McManaman destroys ‘absolutely awful’ Atletico man as Keown pulled up over Arteta double standards

Will Ford 30 Apr 2026 8:28 AM

Steve McManaman on punditry duty.

Steve McManaman fumed at the “awful behaviour” of Diego Simeone during Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Viktor Gyokeres gave Arsenal the lead from the spot after he was bundled over in the box by Dávid Hancko, before Julian Alvarez also converted a penalty to level the tie following a Ben White handball.

There was late controversy when referee Danny Makkelie overturned his decision to award Arsenal another penalty for a Hancko foul on Eberechi Eze after being asked to consult his pitch-side monitor.

And MacManaman fumed at VAR after the game before taking aim at Simeone.

“We are talking about VAR again,” McManaman said on TNT Sports. “I absolutely hate it – hate, hate, hate it. It spoils the game.

“I look at the behaviour of Diego Simeone and his assistants when the referee was trying to come over to the monitor – it was atrocious. The constant haranguing of the fourth official.

“Once he gives it and there’s contact, it’s not a clear and obvious error, he shouldn’t go back to re-ref it again. It baffles me but I thought he had an awful game.

“If that happened in the opposite box, Simeone would be going apoplectic for a penalty, and his behaviour is awful, honestly it’s awful.”

He added: “We could see what was going on and his behaviour and his No 2 was terrible, absolutely awful. That’s why people don’t like the dark arts and Atletico Madrid.”

Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown was similarly frustrated by the refereeing and Simeone’s impact on the officials from the touchline.

He said: “I simply don’t think it was clear and obvious. The referee should be able to referee the game. The VAR has got too involved. It is not what we wanted with VAR, it’s not part of the protocol really.

“Simeone though, his actions on the sidelines… the drama that he creates and the scenes around it… the referee in the end I thought buckled under the pressure, went to the screen and didn’t stand by his decision. I don’t think he should have even been made to go to the screen.”

He added: “You need to keep your decorum after a game, and I don’t want to go too far with it, but something was very wrong there tonight. He orchestrates the crowd here but he orchestrates the officials too. He creates a drama.”

A clearly irritated Steven Gerrard then pulled Keown up over his double standards, insisting “Arteta does that as well”.

Keown replied: “Not with the same success of this man, he is a master.”

Arsenal Martin Keown