I think Henry Winter hit it right on the head in his article. Vieira had to be booked for kicking out-or at least should have been. Thus he had to go as it was his second yellow. The real problem was the FIRST yellow-which Winter correctly points out was ridiculous. Even if it was for persistent infringement, you CANNOT persistently infring unless you ACTUALLY infringe, and Vieira clearly WON THE BALL which is NOT infringement in any way, and if not for a classic Premiership first yellow for Vieira, the second incident is not nearly so serious for either side. It is reminiscent of when VanBrockhorst went off for diving at Anfield-his second yellow that day. I took a major barracking for saying that but I honestly believed he did. But it would have mattered little save for an earlier yellow for a challenge that Phil Neville or Paul Scholes or Roy Keane won't even get a talking-to. But the real point is a poor early yellow meant that an appropriate booking led to a sending-off that was undeserved in each case even if the second booking was. If the referees were more consistent in handing out bookings these incidents cease to mar football matches and fuel blood feuds for clubs players and supporters...
I now had the oppertunity to review what the Arsenal players did to RvN and the end of the match. It gets better every time. Too bad there were no bricks handy.... Serves that cheating bastard right. This will result in a huge fine and/or points deduction though.
As a neutral observer, it looked to me like RVN was just trying to get out of range of Paddy's boot. I seriously doubt he was thinking, "Hmm, let's see, the referee is back here, and where I'm standing gives just the right angle where if I react like I'm kick, the referee might believe it." He didn't hold his stomach afterwards or anything.
I don't think he was booked for simulation, but for the way he came down on Viera, giving the extra bit of boot and all his weight. I despise Rude van Mulletboy, the perfume ponce, and I've never been so thrilled at earning one point as I was when that ball hit crossbar!
A neutral validates precisely my biased reaction! Why anyone would be so stupid as to jump on this thread and make comments about an event he so obviously didn't see (Motterman) is beyond me! All Rude got at the end was the well deserved disgust of his world-class peers. These weren't chumps shouting at him out of resentment, the kind of accusation one could throw at the Gunners had the PK not been missed, no - this was years of disgust that boiled over, and it was nothing less than cathartic for me to see them stand up and tell him what they thought of his pathetic antics at the end of the match.
I wasn't even going to post in this thread until I saw this. Taking points away from Arsenal? Because Keown yelled at RvN? Does the FA want everyone to sit down for a cup of tea following the final whistle and play nice? Keown yelled at RvN. The elbow to the head came while he was celebrating and certainly not intentional. If the FA takes points from Arsenal for being overemotional, then the "Anti-Arsenal Bias" conspiracy theory may hold true. In the match in 1990 there were punches thrown by both clubs in a brawl. What happened today was no where near that. To all the manUre fans who are suffering becuase RvN missed a penalty and Keown celebrated in his face: go and watch tiddly-winks.
i don't doubt ruud might have or might not have made a meal out of it, my problem with gooners and this ironic thread is how all the arse supporters are whining about an opposing player acting out when ashley cole spent the last couple of seasons doing so, robbie pires did his fare share of it, but when it goes against arsenal ooohlala, its a conspiracy . those dastardly suits at the fa protecting manu and vannistelrooy. come one, just get over it and move on to the next game, try and get over that little champions league hump thats on your bloody backs.
Allright, just saw the highlights on FSW (couldn't get it on PPV and I had a game to play) and I am laughing my ass off at the Arsenal fans. First Ruud went up for a 50/50 ball and went over Viera's back and got his card, as if this kind of challange doesn't happen on a regular basis. Ruud did not put any special emphasis into his boot or "ride Viera down." He went over his back and knocked him down, yellow card, period. Viera lashed ut with a kick of fourse 100 times harder then the little tap Beckham gave Simeone in '98. Intent to injure, automatic red for contact and in my reffing opinion yellow for the attempt. Ruud jumped out of the way, I dare anyone to tell me they would have done otherwise! Viera tries to argue and then suddenly decides to go after Ruud...and Ruud has no class???? Forlan was obviously fouled by Keown, no doubt. Ruud missed (love the pick that the Arsenal fans claim he was celebrating but the replay shows nothing of the sort.) and Keown sprints to him and screams in his face...and Ruud has no class???? Then the final whistle goes and Keown runs up to Ruud leaps with his arms spread (wow such excitement over a draw when they all said they were going to win!) and proceeds to hit Ruud in the back of the head/neck with a forearm/elbow...and Ruud has no class???? Then they start to surround Ruud and put a firm two hnd shove into his back...and Ruud has no class???? Ruud keeps walking away...and Ruud has no class???? Wenger then comments that Ruud is to blame. It's really sad that one of the best clubs in England has to resort to such things in a big game. I'd look for Keown to get a nice ban, perhaps a fine for whoever shoved Ruud after the game (Cole?) and maybe some extra for Viera. I dare any of you too look at the video objectively and dispute any of this!
