Mikel Arteta's past comments on VAR come back to haunt him after rant following Arsenal v Newcastle | OneFootball

After Anthony Gordon's goal was allowed to stand during Arsenal's loss to Newcastle United on Saturday evening, Mikel Arteta lost his cool and went on a huge rant about officials in the Premier League. It was quite the outburst and not too long afterwards, Arsenal released an official statement revealing that they were standing by their manager's comments.

The goal in question caused quite the controversy after VAR checked whether Joe Willock had taken the ball out of play, before checking whether Joelinton committed a foul in the build-up, and finally checking to see whether Gordon was offside. After a lengthy check, they decided the effort was fine and awarded it.

This led to the Magpies picking up a huge win over the Gunners and Arteta wasn't afraid to let the world know how he felt about the decision to give the strike in his interview after the game. It was a wild outburst, but one that's already ageing quite poorly after his comments about VAR from the beginning of October have resurfaced. It's not a good look for the Spaniard.

Arteta called the decision to award the goal a disgrace

After the loss to Newcastle, Arteta went off it about the officials. He called the decision to award Gordon's goal an absolute disgrace. He also went on a rant about the standard of referees being nowhere near the level it should be in a league like the Premier League.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "I feel embarrassed but I have to be the one now coming here to try to defend the club and please ask for help, because it's an absolute disgrace that this goal is allowed; it’s an absolute disgrace.

"It's not a goal for many reasons; it’s not a goal, for more than one reason at least. It’s not a goal and it's too much at stake here. We put in so much effort, it’s so difficult to compete at this level, and it's an absolute disgrace.

"Again, I feel embarrassed having more than 20 years in this country, and this is nowhere near the level to describe this as the best league in the world. I am sorry."

His comments have caused controversy after replays seemed to indicate that awarding the goal was the correct decision, but they also look quite questionable after earlier comments he'd made about VAR at the beginning of October have resurfaced, and it's not exactly a good look for him.

After Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur, Arteta defended VAR and the officials

If Arteta had lost his temper at VAR and that was that, things wouldn't look quite as poor for him right now, but considering he jumped to its defence after Liverpool were robbed against Tottenham Hotspur last month, it's a little embarrassing.

After Luis Diaz's goal was incorrectly ruled offside for the Reds against Spurs and Jurgen Klopp's side complained about the state of officials, Arteta actually defended them and said: "It’s something that we don’t have a say on, we don’t manage. I think they are trying to make the best decisions, they are trying to protect the game, they are trying to get as much support and be ruthless when they need to be.

"At some point as well we need to give support and understand that mistakes happen. We’ve made mistakes as well and if the pressure is so much then it’s very difficult to manage."

Interestingly, now that he feels his side has been on the receiving end of an error, he's had a change of heart and doesn't feel the need to support them anymore. Check out the table below to take a look at how Arsenal's last five games have gone.