‘We’re not in Disneyland’ – Mikel Arteta explains Max Dowman red card reaction
Teenager was sent off after kicking out during Tuesday’s Carabao Cup loss at Fleetwood.
Mikel Arteta has refused to treat 16-year-old Max Dowman with kid gloves, insisting: “We are not in Disneyland, we are in the Premier League.”
The Arsenal boss was “very disappointed” to learn their appeal against the 16-year-old’s red card suspension was rejected by an independent commission, but explained his incensed reaction to Dowman’s sending off in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup defeat to Fleetwood.
Arteta was adamant the club go above and beyond to look after the teenager, but believes he has to balance Dowman’s youth with the realities of life at the highest level of football.
The Gunners boss has not seen the response to his reaction, but said: “I understand. But you need to understand the context, the relationship that I have with him and what we discussed just before we went out.”
Dowman was sent off for a kick out at Harrison Neal following a tackle in the 85th minute of the tie, which the Gunners lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Arteta added: “You want to see the reaction of his team-mates? When they have to play with 10, you want to see that? What do you expect? I don’t know.
“But the reaction when I don’t win, you know what the reaction is? I’m p****d off, big time, so we need to be ready for 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’re going to demand from him like 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.”
The Football Association confirmed on Thursday an independent commission had dismissed claims of both wrongful dismissal and excessive punishment for Dowman.
He will be suspended for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Liverpool as well as their home meeting with Hull and away game against Newcastle either side of the international break.
“I’m very disappointed (about the rejected appeal), to be fair, especially with the reckless tackles that he received, and then his reaction is minimal in relation to the action. Disappointed that it’s not been overturned after looking at the action back, to be fair,” said Arteta.
“It is what it is. We have put every argument on the table to make a case for it. Not only the action, obviously, that it’s evident, and when you look back in slow motion, the previous action and Max’s action, it’s clear that obviously we have a very different opinion. And on top of that, I think you have to read the context of the player, the age, and what happened previously.
“It could have been really bad, yeah. And we are lucky today that he hasn’t had a broken foot. That’s clear.”
Arteta insisted all is well between him and Dowman, revealing the two spoke on Thursday and there were “no issues at all”.