Morning all, let’s do a bit of a Saturday round-up ahead of tomorrow’s game against Liverpool which we’ll cover in more detail then. First, Mikel Arteta responded to the appeal against Max Dowman’s red card, and said: We’re very disappointed, to be fair, especially with the reckless tackles that he receives – his reaction is minimal in relation to the action. We’re disappointed it hasn’t been overturned having watched it back. We’ve put every argument on the table to make a case for it – not only the action that is so evident, but when you look back in slow motion, the previous action and Max’s action is clear. Obviously, we have a very different opinion. I think you also have to look at the context of the player, the age and what happened previously. You already know what I think. Ultimately, there’s only one person who was in any danger of being hurt on that pitch on Tuesday evening, and it was Dowman himself. Arteta said: It could have been really bad, and we’re lucky today that he hasn’t had a broken foot – that’s clear. But as we’ve discussed this week, football’s attitudes to things like minor retaliation versus a ‘crunching’ tackle are a bit topsy-turvey, and Dowman is a victim of that. The fact they didn’t even reduce the ban, which there is definitely precedent for, suggests to me they have chosen to overlook what the replays show, and that’s quite disappointing. Still, it was interesting to hear Arteta reference Dowman’s age when referring to this, then a bit later on suggesting that if he’s going to play with the big boys, he’s not going to get any special treatment because of how young he is. There’s been discussion and debate about the manager giving the 16 year old a bit of an earful on the sideline as he went off, but in this instance he stood behind his ‘tough love’ approach. Referencing the fact Dowman had been sent off for England U19s a few weeks ago for something similar, and the conversation they’d had in the dressing room before they went out, he said: I haven’t seen the reaction to my reaction, whether it’s 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. You want to see the reaction of his teammates? When they have to play with 10, you want to see 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 are going to demand of 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. As I said yesterday, hopefully it’s a learning moment for Max, one he can carry forward for when he returns and beyond. Professional football is absolutely ruthless, there will be managers/players who will try and expose that youthful temperament again, and we know how they’ll do it. He’ll get kicked again, they’ll try and bully him again, but next time he’s got to remember that referees are more inclined to punish the guy who retaliates than the one who perpetrates the first offence. It’s upside down, of course, but that’s the environment in which we exist and one he’s got to get to grips with. I suspect that whatever your own view of Arteta’s reaction, that message will have been made loud and clear to Max Dowman this week. — Elsewhere, because this is very, very funny, Aston Villa say they’re going to take legal action against Jamie Carragher for some comments he made on a podcast. Via their official social media channels, they released a statement which said: Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans. Aston Villa will not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football. Nassef Sawiris, chairman. Apparently Carragher’s remarks were about Unai Emery potentially joining Man Utd, and pointing out that there is a kind of pecking order in terms of club stature. Which, regardless of the fact United are a mess right now, is unquestionably true in terms of the size of the fanbase, the history etc. Villa are a successful club with good history of their own, but United are – in this general context – a bigger club. Like Barcelona are bigger than Valencia, like Bayern Munich are bigger than Borussia Dortmund, like some side from the Isle of Man third division are bigger than Sp*rs. How thin skinned and pathetic do the people running Villa have to be to take exception to something Carragher said, to then ruminate on it, decide that legal action is the best course of action, and then make it public? Genuinely it’s hilarious and embarrassing. Also, I’d be quite happy for Emery to take over at United. He’s done a fantastic job at Villa, but as Arsenal fans we know he’s exactly the man you need to take over a club that’s something of a sleeping giant and a mess on and off the pitch. Emery in at Old Trafford all the way, in my opinion. They’d be facing that side from the Isle of Man third division in no time. Right, I’ll leave it there for this morning. Happy Halloween, I hope your little visitors aren’t too scary later on, and that your dogs don’t freak out with the fireworks too much. Till tomorrow. The post Arteta didn’t see the reaction to the reaction but reacts to the reaction to the reaction appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.