Arsene Wenger has praised the commitment and physical nature of the English game, saying it makes players better.
There were erroneous press reports about the Arsenal manager’s reaction to Tuesday night’s game against Everton. For example, the Guardian ran with this story:
Yet what Wenger said was, “It’s a part of the game, and we had to deal with it … I don’t blame Everton.”
Obviously that’s not a headline that draws as many clicks, or a response from Leighton Baines, but when pressed on the issue at his press conference yesterday, the Frenchman said, “I don’t think it holds players back. In fact, the opposite, the foreign players who come to England improve and you get that aspect of the game as well.
“I have seen so many French players complain about the physicality when they arrived in England. I tell them it will take some time, but the intensity of the game will make them better players.
“It was worse 15 years ago than it is now, back then no-one would have spoken about the Carroll challenge, now everything is analysed on television.
“Some players complained and then, after they moved away, they missed the English game. When you look at some players, you cannot say the physicality of the game stops them from displaying their talent.
“When I brought Pires here, he was not an especially physical player, but no-one could stop him from playing his game – Overmars, Bergkamp, nobody could stop them.
“You cannot say it is physical or it is kicking, it is just that the commitment is high and that is what you want.”
But while mostly positive about the ‘art’ of tackling, Wenger admitted frustration at some of the injuries picked up by his players and admitted it’s difficult to gauge the intention of the opponent.
“What I regret is when it goes overboard and we lost some players like Eduardo and Diaby, who paid a high price for that aspect. It is a fine line, that is why I say it is the intention that counts.
“If you go a little bit over the ball, how can you tell if the guy did it on purpose or not? It is very difficult.”
Something wrong with le Boss’s memory as far as Overmars is concerned. Rememember Coventry? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/premier-league/4763458/Overmars-and-Petit-complete-long-goodbye.html
Hilarious article in retrospect when you consider that three years later we went 49 games unbeaten
Wenger used to sanction the brutality brothers – Patrick Viera was one of the most brutal footballers ever to (dis) grace the prem. Wenger has a memory as bad as his eyesight
The Patrick Viera I remember was just tough, fiercely competitive and uncompromising but not brutal by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe you remember a different Patrick Viera
Obvious troll is obvious.
Guess who the 1 thumbs down on your comment was
Are these trolls just bored Arsenal fans or some disgruntled media people?
Jurgen,
Are you the presenter on Talkshite Radio?
Yet his comments suggest he accepts this ‘brutality’ as u call it. Suppose u just needed to get that hate out regardless of context.
I’m sure I had Bittenhorst and spatzle once …
… now that was brutal.
When people talk about Viera, all they talk about is the way he would ‘kick chunks’ out the opposition. He was also a fantastic footballer. Dan Smith, Ryan Shawcross on the other hand…their game boils down to simply kicking chunks.
Oooooh matron.
Wash yourself afterwards!
We all love a good tackle; it is the bad and dangerous tackles we don’t appreciate. This is contact sport, not cuddling so one has to tackle and expect to be tackled. You just wish for the tackle to be fair and in conformity to the rules of the game. Some of the Everton tackles belonged to the WWE e.g. Gibson on Theo and Arsene was right to complain
I disagree. I don’t think Everton players went over the board. Except Fellaini who used his tentacles to slap and elbow every player on the pitch but he’s a cunt. You gotta admit that it’s enhanced by our playing style. Short passes, players like Wilshere Ramsey and Cazorla who can hold the ball very well, a lot of dribbles and we have the ball 60% of the time. The Everton match was correct and barely got over the edge as Wenger says.
There were a few contentious tackles… but none of them were really with malicious intent I think. The most I’m worried about is how that one guy fell on Cazorla’s knee… prem league fantasy has him as 75% unlikely but we’ll see…
And in defense of Fellaini, the man who headbutted an orc into submission; he did not headbutt any of us. Still yeah, he’s a bit dirty.
Well, I think the intentions of everton were clear enough on tuesday…
Looks like he’s given up on Diaby.
I think so too. I read between the lines and I think we have seen the last of the Frenchman. What a shame…
Not sure he’s ‘given up’. It just seems like he’s already paid a high price no matter what happens in future.
