Inside Arsenal fans’ ‘laundry list’ of conspiracy theories including red cards, ‘bizarre’ VAR calls and disallowed goals
PLENTY of Arsenal fans are convinced the Premier League and its referees are set out to derail their title ambitions.
So much so that they claim there is a whole “laundry list” of conspiracy theories going against them.
Of course, while there is an understandable desire for more consistency across the division, the outrageous suggestions have no actual footing or proof.
And plenty of controversial VAR decisions over the last year have gone for the Gunners.
Many of their fans continue to blast the PGMOL online.
Words such as “cheat” and “corrupt” regularly get bandied about whenever their team fail to pick up all three points.
And one fan fumed this week: “I don’t give a f*** what anybody tells me, I genuinely believe there is a conspiracy to stop Arsenal from winning the Premier League by Premier League referees.
“We just have a laundry list of examples. I can’t be going crazy here. This is ridiculous.”
Their own manager Mikel Arteta has certainly had his complaints – but even he had to debunk his supporters for their conspiracy theories accusations.
But here are some of the most contentious calls which have riled up Arsenal fans the most on social media…
FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS
NEWCASTLE GOAL STANDS
The one that really kick-started the complaints came at St James’ Park in November 2023 when Anthony Gordon’s winner was allowed to stand.
The ball looked as though it might have gone out of play before calls for a foul and an offside.
Arteta blasted the calls as “embarrassing” and a “disgrace” – even though Kai Havertz was lucky to escape a red card in the game.
Arsenal fan fury escalated a year on when Aston Villa’s goal was ruled out when the ball was adjudged to have crossed the byline in the build-up.
HAVERTZ HANDBALL
Arsenal suffered another 1-0 defeat last December, that time at Aston Villa.
The Gunners thought they had scored a last-gasp equaliser but it was chalked off for a Havertz handball.
But upon seeing the replays, some Gunners fans were convinced the ball actually hit Matty Cash’s hand in a second handball.
And their misery was compounded when it was confirmed that if a team-mate put the ball into the net, it may well have stood.
RICE RED
The big one to trigger the 2024-25 season’s complaints came at the end of August when Arsenal hosted Brighton.
Already on a yellow card, Declan Rice petulantly flicked a rolling ball away from Joel Veltman, who was lining up a free-kick.
Veltman ended up kicking Rice who went down, only to be given his marching orders with a second yellow from Chris Kavanagh for “delaying the restart”.
Arsenal quite rightly pointed to the lack of consistency as Joao Pedro received no punishment for kicking the ball down the pitch when it had already gone out for a throw.
The Gunners were in total control but the red card changed the game and it finished 1-1.
TROSSARD SUFFERS SAME FATE
And Rice was not the only Arsenal player to be sent off for a second yellow this season after delaying the restart.
Just three weeks after the Brighton incident, Leandro Trossard saw red in similar fashion away at Manchester City.
Again already on a yellow, the whistle had already gone for a foul when Trossard thumped it clear and Michael Oliver brandished the second yellow.
Jeremy Doku escaped a caution because he was knocking the ball back to where a free-kick was given in the same game.
Arsenal were quick to point out Oliver refereed some matches in the UAE – and therefore implied he was on the payroll of Manchester City’s owners and would then be biased against Arsenal.
It finished 2-2 at the Etihad after Arsenal had clung on to their lead until the 98th minute.
SALIBA SENT OFF
Arsenal picked up their third red card of the season when William Saliba was dismissed at Bournemouth – and they went on to lose 2-0.
Rob Jones initially showed Saliba yellow card for pulling back Evanilson just into the Gunners’ half – but VAR intervened and decided he had denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
And as a result, it was upgraded to a red card.
Just 24 hours later, Arsenal fans kicked off that Chelsea’s Tosin Adarabioyo stayed on the field following a similar incident at Anfield.
STONES’ GOAL STANDS
On the day after the defeat at the Vitality, the mood amongst Gunners supporters worsened when Manchester City grabbed an injury-time winner at Wolves.
John Stones’ header was originally written off for offside – before the VAR decided Bernardo Silva was not interfering with Jose Sa despite being in an offside position.
LIVERPOOL PART I
Then came the 2-2 draw with Liverpool last weekend. Arsenal were incensed that a late winner was not allowed.
Although it was not immediately clear why, Anthony Taylor blew the whistle WAY before the ball eventually ended up in the net.
