United were 2-1 winners over the Gunners on Saturday, coming from behind after Andrei Arshavin had given the visitors the lead.
Arsenal were arguably the better team but were responsible for their own downfall when Manuel Almunia tripped Wayne Rooney to concede a penalty before Abou Diaby inexplicably headed into his own net.
Wenger was then sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle after Robin van Persie's late strike was disallowed for offside.
That capped a week of perceived injustice for Wenger after Eduardo was charged by UEFA over his alleged dive to win a penalty in the Champions League win over Celtic.
The Frenchman, though, compared Eduardo's behaviour favourably with the tough-tackling of United at Old Trafford.
"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."
Wenger, meanwhile, is set to receive an apology today from the Premier Game Match Officials Board for his sending-off, which League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan described as "completely out of context".
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I think he's amusing and we will miss him when he's gone. It amazes me the teams he builds with his budget.
in some way yes we use that tactic against arsenal, but what else can fergie do? he knows he has spent a lot of money to make this team play better football bad sadly none of his signing are paying off,
so he's still using the the dad's army to compete.
why was someone like tosic signed when he seems too small for the premier league? surly that is the reason why fergie has'nt truted him in the p/league?
we sign valencia from wigan for 17m when spurs sign palacios for 13m! who's got the better deal? you guys work it out.
I’m appalled at the gall of Wenger to impugn Manchester United or, by implication, Darren Fletcher.
What right has he to criticise – the manager who once played 11 behind the ball for 120 minutes in the FA Cup final to force a penalty shoot-out, which was his only chance of winning? A manager whose player over-reaction to a clean tackle resulted in Fletcher missing the European Cup final? A manager whose players dive shamelessly? A manager whose side who have almost the worst, if not THE worst, disciplinary record in terms of red cards in Premier League history?
If anyone should know what anti-football is then it is him.
But because our southern softie press don’t see the big picture, are too much in thrall to Carlo, ‘Arry, Arsene or Franco, they take their comments as gospel without question, often failing to see the real story. Talk about news management.
Personally, I thought Fergie got it spot on with his tactics. He knew the way Arsenal play, and decided to match them up man for man. He knew they would like to play with the ball at their feet, pinging it around and making lots of pretty patterns. So he allowed them to do it – but in the areas where it would seldom hurt United. They had little real penetration.
The flaw in Fergie’s plan was that his own creative players – principally Carrick, Giggs and Valencia – were not on their game, which meant United’s own earlier attacks were breaking down too easily. Want proof? When Eboue was replaced by a striker (and another diver) Fergie matched them up by bringing on Berbatov. And in the 4-4-2 v 4-4-2 contest, United should have increased their lead.
Like 99 per cent of the 75,000 at Old Trafford on Saturday, I thought the referee/4th official’s decision to send off Wenger was ludicrous in the extreme. Like most of the crowd, I applauded the Arsenal manager. But any sympathy I had for Wenger has disappeared with his rant.
Another point: in the first half Van Persie was guilty of an outrageous dive in a bid to win a penalty. The ref saw it but waved play on. Soon after, Van Persie was booked for fouling Giggs. After the ref then measured out the wall's 10 yards for the resulting free-kick, Van Persie and another player closed the gap down on the free-kick taker while the ref was looking the other way. That’s 3 yellow-card offences (but clearly not anti-football!)
Finally, Fletcher. Wenger clearly has a real problem there. I can’t recall whether Fletch has ever played in a losing United team against Arsenal, but he’s certainly played in – and starred in – a great many winning performances, starting with that FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park when he and Keano completely dominated Vieira and his pals. He also hit two in that 4-0 FA Cup humiliation at OT (oddly enough, an Arsenal player was sent off that day). Then there was the European Cup semi. Fletch seems to have the measure of Arsenal – and Wenger clearly doesn’t like it.
Wenger’s team do play attractive football, but in areas where it seldom hurts. But you don’t win matches or silverware for being the best at keepy-uppies: you win prizes by scoring goals and beating opponents.
Yes, it always hurts when your team loses. But Wenger could do well to take a leaf out of Fergie’s book. While the boss might be seething inside, these days he always loses with good grace and is never derogatory to the opposition.
