Soccer Football - Champions League - Group B - PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal - Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands - December 12, 2023 Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta looks on REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
(Reuters) - Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said he explained the pressure managers are under in his defence against an FA charge for his post-match comments about the match officials following their loss at Newcastle United.
Arteta avoided punishment when the FA's independent commission found a misconduct charge to be not proven after he branded the decision not to rule out Newcastle's controversial winner against Arsenal last month as an embarrassment and a disgrace.
"It was a really good process, it gave them the opportunity to explain how they felt, myself how I felt and the reasons behind it and the outcome is I'm not charged," Arteta told reporters ahead of Sunday's game against Brighton & Hove Albion.
"But we draw a line and look for how we can be much more constructive, learn from it and how to move forward. That is it, but it was good. I felt a lot of sympathy to be fair.
"Once I explained how we feel as managers sometimes, the pressure we are under and how important details are for our job... The reality last year was 14 managers lost their job, which is incredible. We depend on results, that is it."
Arsenal dropped to second in the league behind Liverpool after losing to Aston Villa last weekend.
Ahead of Brighton's visit, Arteta is looking for his team to bounce back, saying they must be "very efficient" against Roberto De Zerbi's side, who won 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium last season and effectively derailed Arsenal's title charge.
"We will try to do our best, we love winning and the team will do anything they can to win games. We showed that against Aston Villa. In my opinion, we were the better team and should have won the game," Arteta added.
"We will try our best against Brighton, a team that will try to make life very difficult for us for sure... They are a really good side."
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
