Mikel Arteta insists his FA charge can help the governing body better handle managers’ criticism of referees – as the Arsenal boss is cleared of misconduct after labelling Newcastle’s winning goal a ‘disgrace’ last month

• Mikel Arteta cleared of misconduct for referee criticism in Arsenal vs Newcastle
• Gunners boss detailed his hopes ruling will set positive precedent going forward
• Newcastle were naive against AC Milan and they’ve got in-form Fulham next – It’s All Kicking Off 

Mikel Arteta believes his absolution from an FA charge will help improve the FA’s process in dealing with managers’ criticism of referees.

The Arsenal boss was cleared of misconduct by an independent panel on Thursday, six weeks after he had said the decision to allow Newcastle’s winning goal against his club was ‘a disgrace’ and ‘embarrassing’.

And Arteta believes that the FA were still learning how to handle such criticism of their officials, with refereeing standards a hot topic this season.

He likened it to how the League slowly adapted to accept the influx of foreign players and owners, but eventually ended up in a better place.

Asked about the process that cleared him, he said: ‘A lot of things have happened in the league that are similar. It happened with bringing in all the players, bringing in new ownership, bringing in new sponsors, bringing in new managers, new CEOs, new sporting directors.

Mikel Arteta hopes him being cleared of an FA misconduct charge will ‘improve the league’

Arsenal fell to a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle after a controversial late goal from Anthony Gordon

Arteta called the decision a ‘disgrace’ before an independent panel cleared him of misconduct

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‘We are an incredible league, and that has happened because there were changes. It will improve the league for sure.’

Arteta went onto praise the process which cleared him and revealed that he had explained to the panel the ramifications refereeing decisions have on managerial careers.

‘I felt a lot of sympathy to be fair as I explained the pressure we feel as managers and how important details are for our job,’ he said.

‘I love what I do so much and I want to continue doing it. The reality was that 14 managers lost their jobs and we depend on results. When the outcome is that important, we get really emotional about it.

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‘Nobody remembers three weeks ago when you lost a game because of a certain reason. So, I think it was a really good process.’

Arteta confirmed Gabriel Martinelli is in contention this weekend after missing training before the 1-1 draw with PSV earlier in the week.

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