Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Wenger fury at 'repeated fouls'

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Wenger fury at 'repeated fouls'

    [BBC]

    Manager Arsene Wenger has accused Manchester United of adopting "anti-football" tactics during Saturday's 2-1 victory over his Arsenal side.

    Wenger also claimed referee Mike Dean allowed the champions to "repeatedly foul" Arsenal players during the match.

    He said: "I have seen a player make 20 fouls without getting a yellow card.

    "If you have seen the game, you don't need me to tell you who but their player gets away without a yellow card. It's quite amazing," stormed Wenger.

    After a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford in 2004, Wenger claimed United had directly targeted his players.

    This time, the Arsenal manager said the home team's approach went continually unpunished by Dean.

    The referee, from the Wirral, issued nine yellow cards during the game, with six going to Arsenal, who will now face a Football Association fine for failing to control their players during the fixture.

    But with United midfielders Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick emerging from the game without bookings, Wenger claims that persistent fouling has now become a greater problem than diving.

    That has become a hot topic again following Uefa's decision to charge Gunners forward Eduardo for simulation during the Champions League victory against Celtic last Wednesday.

    Another Arsenal player, Emmanuel Eboue, was cautioned for diving on Saturday.

    But Wenger said: "I have seen today a player [Eduardo] who plays only on the pitch, but there are other points that for me are more urgent - players who play only to make fouls, who make repeated fouls and are never punished.

    "They get out of the game without a yellow card, but I think it is more anti-football than a player who did what Eduardo did.

    "I have seen a player make 20 fouls without getting a yellow card. If you have seen the game, you don't need me to tell you who but their player gets away without a yellow card. It's quite amazing."

    First-half fouls by Carrick on Denilson, Eboue and Bacary Sagna, along with free-kicks conceded by Fletcher for challenges on Eboue and Alex Song, resulted in no yellow cards being issued by Dean, prompting bemusement from Wenger.

    He said: "I don't know [why they went unpunished]. You should ask the referees. I don't know.

    "Look at how many deliberate fouls some players make and get away with it. I think that's a bigger problem because it cuts the flow of the game every time.

    "People come and pay to see football. They do not come to see free-kicks."

    When asked whether United had deliberately set out to foul his players, Wenger was cautious, saying: "I don't know that. You should ask them.'

    Scotland captain Fletcher was swift to defend his performance, however.

    He said: "I enjoyed the challenge of going up against Arsenal in a big game and I did what I normally do. I made some tackles and got about the opposition. No different to any other game. It just gets noted more in the big games.

    "Arsenal play a high pressing game and made it difficult for us to get out, but in the second half we upped the tempo, we pressed them, got the fans behind us."

    In a previous interview, Wenger had also hinted that home advantage may have played a part in the award of a penalty to United during the match.

    With the visitors leading in the second half, Dean pointed to the spot after Wayne Rooney was apparently tripped by goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

    "It was Old Trafford-ish. We know how things work," said Wenger.

    To put the seal on a difficult week for the Frenchman, Wenger was also sent from the dug-out after a Robin van Persie goal was ruled out.

    "I just kicked a bottle of water. I did it because I was disappointed, not because I thought it wasn't offside," said Wenger, who was sent off deep in injury time.

    "The fourth official called the referee over and he sent me off. I don't know what to say. I didn't even know where to go.

    "I didn't know you were not allowed to kick a water bottle, although it was a good kick."

    Rooney picked himself up from the Almunia challenge to level from 12 yards before Abou Diaby's own goal sealed Wenger's misery.

    Earlier in the match, Wenger had seen his own side's appeals for a penalty waved away after Darren Fletcher's untidy tackle on Andrey Arshavin.

    "Maybe I'm not the most objective," the Frenchman said. "But I believe it was a penalty."
    "The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
    -- William Blake

    #2
    I think Wenger has a point (Vidic in particular seems to get away with murder - it's easy to dominate in teh air when the referee allows you to swing your elbows like that I imagine) but more generally I have noted that United and a number of other teams tend to use cynical fouls as an organised part of their defense. Bolton seemed to do it against us in wide areas and unusually the referee seemed to handle it well I thought. We also do it but being as we get punished for every other freekick we give away with a goal against I think we should probably stop it.

