fergie misses 3 big points
kojodinho - talkingOfArsenal.com
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Last sundays game against Manchester United was the Emirates first really big game from a supporters standpoint.
Over the years, we’ve won many hard-fought battles and I as everyone else was ecstatic when King Henry majestically rose above the Mancunian plebs to powerfully head home the dramatic winning goal in the 94th minute.
But, this is not the thrust of this article - the details of the game are well documented elsewhere, and I would just be repeating what’s been covered very well already. So, which points did Fergie miss?
Today (Friday 26th Jan 2007), Fergie made a number of comments at his Friday press conference (in response to an interview with Arsenal midfielder Flamini) which go something along the lines of (paraphrased):
- Man Utd lost due to “lack of concentration” and not tiredness as Wenger alledges
- What would Wenger have said if United had won 1-0
- Wenger comments were “petty”
Unfortunately, I think Fergie has missed three points - he is either being not very smart, or is just trying to stir things up a little. Being an Arsenal fan I would hope for the former, I do rather suspect the latter.
Firstly, it is worth bearing in mind that Wenger has not publicly made any statements to the above effect - the original comments were from an interview with Flamini. Secondly, it is also worth pointing out that Flamini was referring to an until-now private half-time talk between manager and players, during which Wenger stressed to the team that based on statistics from their last few games, Man Utd would tire as the game wore on.
Let’s address the tiredness/concentration issue…
Ask any physio, personal trainer, medically qualified doctor. Tiredness is the number one cause of a lack of concentration.
Fact.
In his post match interview, Fergie admitted that his team had dropped deeper and deeper as the game wore on - isn’t that loss of concentration down to tiredness? Wenger is right - Man Utd did tire at the end.
Now onto the “what if United had won 1-0″ issue. ..
Asking what Wenger would have said “if United had won 1-0″ is a dumb question - at the end of the day, United did not win, and so Wenger was right to say what he said. Indeed, it can arguably be said that Arsenal won the game due to what Wenger said at half time.
And finally, on Wenger being ”petty”…
That’s just classic Fergie stirring it up - and as usual, the unflappable Wenger is paying no notice - especially after the Gunners have already done the talking on the pitch and had the last word - both times this season.
To call Wenger petty for pointing out Man Utd’s weakness during his half-time team talk is like calling someone petty for doing their job. Reminding the Arsenal team to keep having a go at Man Utd until the very last second of the game, never mind after 70 minutes is exactly what Wenger is paid to do - and do his job the Arsenal manager wonderfully did.
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