Havertz bundled Trent Alexander-Arnold to the ground to get to the loose ball as it came back off the post, anyway, so there was no way the goal would have counted.
Still, Arsenal fans reckon the so-called “phantom goal” could come back to haunt them come the end of the season.
LIVERPOOL PART II
In the same game, the Gunners felt they should have had a penalty for a strong challenge from Ibrahima Konate on Gabriel Martinelli.
Replays and the Premier League Match Centre on X both confirmed the Reds defender won the ball.
And the Gunners fans seemingly forgot about Martin Odegaard’s blatant handball at Anfield last season that went unpunished.
LIVERPOOL PART III
Lastly, some Arsenal fans even claimed David Raya’s yellow card for time wasting was “pre-meditated” by Taylor.
One even went back and counted the exact number of seconds Liverpool took over corners to compare to Raya in a desperate attempt to drive home the conspiracy theory agenda.
Liverpool impressed at Arsenal, but it was a match Jurgen Klopp probably would've won
By Jordan Davies
ON the face of it, Liverpool continue to go from strength to strength with Arne Slot’s tenure still in its infancy.
Away at Arsenal as title contenders — with a formidable record at the Emirates having won four of their last six there — the Reds fought back, not once, but twice to earn an impressive point to remain four clear of the Gunners.
Nine games in, Liverpool have seven wins, 22 points collected and sit in second in what is one of the club’s best ever starts to a Prem campaign.
Nothing to sniff at there, and that is without mentioning three straight wins in the Champions League and a 5-1 Carabao Cup third-round thumping of fellow top-flight side West Ham.
So to even attempt to pick flaws in Slot’s start with a run that solid would come across needlessly pedantic, deliberately nit-picky.
But, and there is a but, given the standards Liverpool have set in these early months, it needs to be said: this draw in North London was a massive missed opportunity.
And to go one step further, maybe this is a game Jurgen Klopp would have found a way to win?
It has been a long time since Arsenal have gone into a game feeling so vulnerable defensively with world-class centre-back William Saliba missing through suspension.
Full-back Riccardo Calafiori was also out injured, usual right-back Ben White began the game at centre-half and midfielder Thomas Partey started on the far right side of the defence.
And then, in a chaotic second half, both Jurrien Timber and Gabriel limped off, forcing Gunners boss Mikel Arteta to swap around his back line THREE times by the 76th minute.
And yet, despite all of that, a Liverpool side boasting attacking talents like Mo Salah, Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo were hardly making the home fans sweat with a peppering of the Arsenal goal.
It was not until a Klopp-style counter-attack from back to front in the 81st minute did the visitors properly test the home defence.
But even that finish was a tame one — Salah tapping in past David Raya into an almost empty net.
And with nine minutes left plus seven minutes injury time, the expected onslaught for another, to nick all three points — the tally-ho approach — never came.
Not Klopp’s heavy metal style, more pleasant folk music with a ukulele in a country pub.
You get the impression that Slot was delighted with this outcome.
For large parts, Liverpool were defensively sound, gave very little away and snuck away back to Merseyside with a point tucked under their arm and a bloody nose avoided.
Yet it was in these sorts big blockbuster matches that Klopp and Liverpool thrived over their nine-year romance, full of excitement, thrills and last-gasp wins that earned them a Prem trophy in 2019-20 and plenty more down-to-the-wire chases with Manchester City.
And with Arteta’s Arsenal on their knees — quite literally in some cases — and hanging on for dear life, these are the moments in title races that require a bit of crazy, not caution.
A Klopp team of the past would have gone completely and totally Kloppy, throwing men forward at will, blasting their opponents away and forcing the ball into the net through passion and thunder alone, regardless of how open it left them at the back.
Slot is not this sort of coach.
He is measured, considerate, calm. Good qualities, but not always needed in do-or-die matches that ultimately determine where you finish in May.
It is hard to say if this will come back to haunt Slot, who still insists on avoiding any use of the phrase ‘title contenders’ despite clearly being title contenders.
With Aston Villa and Manchester City visiting Anfield over their next five Prem outings, we will see whether the Dutchman can loosen the leash and let his team grab games by the scruff of the neck instead of playing it safe.
Because as we have seen in this league, going for broke often rewards you — just ask the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola.
Fortune favours the brave.
Slot needs to discover his own version of that if he is to truly emulate Klopp and transform this Liverpool side into one capable of seizing moments when they matter most.