by Starfish »
18 Oct 2010 01:53
Hoop Blah There was no malice is Shawcross or Taylor's tackles against Wengers players but he still went off on one about both.
Wilshire's was a similar reckless uncontrolled tackle that could've caused serious injury and Wenger's post match interview where he refused to admit it just shows how he's not concerned with the bigger picture, just with putting pressure on refs to give his team a break (no pun intended).
We all know that there was no 'malice'. Neither of those players set out to break legs, but they did. And although I also find it very difficult to accept Wenger's selective blindness, I have to say that there is a hell of a lot of 'missing the point' being posted on this thread. Wenger may be guilty of trying to influence referees (something the likes of Alex Ferguson or Mourinho would never ever dream of, of course) but we have had posters on this thread claiming that RVP's stupidly (basically) pushing a goalkeeper over was an horrific tackle - Wenger's point over the past few years has been (and I am pretty sure that I have said this elsewhere on this thread) that some teams play 'deliberately' a more physical game when they play against Arsenal. It's Arsenal's 'weakness' and a weakness is something to be exploited and this has seen broken legs. Shawcross & Taylor did not want to break legs but it is very likely that their managers sent them out with clear instructions to ruffle feathers.
There have been 'quote number' players sent off in Wenger's time at Arsenal. Wenger (correctly) points out (every given opportunity, granted) that Arsenal have been, disciplinarily, among the best behaved teams over the past five or six seasons. After match interview - put yourself in the position of a manager. Do your best - I am not condoning it but I am just trying to put myself in another man's shoes. Think about how emotional you are at games and try for a moment to imagine how a manager must feel.
Situation 1 : One of your players has just been sent off for a rash tackle - the player is an 18 year old guy whose career you have in your hands - he's made a stupid mistake but the guy he fouled is still ultimately capable of playing on (if I am wrong about that, I accept my mistake) - cover your player - take the fury on your own shoulders. I would.
Situation 2, Situation 3, Situation 4 : Opponents of yours play physically again and again against you because that is your weakness, it would seem. No malice but a couple of late tackles here and there result in players you work with day in, day out, with bones poking through skin. You come off the pitch having witnessed players from your team weeping because of what they've seen and you are asked how you feel. How do you feel?
Teams approach games against Arsenal with a plan of how to stop them and every now and again, something goes wrong. No one wants to see legs broken but, well, it has happened. And against Arsenal, the team that are beatable because they can't take a physical game. 'There was no malice in Shawcross or Taylor's tackles against Wenger's players but he still went off on one about both.' And you cannot for the life of you imagine why?
