Arsene Wenger Aims Mysterious Criticism at Referee After Man United vs. Arsenal

Arsene Wenger has launched a bizarre attack on referee Michael Oliver in the wake of Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The Gunners' boss—who saw his side’s lead cut to two points at the top of the Premier League—criticised the man in charge without zoning in on an incident to back up his claims, as reported by Neil Ashton of the Daily Mail:

"

I need to buy some Christmas presents and all these fines cost me, but the referee got some major decisions wrong. I felt we were nervous at the start and we didn’t play our game. We missed a few times to push the ball in the net. We could have got a draw.

"

Oliver, who wasn’t called into making many major decisions during the tightly fought match, appeared to do everything that was asked of him.

Arsenal certainly weren’t on the end of any great injustices and these may be the comments of a manager who was fired up in the aftermath of a huge loss.

Wenger’s fury remains unfair, especially if he has no specific incident to pinpoint, suggesting the Frenchman felt a tinge of pressure heading into the international break.

If anything, the worst call of the day came when Phil Jones was booked for accidentally clashing heads with Wojciech Szczesny, a decision that pushed the versatile Manchester United destroyer onto a tightrope for the rest of the match.

Wenger also found time to address that horrific coming together, which saw his goalkeeper remain motionless during the few seconds after contact.

Speaking after Andre Villas-Boas’ controversial decision to leave Hugo Lloris on the pitch when a similar incident occurred during Spurs' recent draw with Everton, Wenger confirmed he would never risk the health of his players to win a football match, per Callum Tennent of the Daily Mail:

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I listen to the doctor. If he says to me he has to come off, he comes off. No matter if we have seven men on the field, I do it. You have only one life and you have 60 games per year.

"

While Szczesny appeared to shake the painful encounter off, Arsenal’s aspirations of comfortably landing the Premier League title may have suffered a more permanent dent.

The Gunners enjoyed large periods of possession in Manchester—notching up a 60 percent total, per WhoScored—but couldn’t find a route beyond David De Gea in the United net.

Wenger is likely to be asked to explain his comments regarding Oliver, who may feel criticism of his performance is rather harsh.  

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