    It's one of the things that really annoys me about the game at present - that cynical fouls seem to be accepted and don't get punished on a regular basis with cards.
    "The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
    -- William Blake

    Comment


      #3
      He's a whinging, hypocritical ******* but I have to admit I said the same thing during the game. The Mancs often adopt those tactics against Arsenal (Neville assaulting Reyes continually for example) and seem to get away with it. Pisses me off. Mr Ferguson likes to try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes by making out they're a pure attacking team but they're ****ing alehouse at times, and they know by doing it at OT referees will be scared to put a stop to it.
      Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

      Comment


        #4
        A hypocritical ******* of the highest order. Really have lost a lot of respect for this guy this season. Trying his best to divert attention from the shameless, and quite frankly embarassingly cringeworthy actions of Eboue and his own sending off.
        "Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob Paisley

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by dww View Post
          I think Wenger has a point (Vidic in particular seems to get away with murder - it's easy to dominate in teh air when the referee allows you to swing your elbows like that I imagine) but more generally I have noted that United and a number of other teams tend to use cynical fouls as an organised part of their defense. Bolton seemed to do it against us in wide areas and unusually the referee seemed to handle it well I thought. We also do it but being as we get punished for every other freekick we give away with a goal against I think we should probably stop it.

          It's one of the things that really annoys me about the game at present - that cynical fouls seem to be accepted and don't get punished on a regular basis with cards.
          Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Tee View Post
            A hypocritical ******* of the highest order. Really have lost a lot of respect for this guy this season. Trying his best to divert attention from the shameless, and quite frankly embarassingly cringeworthy actions of Eboue and his own sending off.
            That's the flip-side - selective blindness.
            Thanks very much for being ‘This Mornings’ Farmer’

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
              He's a whinging, hypocritical ******* but I have to admit I said the same thing during the game. The Mancs often adopt those tactics against Arsenal (Neville assaulting Reyes continually for example) and seem to get away with it. Pisses me off. Mr Ferguson likes to try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes by making out they're a pure attacking team but they're ****ing alehouse at times, and they know by doing it at OT referees will be scared to put a stop to it.
              This season without a good CM partnership (I actually quite rate all their CMs, except Anderson who has regressed, but with Hargreaves buggered none of them complement one another at all) they will be worse IMO and rely on their reputation to escape punishment.
              "The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
              -- William Blake

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by dww View Post
                This season without a good CM partnership (I actually quite rate all their CMs, except Anderson who has regressed, but with Hargreaves buggered none of them complement one another at all) they will be worse IMO and rely on their reputation to escape punishment.
                Exactly what I was thinking during the game!!
                "Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob Paisley

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Shaggy View Post
                  He's a whinging, hypocritical ******* but I have to admit I said the same thing during the game. The Mancs often adopt those tactics against Arsenal (Neville assaulting Reyes continually for example) and seem to get away with it. Pisses me off. Mr Ferguson likes to try and pull the wool over everyone's eyes by making out they're a pure attacking team but they're ****ing alehouse at times, and they know by doing it at OT referees will be scared to put a stop to it.
                  At times?

                  They're always this way. Mancs are the most cynical side in world football, attacking team my arse, they're all about counter attacks and winning set pieces as well as kicking the other team if they're better than them at passing a football. Sometimes they destroy some **** side and people brand them as this football machine nonsense. Only reason they get away with it is because the refs allow them to. Vidic is especially a complete disgrace. If he was playing for us, he'd have been sent off 10 times a season.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by dww View Post
                    [BBC]

                    "It was Old Trafford-ish. We know how things work," said Wenger.


                    "I didn't know you were not allowed to kick a water bottle, although it was a good kick."
                    Good man Wenger. The more high profile managers there are that talk about the Old Toilet effect, the more chance of it slowly diminishing.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X