Author Topic: Wenger brands United tactics as "anti-football" (Read 3581 times)

freakazoid · « **on:** August 31, 2009, 04:54:53 AM »

Wenger brands United tactics as "anti-football"

By Soccernet staff

August 31, 2009

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has slammed Manchester United's methods of breaking up his side's play after they lost at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.

Wenger is angry after losing at Old Trafford

TomDulat/GettyImages

Wenger is angry after losing at Old Trafford

Wenger has spoken out after the defeat, claiming Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics were nothing short of "anti-football" - and he believes that is worse than Eduardo's alleged "dive" against Celtic in midweek.

The Gunners' boss launched a thinly veiled attack on United midfielder Darren Fletcher, who he claims is in the team purely to make tackles and is the chief culprit.

However, the match stats show that out of the seven players who committed the most fouls, five were from Arsenal.

"I have seen a player who plays on the pitch only to make fouls,'' he said. "For me, this is a point that is more urgent than diving.

"The players who are never punished, who get out of the game without a yellow card. I think it is more anti-football than a player who did what Eduardo did.

"Look at how many deliberate fouls some players get away with. That's a bigger problem because it cuts the flow of the game. And people pay to see football, not free-kicks.''

trinikev · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2009, 08:18:09 AM »

Ok now i think Arsenal were the better team on the day, and Man U did not deserve the victory. That said, Wenger grasping at straws here and sounding like a real crybaby. Take yuh loss like a man, jeez

Bitter · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2009, 08:24:47 AM »

Wenger just trying to see if he could get the refs to ease off his players.
"Is not us!, they only kicking we down and we does eventually retaliate"

Every team in the top 4 sees anti-football every week when they not playing each other.

GunnerStunner · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2009, 09:24:42 AM »

Quote from: Bitter on August 31, 2009, 08:24:47 AM

Wenger just trying to see if he could get the refs to ease off his players.
"Is not us!, they only kicking we down and we does eventually retaliate"

Every team in the top 4 sees anti-football every week when they not playing each other.

22 fouls by united 3 yellows
16fouls by arsenal 6 yellows and a penalty
fletcher levels arshavin in the box no penalty
rooney shows "gamesmanship" gets penalty
fair way to "win" a game, not angry at united, angry at reffs
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acb · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2009, 09:55:09 AM »

sounds similar to Guardiola in the CL last season versus Chelsea between the 1st and 2nd legs.

Peong · « **Reply #5 on:** August 31, 2009, 09:55:51 AM »

Oh gor man, the game coulda gone either way, blame yuh central midfielder for the loss, not Man U.
If it wasn't for Diaby the pts woulda been shared.

Small Magician aka Wazza · « **Reply #6 on:** August 31, 2009, 09:57:16 AM »

BM here.... when is Miss Universe and Miss World

Jah Gol · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2009, 10:04:43 AM »

Quote from: Small Magician aka Wazza on August 31, 2009, 09:57:16 AM

BM here.... when is Miss Universe and Miss World

Tenorsaw · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2009, 12:07:01 PM »

It too early for Wenger to start with he crying games. Can he not just take a loss and stop complaining?

weary1969 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2009, 12:18:51 PM »

Quote from: Tenorsaw on August 31, 2009, 12:07:01 PM

It too early for Wenger to start with he crying games. Can he not just take a loss and stop complaining?

Cosignnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

giggsy11 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 31, 2009, 12:31:49 PM »

Funny how he did not see it that way when several Arsenal players decided to kick the shite of Evra after he made some unflatering remarks about arsenal after the CL win. Oh that right; he did not see it!

fari · « **Reply #11 on:** August 31, 2009, 12:39:36 PM »

Quote from: giggsy11 on August 31, 2009, 12:31:49 PM

Funny how he did not see it that way when several Arsenal players decided to kick the shite of Evra after he made some unflatering remarks about arsenal after the CL win. Oh that right; he did not see it!

evra have no grace...is one thing to be a poor loser but oh gorm man, manu won the game convincingly. manu players would have done de same if the shoe was on the other foot. wenger talking specifically about fletcher here...on any other ground he would have had at least a yellow card, the amount of wildman tackle he make...my god

Bakes · « **Reply #12 on:** August 31, 2009, 12:46:20 PM »

Quote from: trinikev on August 31, 2009, 08:18:09 AM

Ok now i think Arsenal were the better team on the day, and Man U did not deserve the victory. That said, Wenger grasping at straws here and sounding like a real crybaby. Take yuh loss like a man, jeez

Nah Fletcher was out ah control on Saturday... ref let him get away with murder, including the non-call on the two-foot take down of Arshavin in the box.