From top to bottom there are issues. Ben Foster looks like he is lacking confidence, apart from the one important save from van persie, Foster doesn't have the presence of edwin. Michael Carrick was awful and seems like he can never find he's way out when he is bieng pressured, instead he decides to play the ball back to the defence, he really is one bad performance away from being shown the door. Wes Brown will be troubled with anyone who has pace, and where is anderson's potential we were all hoping for. Finally our most expensive striker can't even start. The writing is all over the wall, we really need some sorting out. Now I like to be an optimist, and I would love the prospect of having the likes of Hargreveas, ferdinand, van der sar, and obertan, spell a twist in our fortunes; and prove the doubters wrong...but it really seems like we might regret not spending this summer.
"Same ol' Arsene - always whinging!!"
You've got to laugh at Wenger. In the same week Eduardo gets done by UEFA for feigning a pen, Eboue gets booked for simulation, Arshavin doesn't get a pen and United beat Arsenal he accuses Fletcher of anti-football tactics!! Yes Fletcher could easily have got sent off by another ref for his foul but how is a player supposed to do his job if he can't make physical contact, it's not his fault the decision went his way. It's absurd, Fletcher is one of a few of the traditional type players, doesn't moan about where he's put, gets stuck in and goes in for every challenge. If that is anti-football then what on earth does that make Eboue's attempts at getting Evra booked when he seemed to trip on fresh air? There is nothing more damaging to the game than players who go out looking to get other players sent off or booked and Arsenal's men do that in abundance - if they're not too busy trying to stop their captain spitting at people that is! Get real Arsene. The only thing Fletcher wanted was the ball, not to get anyone sent off or to hurt another player. United know they were lucky to get 3 points on Sat, it could have easily been a loss or a draw but to single out Fletcher who was outstanding is pathetic and sour grapes. This morning Sky sport showed fouls committed by united and arsenal players during last seasons meetings between the two and about 75% of the players committing the most fouls were, yes Arsenal. I bet the older generation who read artciles like this about namby pamby players not being able to handle decent tackles find it laughable. If our tackling was so bad how come no one was stretchered off?
So he has saying it is better to cheat than to foul an opponent. LOL! Football is a contact sport. You are bound to have fouls. Perhaps Arsenal should enter the netball league instead.
united--1999, US 31/08/2009 at 14:36
"Foster doesn't have the presence of edwin."
well thats hardly surprising considering how few games he has played in comparison.......I'm sure there was a time when Edwin needed experience and you can't get that if you don't play......again Wes has been out injured so its to be expected and surely its not just about speed but about reading the game so you're always a few steps ahead anyway........You sound like yet another hyper critical fan thats jumping on the bandwagon.......nip picking at anything or anyone who dooesn't do things perfectly.......
Wenger makes me laugh how can to compare good old honest endevour with blatant cheating??
He should get the grap out of his eyes and he might see things for what they are...
What Fletcher did do was break up Arsenals flowing game, robbed them of time and space and surely thats what footballs about, stopping the other team playing their natural game...
More poignant than the changing color of the leaves, more sickenly sweet than the ripening of late blackberries, and more astronomically accurate than the brightest star in the Heavens Alpha Canis Majoris ('Sirius' ) beginning to rise before the sun and the September equinox, the true sign that Fall has indeed arrived is Wenger's annual overlooking an egregious act in his own squad followed by his first paranoid outburst demanding opponents roll out a red carpet and get out of the way of his pretty passers, and anyone who doesn't do that is guilty of "anti-football".
Arsenal would have had more yellow cards were it not that the ref would have then had to produce a red. Fletch was no more aggressive than Song. That being said, if we can't close the gap between our average level of passing and that of the arse, Wenger may have the last laugh in the end.
Wenger usually has a whinge like that when he loses to us. There were fouls from both sides but not one more than the other.
We need to buck up for sure but we have been awful at the start of each of the last 3 seasons and ended up winning the league. We have to find our feet after losing ronaldo and perhaps the prospect of being his replacement is having an effect on valencia. still i recall evra being just as poor in the beginning and of course there were howls of derision and the predictable calls of him 'not being unitd quality' or 'worst signing ever' just as fletcher has never been good enough despite over the last season showing that he together with rooney is the main man we have for taking the fight to the opposition. I'm sure valencia will do just fine with his pace and power but he needs to work on his ball control. Carrick and anderson are off form but that is just temporary.
As it stands you would have to put chelsea in as favourites but every team has form periods. it's not like we have been shipping goals. we conceded 2 goals from powerful shots with a changing defence and we have created some chances. It does look pedestrian at the moment but we were creating nothing early doors when we won the double so you have to be patient. we were too reliant on ronaldo so that would have slwoly killed us as it did arsenal with henry. But there has to be a transition to playing differently. We can make up for his loss with quicker passing and runs but that will not be telepathic instantly, though there were the first signs against wigan.
