Arsenal were hammered 5-1 on Saturday, but their manager did not want to blame officials for two controversial penalties
Unai Emery refused to blame referee Michael Oliver following two contentious penalty calls in Arsenal's 5-1 thrashing by Liverpool.
Emery's side were battered at Anfield, with Liverpool comprehensive winners – Roberto Firmino scoring three, while Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah got one each.
But the two goals which came from the penalty spot – Salah's effort and Firmino's third – were both somewhat controversial.
The first was won by Salah, as he went to ground under pressure from Sokratis Papastathopoulos, while the second was awarded when Sead Kolasinac appeared to nudge Dejan Lovren over.
Emery was under no illusion that the referee was not the one to blame, however, even if he suggested VAR would have worked in Arsenal's favour.
"The two last goals, two penalties, I think it's a lot for us," Emery told reporters. "I think VAR is important – it's coming next year, because I think it's going to help the referees to take better decisions.
"The result is clear. It's not [because of] the referee. There were some positives on the pitch - for example, Ainsley [Maitland-Niles] played as right winger and scored, working well.
"Also [Alex] Iwobi, after some matches not playing very well, today he played 90 minutes with a good performance, but defensively we need to be stronger, to work.
"Our defensive moments in our box, it's my responsibility and then we need the balance. We need to keep the balance in the middle.
"We lost 5-1, we need to keep the balance in the middle, be serious and continue on Tuesday with a big match at the Emirates.
"We need to show our supporters there we are standing up after the result."
Red_devil4eva
74
It's OK to lose to Liverpool, who are really in form now. Pundits are making a big deal out of this. Unless Arsenal is contending the title, losing to Liverpool or Man City is OK. They need to focus on the consistency in winning lower level matches and try their best to win Chelsea, Spurs to retain top 4. Don't let this lost dampen the spirit.
Buyemoprt
59
everybody praised emerys tactical approach when he came to the club. some of you make valid points here.i mean if we the fans can see the errors he making why can't he see it himself. Liverpool found a great formula in sallah,mane and firmino and buildt on it. today they are favourites to win the league. we found a good formula with laca and Abu but he keeps making amature decisions. I hope he can see how upset the fans are with his poor tactical ability and team selection. klopp out smarter him. even with the diving Liverpool where the better team on the day. emery should blame himself. the fans should target kroenke to provide a bigger budget to buy quality players so we can contend. this is the reason we are a average team because we spend average amounts in transfer market.i call for all gooners in London and around the world to make a stand and address this issue with the clubs owner. times have changed players are demanding higher salaries and if they don't get it then we stuck in a contract battles and left with second rated players.
12UnitedGuyReborn
57
Aubameyang had only 13 touches in the entire game, and six of them were from kick off ?? no wonder I was looking for him during the match earlier
cepinprtu
52
Im an arsenal fan ... i still believe in emery ... give him time ... the one you want to blame is the board itself for producing much less money to buy good players ... what can a coach do ? rob a bank ? not even a season you judge soo many things .. miracle can happen anytime ... just looked at man city .. lost 2 games ... tottenham get beaten by wolve due to over confident ... some of arsenal players are just back from injuries ... they dont wanna risk it if not arsenal will lose the remaining matches ..
tiger_bd
44
"Here is Mike,he is an Arsenal fan." "Hi Mike"
kaacikpt
29
If the VAR was in place for yesterday Liverpool vs Arsenal match up, the final score would have been 2-1 Liverpool and here's why: The 3 goal that can from salah passing to mane would have been considered offsides so no goal and the two questionable penalties would have have reversed. The VAR is much needed as the officials cannot see everything and even if they do see everything they have their own biases and sometimes may not call something correctly Arsenal as someone else stated above needs to pick themselves up, regroup and beat all of the lesser teams instead of tieing them and focus on finishing in the top 4 spot. Go gunners
fetoh
27
Liverpool were brilliant in the ball movement and surely deserve the win..as for the gunner's the midfield was no where to be seen,the outstanding torera was subdued the while 90 minute's.xhaka had no idea what position he was playing he kept on back pedaling the whole match & confusing the defence..as for the back four mustafi & lichsteiner have to be dropped from the squad they seem not to click..Ramsey should leave after his contract expires he did nothing on the pitch going forward.Leno was okay..The only positives in the Arsenal side were the two youngsters iwobi & Niles they really gave in a good display..As for Unai January window opens get some defensive players in the squad.
ridoridwe
26
I'll say the coach had a wrong tactics right from the start, it's like we were playing a 3-4-3 formation with a team with great wingers...every time they played wide,it was always opened,I don't just understand, moreover seeing our defence,they seemed very scared after conceding first two goals and the midfield seemed tired,That old man (leichsteiner) at the back was off, and Niles was a zero just for the goal...I don't even understand why he would have paired him as a front three,he was worse and such a gamble shouldn't be for a top match, it's even better if auba was dia with lacazette at the top and iwobi at his usual 11...