GunnerStunner need to hush with the "gamesmanship" talk though... yuh didn't see Almunia raising too much of a fuss after Rooney fell. In fact if anything all you saw on his face was resignation, he knew right away what time it was.

giggsy11 · « **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:03:51 PM »

Quote from: fari on August 31, 2009, 12:39:36 PM

Quote from: giggsy11 on August 31, 2009, 12:31:49 PM
Funny how he did not see it that way when several Arsenal players decided to kick the shite of Evra after he made some unflatering remarks about arsenal after the CL win. Oh that right; he did not see it!

evra have no grace...is one thing to be a poor loser but oh gorm man, manu won the game convincingly. manu players would have done de same if the shoe was on the other foot. wenger talking specifically about fletcher here...on any other ground he would have had at least a yellow card, the amount of wildman tackle he make...my god

I understand what you are saying and I do agree it was graceless of Evra to say what he and others may have been thinking. But how what the Arsenal players did was for football? My point is Arsene9 as does Fergie or any manager always gripe about what they don't like when they don't get the decision or result. Arsene9 has always griped about this but I have never heard him complain when he had Viera, Petit and Adams roughing up opposition players and getting away with it or the history of unsportsman like conduct that has led to many players under his watch being sent off. Whenever it is done to his players is 'anti-football'.

triniairman · « **Reply #14 on:** August 31, 2009, 01:09:48 PM »

Quote from: Bake n Shark on August 31, 2009, 12:46:20 PM

Quote from: trinikev on August 31, 2009, 08:18:09 AM
Ok now i think Arsenal were the better team on the day, and Man U did not deserve the victory. That said, Wenger grasping at straws here and sounding like a real crybaby. Take yuh loss like a man, jeez

Nah Fletcher was out ah control on Saturday... ref let him get away with murder, including the non-call on the two-foot take down of Arshavin in the box.

GunnerStunner need to hush with the "gamesmanship" talk though... yuh didn't see Almunia raising too much of a fuss after Rooney fell. In fact if anything all you saw on his face was resignation, he knew right away what time it was.

I have to applaud you BnS, I been reading your comments for this game, and you being a liverpool man has shown no bias attitude. What does get me , is when we lose, they quick to write all kinda ta ta bout Man.United, and when we win, they call us cheats or it was a lucky win, in this case I think it was a lucky win.

acb · « **Reply #15 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:03:06 PM »

Quote from: triniairman on August 31, 2009, 01:09:48 PM

What does get me , is when we lose, they quick to write all kinda ta ta bout Man.United, and when we win, they call us cheats or it was a lucky win, in this case I think it was a lucky win.

triniairman · « **Reply #16 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:15:04 PM »

Quote from: acb on August 31, 2009, 02:03:06 PM

Quote from: triniairman on August 31, 2009, 01:09:48 PM
What does get me , is when we lose, they quick to write all kinda ta ta bout Man.United, and when we win, they call us cheats or it was a lucky win, in this case I think it was a lucky win.

At least I being honest, we were lucky to come away with the win, I thought both teams played at the same level and should have come away with a draw. When I think of Arsenal missing some key players, and Man.United having most of their first team players available, minus Ferdinand and VDS, I have to wonder about this season. I believe that Ronaldo money is going towards the club's debt, I don't think Fergie has that money to spend, so I can't blame him for not buying top quality players for this season. The Glazers f@cking up the club.

PS. I saw what you highlighted...like I said in this case it was a lucky win

acb · « **Reply #17 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:18:39 PM »

As usual I disagree with 99.99% of Paul Parker's assessment because I think it doesn't come any dumber than this, but this bumbling idiot is typical of the type of fans that support ManUre.

Quote

Wenger can't handle rough stuff
Mon Aug 31 03:16PM

I was surprised to hear Arsene Wenger's comments about the way they were beaten by Manchester United, describing their physical performance as "anti-football".

The way football is played in the Premier League these days there aren't really any sides who you could call rough, not in the same way that they used to be.