Obviously replacing ronaldo will not be easy, as it was not to replace keane, ruud or eric before but we move on and we do not have a divine right to win the league every year. The fact that no team has ever won it 4 times in a row before shows that. We have a lot of talent to come in such as macheda, the twins, tosic, gibson, welbeck, (plus ljacic & Diouf in Jan) et al but fergie will not play them at the beginning of the season as he will not want any of them to develop a "I made it" level of complacency. better to put them in the stiffs to work hard and be chomping at the bit when the opportunity arises. Don't worry, you will start to see them as subs soon enough.
Red Rob made alot of sense to me :-)
Let me add that Song and Gallas both made bookable fouls after already being cautioned, and thus easily could have been off. Gallas might have cut Nani in two if he hadn't jumped.
This is all a trick from Wenger to get sympathy and take the spotlight away from his Almunia and Diaby. And why on earth doesn't any paper focus on the disgusting Eboue? He gets booked for diving, and less than a minute later he goes off crossing himself! That's blasphemy the way I see it. Players like him make me sick.
Someone should have pushed Arlene from his new vantage point.
The Whingemeister's at it again. If the Gooners can't compete physically in a physical contact sport then who's to blame.
The man's like a broken record, every time they get beat it's the same, everybody's in the wrong except us who are perfect & play the purest form of football ever.
Get a grip man !!
Typical Wenger ok. But he shouldn't have been sent off and in a lesser way, being forced to climb the stairs and stand in the middle of our amused or abusing fans. That's not a way to threat a manager with only seconds to play. I wouldn't be happy to see Fergie abused by any away fans. That said. United won it "the ugly way", when other seasons we've played them and outclassed them but lost. I'd rather play badly but win. Three points, it's all that matters, it made amend for the Burnley disaster and should inspire the team for the forhtcoming games.
He was enjoying himself when he got sent to the stand. The crowd were applauding him for adopting a bemused God like pose. It was very funny and he took it all in good spirits. His after thoughts about fouls is nonsense and should be taken tongue in cheak although it is along time since United have set up with a lone striker at OT. I will give him that.
Wenger and some "experts" on here make a good team. Whine, moan, groan all the time.
In fact, Wenger's better than they are, why? at least he whines when he loses, the lot here whine when we win. Whiners, moaners, groaners who think they are better than United players and coaches.
manure going down with wolverhampton, administration knocking at your door, and its a race against the clock when you hear the sound tictoc and manure wont exist ANYMORE!, your gunna sell all your players and buy more owens on a free! its time to pay your debt and its got you in a sweat and manure wont exist ANYMORE!
Arsene Wenger, take resolute notice from Sir Alex, and refrain from any criticism concerning the opposition. Your remarks are juvenile and are decidedly out of context in suggesting that we as a club are anti-football: an astonishing remark. Sir Alex would defer from making such groundless accusations. Incredulous. Let me remind you Arsene, that Sir Alex prior to this game praised you, and your team in the most exalted terms possible, only for you now to repay him in the most unfriendly manner. If civility in any civilisation is not a major criteria-even amongst managers of prominent football teams-than the fabric of society, and its cohesiveness is undermined.
Red Rob
very good post. agree all the way!
bluetobits
Do me a favour and grow up, what a child !
manure going down with wolverhampton, administration knocking at your door, and its a race against the clock when you hear the sound tictoc and manure wont exist ANYMORE!, your gunna sell all your players and buy more owens on a free! its time to pay your debt and its got you in a sweat and manure wont exist ANYMORE!
Bluetobitz ,
31/08/2009 at 16:02
Its a lesser spotted faced bitter deluded bore.....what a plank.
blutobitz..so what happens when your owners clear off leaving a mountain of wages and a stadium half empty ..What has happened to the likes of City and Chelsea have ruined the game...Just turns it to ever has the most money rather sad really...
If you are lucky enough to win a league cup in the next 10 years you will only be known because of the endless supply of money....
OH and leave this side of the site alone...
I was at the match and was shocked by the amount of cheating, diving and falling over from Arsenal. Shocking especially after the Eduardo incident. We were poor in first half better in the second. Still some way off playing well but there's time and we have Obertans, Diouf and Ljajic coming in soon. Tough phase coming up Spurs (A), Besiktas (A), City (H). Gonna be a test for the lads. Please give De Laet a chance, he's class!