‘We are not in Disneyland’: Arteta defends tough response to 16-year-old Dowman’s red card

LONDON, Oct 31 — Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta warned Max Dowman he was “not in Disneyland” after the teenage rising star was sent off in the Gunners’ shock League Cup defeat by lowly Fleetwood.

The Premier League champions suffered one of the most embarrassing losses in their history when, after the fourth-round tie ended 1-1 in normal time they lost 5-3 on penalties away to fourth-tier Fleetwood on Tuesday.

To make matters worse for the Gunners, Dowman saw red five minutes before the end of normal time.

Although it looked a harsh decision to send off Dowman for aiming a kick towards Harrison Neal, Arteta was unimpressed with the 16-year-old, giving him a stern word as the midfielder trudged off.

Arteta’s reaction on the touchline was criticised by some pundits, who felt he should have been more sympathetic towards Dowman, who is now starting an immediate three-game ban for violent conduct after Arsenal lost an appeal against his red card and punishment.

But an unrepentant Arteta defended his response to Dowman’s red card in a pre-match press conference yesterday ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Liverpool.

“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 (for the match).

“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... 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.”

Dowman has been carefully nurtured by Arsenal since making his debut when he was just 15.

“We look after him so much but at the same time we’re going to be demanding because he needs to earn the right to play, just like everybody else,” said Arteta, whose side are level on points with Premier League leaders Manchester City

“It is not the first time. It happened another time this month with England (Under-19s). And it will continue to happen because of the way he plays and the way he attracts opponents and that’s it.

“We have to be able to tell each other what we think because he is 16 and we have to be very protective of him, but at the same time very straight with him about what we expect of him towards the team, individuals and the club.”

Arteta, himself a former Arsenal midfielder, insisted he had “no issues” with Dowman as the Spanish boss lamented the failure of the Gunners’ appeal.

“I’m very disappointed to be fair, especially with the reckless tackles that he received, and then his reaction is minimal in relation to the action,” he said. — AFP

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伦敦，10 月 31 日——在阿森纳爆冷输给弱旅弗利特伍德的联赛杯比赛中，少年新星马克斯·道曼被罚下场后，阿森纳主教练米克尔·阿尔特塔警告他“这里不是迪士尼乐园”。

英超冠军在周二的第四轮比赛中遭遇了队史最耻辱的失利之一，常规时间双方战成 1-1 平，最终在点球大战中以 3-5 负于第四级别联赛球队弗利特伍德。

更糟糕的是，在常规时间结束前五分钟，道曼被红牌罚下。

尽管将道曼罚下场的决定看起来很严厉，因为他踢向了哈里森·尼尔，但阿尔特塔对这位 16 岁的球员并不满意，当这位中场球员拖着疲惫的身躯离开球场时，阿尔特塔严厉地训斥了他几句。

阿尔特塔在场边的反应受到了一些评论员的批评，他们认为他应该对道曼更加同情，道曼因暴力行为被禁赛三场，此前阿森纳对他的红牌和处罚提出的上诉被驳回。

但阿尔特塔在昨天阿森纳客场挑战利物浦的赛前新闻发布会上，毫不悔改地为自己对道曼红牌的反应进行了辩护。

“我明白。但你需要了解事情的背景，我和他之间的关系，以及我们在比赛前讨论的内容。

“你想看看他队友们的反应吗？当他们不得不以10人应战时，你想看看他们的反应吗？你期待什么？我不知道……这就是环境，这就是现实。”

“否则，我们就如同置身迪士尼乐园。我们不在迪士尼乐园，我们身处英超联赛。”

自 15 岁首次代表阿森纳出场以来，道曼一直受到阿森纳的精心培养。

“我们非常照顾他，但同时我们也会对他提出要求，因为他需要像其他人一样，通过努力赢得上场机会，”阿尔特塔说道。他的球队目前与英超领头羊曼城积分相同。

“这并非第一次。本月早些时候，他代表英格兰U19队出战时也发生过类似情况。而且这种情况还会继续发生，因为他的比赛方式以及他吸引对手的方式就是如此。”

“我们必须能够互相表达自己的想法，因为他只有16岁，我们必须非常保护他，但同时也要坦诚地告诉他，我们对他作为球队、个人和俱乐部的期望是什么。”

阿尔特塔本人曾是阿森纳的中场球员，他坚称自己与道曼“没有任何问题”，这位西班牙主帅对枪手的上诉失败表示遗憾。

“说实话，我非常失望，尤其是考虑到他遭受的那些鲁莽铲球，而他的反应却与这些行为完全不成比例，”他说。——法新社

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