LONDON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said teenager Max Dowman must learn to cope with the demands of elite football after the winger's red card in the League Cup defeat at fourth-tier Fleetwood Town, with the 16-year-old having to serve a three-match suspension.
Dowman, who will miss Sunday's Premier League trip to Liverpool, was sent off in the 85th minute of Tuesday's fourth-round loss after an altercation with defender Harrison Neal as Arsenal lost 5-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
"This is the environment, this is the reality. We are not in Disneyland, we are in the Premier League," Arteta told a press conference on Friday following criticism from football fans over his reaction to Dowman after the red card.
