Within the 37 pages of legal explanation clearing Mikel Arteta of his misconduct charge is one striking, watershed conclusion: that attacking Var, and all its myriad deficiencies, is now a form of protected speech. As histrionic as the Spaniard’s rant was after Arsenal lost at Newcastle last month, calling Var “embarrassing” and a “disgrace”, an independent panel chaired by a King’s Counsel found these labels were perfectly legitimate in the context of the system’s chronic failures. The case of