A Tale of 3 Enemies

On a sun drenched afternoon in North London, 3 highly unpopular figures among the 60,000 crowd at Ashburton Grove marched off the field. They were wearing neither the red of Arsenal nor the black of Manchester United.

Referee Chris Foy and his assistants were jeered off the pitch as the 3D Cameras captures some very poor refereeing. A clear handball by Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic was waved away leaving the faithful at the Clock End stunned along with the Manchester United fans who breathed a sigh of relief.

My seat at the Emirates was directly in line with the position assistant referee Andy Garratt at the moment the incident occurred. Strangely, other than Mr. Garratt, everyone around me including the Manchester United fans, managed to spot Vidic’s hand flying out to deny van Persie a goal scoring opportunity from Walcott’s cross.

It was far from the only mistake within the first 45 minutes that Foy and his assistants were responsible. Challenges from Vidic and Fabio went unpunished while Foy managed to also get himself in the way of 3 Arsenal passes within the first half.

Manchester United also had grounds for complaint in second half for a penalty denied to Michael Owen. It was a big call at that stage of the game as Ferguson pointed out rather cynically in his post-match interview. To suggest his side do not get the big decisions is insane. United have got lucky many a times this season and if Fergie really believes his side are hard done by then perhaps he would join me in the away travels when Dowd done fantastically in Newcastle, or mysterious 4 minutes of added time post Liverpool game. Maybe Ferguson would like to replay the reverse fixture at Old Trafford in the winter when Ferdinand got away with a kung-fu kick on Sagna and Howard Webb pointing to the spot for an alleged "deliberate handball".



Decisions have not been kind to us for a long time now. Atleast not as kind as the blue side of London had yesterday as Chelsea watched Sunday's game eagerly. Arsenal played the better football and the result reflected the quality of football played by two giants of the English League.

The likes of van Persie, Walcott, Nasri, Wilshere, Ramsey, Arshavin and Fabregas pose a better attacking unit than Manchester United have. However, along with a solid defence, Manchester United has something that Wenger cannot teach his talented squad; a winning mentality and a battling quality that only champions possess.

Since February, results have not gone Arsenal’s way and the Carling Cup Final was arguably the most important game in the clubs recent history. Sections of the footballing world write off the importance of the League cup but forget that it is this competition that can push players to an extra level with a positive mental preparation for a final sprint to the finish.

Great players of the past, the likes of Adams, Roy Keane, Vieira and Hansen have all said that to do it the first time is the most difficult. Had we won that game against Birmingham, Sunday’s game would’ve been far from a meaningless game for Arsenal.

Wenger said before the game “90% Manchester United will win the title. They have been efficient offensively and defensively”.

And despite criticism and shortcomings in certain areas, United have used the efficiency and mental strength from past seasons to place themselves in the driving seat this season.

Samir Nasri said in the Arsenal match day programme “For me the difference between the sides is that we always try to play good football, while Manchester [United] are not scared to drop back, wait for their opponent and play on the counter. They are used to playing like that and we are not - that’s the big difference. We are used to playing our football and always try to score one more goal than the opponent. It’s difficult to change that approach just game by game, maybe that’s what we need to add next year”

It’s a valid point made by Nasri who produced an impressive first half performance before being substituted due to a hamstring scare.

The afternoon however belonged to the young Welshman Aaron Ramsey, who ironically snubbed a move to Old Trafford for red and white of Arsenal. He described his performance as, “the happiest day since I broke my leg”.

A year after the horrific tackle at Stoke City, Ramsey produced a magnificent display to cap his comeback from the double leg fracture with a goal. His work rate from kick off made it very difficult for the United midfielders and Ji-Sung Park was the culprit for failing to track Ramsey’s run as the Welshman latched on to van Persie’s cut back to score what proved to be the winner as Park was left watching
The win was justified as Manchester United looked far from champions and out of ideas while the Gunners were out to enjoy their football for the remainder of the season. A strange season continues to unfold and the only thing that is certain is that the title race is still on!

No style in English Football

Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas has highlighted exactly what is wrong with English football. Fabregas’ interview with Telegraph should no doubt turn some heads in the FA as to what kind of an approach is needed in England. He explains how constant demand to win neglects what the primary purpose of football is.

“In Spain, we believe in one style of football. The way we play is the most important. It’s about how you do it. You will never play the ball longer or do some things you are not used to. We want to win playing football. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen but we want to be the best this way. We did it last summer and we want to keep doing it”

Footballistically, the culture and expectation around Europe is staggering compared what we witness in England. Bert van Marwijk, the Dutch manager that led them to the World Cup finals was constantly slaughtered in the Dutch media for his style of football throughout the World Cup as was Dunga, though as much as I despise them for reasons unknown, I must admit watching Brazil in the World Cup I thought was fantastic.

The approach we in England take to football has given us no recognition of any sort for years and although the country can boast having the best league in the world, the fact of the matter is that it is the foreign players that light up the league.

Teams can play with defensive long ball tactics against tougher opposition. That is understandable when so much is at stake in the game. Whereas a game watching Stoke play Blackburn can be interesting to see how many players leave unscathed, we can be assured that the rest of the world would be sitting there having a good old laugh at us.

“Here in England it is passion and the fans love it when there are hard tackles and you play long balls and counter-attack. If you do that in Spain they will boo you.”

“…because they are used to another kind of football. Here [in England] if you play good football, good football, good football and you don’t win then they can boo you for the opposite. You have to believe in your style and go for it”

Football is an entertainment business and that is the truth of the matter. In recent days however, we have seen the word “entertainment” removed from the phrase. And it is exactly the reason why England always fail at the major international stage. There is a lack of discipline among the players mixed with a complete disregard for what the game stands for.

Over the past 6 or 7 years, other than Wayne Rooney at Everton/Manchester United and Steven Gerrard, there hasn’t been any English players that would turn a head in World football like Iniesta, Ronaldo, Fabregas and Messi would.

“In Spain they make you study and have discipline,”

“You can be a good footballer, but if you don’t study, if you don’t behave, if you don’t have the discipline to get to training on time and eat well then they don’t care if you’re the best."

“Discipline and humility is very important. If you think you’re better than the others they’ll put you on the bench straight away. "

“They want the kids to be good but they want it to be that when they get into the first team, they behave the same way they did at 16."

"And that’s the most important thing because now it is very easy at 17 to become a first-team player, get some money and to go back down again because you think you have made it. But in Spain they would never let you do that. If that happened you would be out of the team straight away.”

It is hard to imagine how a player like Kevin Davies with some 120 goals and some 112 yellow cards can go home on a Saturday evening sit down and think, “I enjoyed my football today”. How do you enjoy playing football when all you’re doing through a game is watching out for when the long ball comes in and then bask in the glory of beating it past a defender by wrestling him to the ground?

“Sometimes my family couldn’t find me. You are out on the street. you came back at 12 o’clock at night and rested and then got up on Sunday morning and did it again. It was like this. One of the things you see in Spain a lot is that when you go, especially in small towns, on the street you play street football with your friends.”

"You cut your knees badly but you still stand up and play and it’s important to do that at this age. From there, players progress in a certain way."

“You fall on the floor, you stand up, you hit a wall, you sometimes break some windows. That is the beauty of football in Spain.”

There are no technically gifted players in the England team as there is of the robust energy powerhouse players which is useful to have, but causes an imbalance.

Rest assured, the new generation of players coming through to the English team have promising abilities. Jack Wilshere, Rodwell of Everton and Adam Johnson from Manchester City look the part in what is needed start undertaking a new philosophy in football

“I’m sure you have the players, but you have to find your own style. We were not born like it but we were taught to play like it.”