Former Premier League referee Graham Scott has named Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as the "hardest Premier League manager to deal with", conceding that the Spaniard "gets away with too much".
Arteta led Arsenal to the Premier League title, their first in 22 years, but his conduct on the touchline has drawn regular criticism. Scott, who spent a decade officiating in the top flight, said Arteta was the biggest headache he faced when working as fourth official.
Arteta 'pushes all of the limits all of the time'
Speaking on The Athletic, Scott said: "I know whatever I say at this point just gets me pelters and it will be 'well that's because you hate him' but it is Arteta. He is the hardest work and he really does push all of the limits all of the time. I don't mind that in many ways, he's trying to get a competitive advantage for his team. That's fine. It is part of his job, and he's entitled to push those limits and it is for us to police them."
Scott highlighted how Arteta frequently leaves his technical area, particularly when opposition players are near him. He referenced a recent game against Everton, where Arteta joined in the press whenever Everton had the ball near the touchline on his side. "His toes were on the touchline and as a fourth official that's a nightmare," Scott added.
Officials 'need to be a bit tighter'
Scott admitted that Arteta gets away with too much and that officials need to be firmer. "Because if you step forward and do anything about it you're being pedantic, you're being petty, but the time you get there the ball's moved on, it looks like nothing's going on here. But he does get away with rather too much. The officials do need to be a bit tighter, and I was one of them who let him do that, I'm not going to deny that."
Arteta has acknowledged that he sometimes crosses the line but has insisted other managers are worse and rarely punished. He claimed to have collected evidence to support his case. "I do have to be careful. They should put sensors there," he said. "There are managers who have the record in the league, 36 times in 10 minutes [they] leave the touchline - no yellows. I am clipping all of that so I have now a massive storage of images, so if somebody comes to me I can say, 'I am not in the record yet'. Somebody else has the record so let's see."
