Jamie Carragher: Mikel Arteta is becoming the new Sir Alex Ferguson

Jamie Carragher believes Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is "becoming the Sir Alex Ferguson of the Premier League" following his fierce criticism of the penalty awarded against his team in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Sunderland.

An enraged Arteta labeled the second-half penalty, which was subsequently saved, as "unacceptable" after referee John Brooks pointed to the spot for a foul by Arsenal defender Ezri Konsa on Dan Ballard. The Gunners have since sought an explanation from the PGMOL regarding the decision.

Arteta's fury prompted Carragher to draw parallels with former Manchester United boss Ferguson, who was renowned for his public criticism of referees, even when his team was the dominant force in the country.

Arsenal did not concede a single penalty last season en route to winning the title, and Carragher suggests that "don" Arteta is leveraging his status as Premier League champion to influence refereeing decisions.

"This was Mikel Arteta becoming the Sir Alex Ferguson of the Premier League right now," he stated on "Monday Night Football." "He's the don right now; he's the Premier League champion. There are a lot of new managers... he's been in his job for six or seven years, and he feels he's in a position of power to say, 'Yeah, that wasn't a penalty.' And I don't think it was a penalty. But it will be interesting to see how long it takes for another referee to give a penalty against Arsenal in a similar situation. It struck me as very interesting in the press conference; one of the journalists noted that no matter what question you asked him, he kept coming back to the penalty, so he was determined to make the point that this wouldn't happen to his club again."

"But that's what managers do – we've seen it with Sir Alex Ferguson, we've seen it with Jose Mourinho."