Mikel Arteta ‘gets away with too much’, says former Premier League referee

Mikel Arteta was the hardest manager to deal with on the touchline, according to former Premier League referee Graham Scott, who said the Arsenal boss “really does push all the limits all of the time”.

Scott refereed in the Premier League for a decade before retiring in 2025, and now works as The Athletic’s expert referee correspondent. Asked on The Athletic FC podcast to name the most difficult manager he had faced, he did not hold back.

What Graham Scott said about Mikel Arteta

Scott started with a joke. “Well, the trite answer is all of them when they’re losing,” he said.

He knew how his real answer would go down. “I know whatever I say at this point just gets me pelters,” he said. “But it is Arteta. He is the hardest work.”

He was clear that he did not blame Arteta for trying. “He really does push all the limits all of the time,” Scott said. “I don’t mind that in many ways, he’s trying to get a competitive advantage for his team. That’s part of his job, and of course, he’s entitled to push those limits, and it’s up to us to police them.”

But he added: “He does make your life extremely difficult.”

Life as the fourth official

Scott pointed to Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Everton last month to show what officials are up against.

“He’s out of his box all the time,” he said. “Every time Everton had the ball anywhere near the touchline on his side, he was like joining in the press.”

Scott had previously claimed, in comments reported in October, that Arteta left his technical area 44 times before being booked against Everton.

That puts the fourth official in an awkward spot, Scott said, describing the role in those moments as “a nightmare”. Step in, and you look petty. Leave it, and the manager gets away with it.

“He does get away with rather too much,” he said, according to the Mirror. “I was one of them who let him do that.”

Mikel Arteta’s Everton booking

The Everton booking was Arteta’s second of the season, leaving him one further caution from a one-match touchline ban at that point. Afterwards, he said he was collecting footage of other managers leaving their technical areas without punishment.

“There are managers that have the record in the league: 36 times in 10 minutes they leave the touchline, no yellows,” he said.

Scott’s view suggests the officials see it rather differently.

Not all managers are the same

Scott did stress that Arteta is far from the only manager who tests the officials. But some were much easier to work with. “Some were very controlled,” he said, naming Graham Potter as an example of a manager who stayed calm and quiet. He noted that Potter was sometimes criticised for not looking as though he cared enough, which suggests managers cannot win either way.

His verdict on Arteta has drawn a backlash from some Arsenal supporters online.

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