I have got a lot of time for Wenger, I really appreciate the type of football that he preaches, but I can't agree with him on this one.

It was good to see him showing emotion, such as when he kicked that bottle when their late goal was disallowed and got sent to the stands, but his comments afterwards are the sort of thing that annoys people about him.

In my opinion, Arsenal were very unlucky to come away from that game with nothing, and that should have been the main topic of discussion afterwards, rather than Wenger complaining because his team could not compete physically.

When you look back to the Arsenal side that I played against, with players like Tony Adams and Martin Keown, and even Ian Wright and Alan Smith up front, they had players that could handle tough matches.

Sometimes you have to play a certain way in order to beat a team, and Arsenal have struggled to play against physical teams - like Bolton for example. If you can't win by outplaying the opposition, then you must do whatever else you can, and that goes for the top sides too.

In last season's Champions League semi-final, Chelsea they knew they had no hope of beating Barcelona by playing football, so they tried their best to bully their way to victory.

We would love to play a nice open game the whole time, but nobody is going to let you do that - football is about earning the right.

Arsenal are the best side in terms of pure football, but to win week in, week out you need to be able to deal with whatever is thrown at you.

A lot of people will have been saying that it's impossible to get a penalty at Old Trafford after Darren Fletcher's tackle on Andriy Arshavin, but I don't believe there is anything in that.

That sort of decision happens at every ground, but it only becomes a talking point when it's a big game.

Referee Mike Dean just didn't believe that what he saw constituted a foul because he didn't see it clearly enough, and what you can't see you can't give.

Wenger has often said that he couldn't see an incident, so now he will just have to accept that it was the referee who did not see something enough.

It's easy to start thinking that decisions always seem to favour the big clubs. When I was a player at Fulham and QPR I used to complain about it, but it's just one of those things you have to accept. What goes around comes around.

Quote

...Sometimes you have to play a certain way in order to beat a team, and Arsenal have struggled to play against physical teams - like Bolton for example. If you can't win by outplaying the opposition, then you must do whatever else you can, and that goes for the top sides too.

In last season's Champions League semi-final, Chelsea they knew they had no hope of beating Barcelona by playing football, so they tried their best to bully their way to victory.

We would love to play a nice open game the whole time, but nobody is going to let you do that - football is about earning the right...

Quite interesting, because it was bully tactics just a couple months ago, but now the tables are turned, Chelsea is playing the champagne football, and ManUre looks like sh!t. All that style has been compromised for a do-whatever-it-takes mentality. Let the ManUre fans roll with their rhetoric and useless drivel.

Quote

...A lot of people will have been saying that it's impossible to get a penalty at Old Trafford after Darren Fletcher's tackle on Andriy Arshavin, but I don't believe there is anything in that.

That sort of decision happens at every ground, but it only becomes a talking point when it's a big game.

Referee Mike Dean just didn't believe that what he saw constituted a foul because he didn't see it clearly enough, and what you can't see you can't give...

Just say that, That sort of decision happens at every ground, that Mike Riley referees a Manchester United game.

Mike Riley should not be allowed to call any Manchester United games in the future. I reckon that if he is prevented from calling United games in place of a fair referee, Manchester will probably sit mid-table at the end of the season - which is fair for the breaks that they receive from biased officiating, or bullying & intimidation from the part of their manager.

acb · « **Reply #18 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:20:49 PM »

Quote from: triniairman on August 31, 2009, 02:15:04 PM

Quote from: acb on August 31, 2009, 02:03:06 PM
Quote from: triniairman on August 31, 2009, 01:09:48 PM
What does get me , is when we lose, they quick to write all kinda ta ta bout Man.United, and when we win, they call us cheats or it was a lucky win, in this case I think it was a lucky win.

At least I being honest, we were lucky to come away with the win, I thought both teams played at the same level and should have come away with a draw. When I think of Arsenal missing some key players, and Man.United having most of their first team players available, minus Ferdinand and VDS, I have to wonder about this season. I believe that Ronaldo money is going towards the club's debt, I don't think Fergie has that money to spend, so I can't blame him for not buying top quality players for this season. The Glazers f@cking up the club.

