Referee Howard Webb looks down at an injured Lukas Podolski of Arsenal as Mathieu Flamini of Arsenal looks on (Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)
Former Premier League referee Howard Webb has stated his belief that Arsenal were easy to referee because they were too often ‘bullied’ on the pitch.
The 45-year-old has been reflecting on his time taking charge of some of the biggest names and games in world football, recently admitting that he chickened out of sending off Cristiano Ronaldo in a Manchester derby.
Speaking now about the easiest sets of players to handle, Webb named Arsenal as something of a soft touch because of their mental fragility in comparison to their opponents.
The Gunners have a reputation for being something of a soft touch under Arsene Wenger, and Webb’s take on their mentality has backed up that consensus.
‘Arsenal became easier to referee over time,’ he told BBC 5 Live.
‘When I first started they were quite a daunting team to referee, they would get into your head. They got easier and you got the sense that other teams bullied them on the pitch a little bit.
”And then they’d react in a really obvious, a really naive way. I thought they were too naive as a team.’
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