reaction. And whether it is right or wrong, that's the reaction."
Arteta was adamant he could not treat Dowman differently to any other player in his squad, despite his age. He said: "The reaction when I don't win, you know what the reaction is? I'm p****d off, big time. So we need to be ready for that. This is the environment and this is the reality. Otherwise, we are in Disneyland. We are not in Disneyland. We are in the Premier League at this level and we look after him so much that you cannot imagine. But at the same time, we're going to demand him like to anybody else because he needs to earn the right to play. Otherwise, the rest of the boys, what are they going to tell me? You need to be fair."