PS. I saw what you highlighted...like I said in this case it was a lucky win

I just thought it was funny because of the irony and that you said that you get irritated whenever people chalk up a ManU win to cheating or getting lucky - and in this case you admitted that they got lucky.

giggsy11 · « **Reply #19 on:** August 31, 2009, 02:34:05 PM »

Mike Riley no longer refs games- he has some off the field position.

GunnerStunner · « **Reply #20 on:** August 31, 2009, 04:28:25 PM »

Quote from: giggsy11 on August 31, 2009, 12:31:49 PM

Funny how he did not see it that way when several Arsenal players decided to kick the shite of Evra after he made some unflatering remarks about arsenal after the CL win. Oh that right; he did not see it!

at least the arsenal players didnt pull a roy keane against some man city player he had a grude against and said he would do that before the game

GunnerStunner · « **Reply #21 on:** August 31, 2009, 04:31:50 PM »

Quote from: Peong on August 31, 2009, 09:55:51 AM

Oh gor man, the game coulda gone either way, blame yuh central midfielder for the loss, not Man U.
If it wasn't for Diaby the pts woulda been shared.

i not vex at manu, vex at the ref for a shitty display, and there is some minor vindication when wenger reieved an appology from the refferees association

PantherX · « **Reply #22 on:** September 01, 2009, 03:22:54 PM »

They don't call him Whingy Wenger for nothing

GunnerStunner · « **Reply #23 on:** September 02, 2009, 01:41:53 PM »

panter? may hay boy, allyuh cant stay on top the prem for ever, gallery, av a knees up wiv arry redknap!

PantherX · « **Reply #24 on:** September 05, 2009, 10:27:15 AM »

Whether we finish first or last has nothing to do with the fact that Wenger is the most annoying manager in football. The man have serious vintage whine.

elan · « **Reply #25 on:** September 05, 2009, 12:30:30 PM »

Quote from: Bake n Shark on August 31, 2009, 12:46:20 PM

Quote from: trinikev on August 31, 2009, 08:18:09 AM
Ok now i think Arsenal were the better team on the day, and Man U did not deserve the victory. That said, Wenger grasping at straws here and sounding like a real crybaby. Take yuh loss like a man, jeez

Nah Fletcher was out ah control on Saturday... ref let him get away with murder, including the non-call on the two-foot take down of Arshavin in the box.

GunnerStunner need to hush with the "gamesmanship" talk though... yuh didn't see Almunia raising too much of a fuss after Rooney fell. In fact if anything all you saw on his face was resignation, he knew right away what time it was.

No way that's a PK on Roonet BnS. No way at all, look at the eveidence below, Rooney already dragging he back foot, Aluminum collapse he hand as to not make contact ad then Rooney actually lie down on top Aluminum hand. No way that's a Pk, that's cheating.

PS

Rooney just went down softly again vs Slovenia or whoever they playing. Seeing a pattern here. Swan dive gone, Greg enters.

freakazoid · « **Reply #26 on:** September 05, 2009, 01:07:50 PM »

the one 2day wasnt a penalty in fact it looked like rooney committed the foul but the one against alumina was. yes rooney dragged his foot but once the keeper comes out to make that challenge and does not make contact with d ball. he have to take whatever he get

elan · « **Reply #27 on:** September 05, 2009, 02:50:54 PM »

Quote from: freakazoid on September 05, 2009, 01:07:50 PM

the one 2day wasnt a penalty in fact it looked like rooney committed the foul but the one against alumina was. yes rooney dragged his foot but once the keeper comes out to make that challenge and does not make contact with d ball. he have to take whatever he get

Dude what you watching. A penalty is when a defender impede an attacking player from scoring a goal. Rooney was in no position to score a goal. He is not dragging his foot he is going in down before contact is made and if you look you will see it is his leg that collide with Aluminum and not the other way around.

freakazoid · « **Reply #28 on:** September 05, 2009, 03:05:40 PM »

firstly a ref is never going to be ahead of such a play therefore the ref has to rely on the view from the back. the first thing he is going to ask himself is did the goalkeeper touch the ball? NO.
was there contact between keeper and player yes. thats a penalty. now after seeing replays we will be able to say rooney dragged his foot on the keeper, which he did. but i can never fault a ref for making that once the keeper does not touch the ball or isnt trying to pull out of the collision.

i dont know how u interpreting " in a position to score a goal" but any good player can score from that position.

anyways this aint my fight. barca all d way