The headlines tomorrow morning in the papers
The mail : Wenger says English footballers not as good as the French
The sun : Arsene afraid of physical English play
The daily crap : “I… blame Everton” –
The xyz : Wenger goes on a rant against tough English football
It’s completely malicious now. We haven’t complained about physical games since 2010 when Ramsey had his leg broken. We are as much of a Richard the Lionheart team as those Northern teams are. But the airhead managers of other clubs, still live in fucking history. They read the mail/the sun, driving them to a baboon-like rage “expel le French!” “payback time for the Battle of Hastings in 1066” and order their players to go out playing in an over-the-top style they wouldn’t dare to use against Manure or even clubs with small players like Swansea. We are here to play… Read more »
To be fair to the headline writers Blogs, Mr Wenger did criticise the referee for not intervening in the first half against Everton. And Wenger did criticise the robustness of the challenges, and the referee foir not doing anything about it.
He criticised the referee, for sure, but not Everton.
I loved the game against Everton. Reminded me of how football was in the eighties. Apart from the obvious sending off for the tackle on theo I enjoyed the commitment and the battle of both teams.
And was nice to see an arsenal side stand up and give it back a bit too.
Couldn’t agree more mate. And it made for a cracking atmosphere.
Santi dealt with it outstandingly. Fellaini was giving jip to Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, and none of them could quite handle it, losing the ball a few times. But Cazorla, a freaking midget, his touch and dribble was just too intense for Fellaini, and after a while Fellaini gave up on him.
To be honest, I thought everton fought hard and fair, yes they made a few cynical fouls but only to try and unsettle our key players when everton are themselves fighting for a champions league place. They fought hard and so did we, and it was enjoyable to watch such a battle, I was impressed with both teams commitment, it was just a shame we did not pick up the 3 points that we deserved.
All Managers say “I appreciate tough tackling except when of my players gets hurt”. Lol.
Because if you don’t you are marked out as a target for the media halfwits. Fact is that Engkish football relaies far more on pure physical presence than any other major European league. As a result the national team is used to playing in a certain way (nicely euphemistic, no?) which hinders our progress at international tournaments. After every such tournament the media has 5 minutes introspection along the lines of “if only our players could do this” before handily discarding an approach of praising such forward thinking and falling back on the tried, trusted and doomed to failure methods… Read more »
Tackles have to be made. Arteta picking up a yellow every few games to disrupt a break. Is that a bad tackle? probably; still necessary though. Has he broken anyone’s leg or ended their career? No…
But it could have killed him!
If the Premier League table were to be composed solely on second-half performances, Arsenal would top the league table with 61 points.
Another zinger from mark lawrenson:
They face an Arsenal side whose manager Arsene Wenger made me smile the other day following their 0-0 draw against Everton.
The Frenchman wasn’t happy with Everton’s robust tacking. It made me think of the days when the Gunners had Tony Adams…etc
You would think an expert pundit on the bbc would make sure one got all the facts before talking out of ones arse.
“Wenger loves a good tackle” – Did he bite?
What the fuck is Jack doing in that picture? No wonder he struggles with injury if enters tackles on the side of his ankle!!
What the fuck is Jack doing in that picture? No wonder he struggles with injury if enters tackles on the side of his ankle!!
Pretty sure he slipped. That would be him slipping.
Clever manipulation by Wenger as he is essentially saying that the players have to pull their fingers out to beat the tacklers by being as good as Pires, Overmars, Bergie…
It’s saying that it’s their fault that the negative tactics are stopping Arsenal from scoring.
Crikey, has the Premier League become as negative as Italian football?
I wish I was Fellani’s agent as he is going to leave Everton for a big money deal this Summer. What a key player he is. Defence to attack mowing down anything in his wake.
For me the best sliding tackler in our squad is, surprisingly enough, Rosicky. Just love his technique. Slide left foot folded, tackle the ball cleanly with the right. Lovely to watch.
I think Wenger is taking more about Us and Our tackles. Arteta, Jack and Rambo make plenty of good tackles but ref always blows whistle. Why?
Bouldy eyeliner – you are 100% spot on about Arteta taking a few yellows this season to save the team, cynical yes, dirty? Never.
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