congratulations, you just spent 10 mins typing something that no one will care to read because it's posted by a manc (that's you, in case you were thinking of changing teams) on the arsenal board.
Can you at least spell "Vieira" correctly? I mean sheesh, it's not that hard. I honestly think that Vieira deserved to be sent off. I thought it was foolish and stupid. But I also think that Ruud made a meal out of it. You saw him jump out the way, had the craziest look on his face, then pointed to Paddy as he was laying on the ground. As for Keown yelling at Ruud......well is that against the rules? And I ask this honestly. Is there a rule that says you can't do that or does it show bad sportsmanship? Keown and Ruud have bad blood so I'm not the least bit surprised. Do I think he deserved to be shoved after the final whistle? No. I think that's just gonna bring us more problems when the FA takes a look at the tape. However, I can't say that I wasn't smiling when I saw it.
I wish keown would have resorted to his missing link attributes and kicked RvN in the nuts (even though he would have lost his shoe in the process).
I read it. I think it was his first time ever watching van Nistelrooy play football, so i'll cut him a bit of slack. I'm sure that everything being said here will make a lot more sense to him after the 2'nd or 3'rd time he gets to watch that cheat "play football".
We regret you getting into this, too. Personally, I thought you were one of the people that "got it," but I guess you don't. And as far as I can tell, nobody made you come over here and post. As to what you do or don't appreciate, so what? I'm sure referees all over the Premier League didn't appreciate the bullying and intimidation that ManUre teams from not so long ago made into an art form; I doubt the officials that Alex Ferguson verbally abused a few weeks ago appreciated it; don't think David Beckham appreciated having a boot kicked at him; the fan Eric Cantona kicked probably didn't appreciate it, either; I didn't appreciate the way your bunch came out to kick Arsenal on that great day in May 2002 instead of try to play soccer against them; the journalists who Sir Red Nose berated when he was defending the Veron purchase probably didn't appreciate it, either. And Mick McCarthy certainly didn't appreciate being humiliated by Roy Keane, just as Jason McAteer didn't appreciate getting hacked with intent to injure by Keane last season. Seriously, who cares what you appreciate? Take your holier-than-thou attitude and stick it. You can be unhappy with the Arsenal players all you want (although I imagine most of your unhappiness is reserved for RVN bottling the PK). But, as you stew over just how much you don't appreciate today's events, give an unbiased thought, if you can, about how much other teams and other people haven't and don't appreciate what your team has done in the past, and what it continues to do.
Then do the same please. Lets turn the tables and say you guys were playing Chelsea and the following things happen: *Geremi kicks out at Henry, after a fould for which Henry was carded *Henry misses a stoppage time penalty, and immediately John Terry, Marcel Desailly, and Glenn Johnson get in his face and taunt him *After the final whistle, as Henry walks off the pitch, he is shoved from behind and baited into trying to start something by Terry and company The circumstances aren't the same, and the rivalry may not be as big, but just think of what your players did. The fact that Vieira's kick didn't connect doesn't matter, if a guy took a swing at a player, he'd be red carded just the same.
I don't think any of us are denying the fact that Viera's red was warranted. He retaliated and had to be shown the second yellow. And under your scenario, yes, I'd be pissed, but I wouldn't be screaming that Chelsea should lose points, or that Chelsea had no class. It's just emotions boiling over, "trash talk", as it were. It happens in pro sports all the time. My major problem is the attitude that Arsenal deserves the death penalty because they got in RvN's face after he missed a penalty.
But isn't ruud the biggest cheat in the country anyway? It may not be right what they did to him, but i do believe that he deserved it. Pires is a cheat as well, but he can't hold a candle to the things that Ruud does.
Hey, most of the posters on this board will be the first to admit it when Pires takes a dive. I'm actually more upset when that happens than when something like today happens. At least Arsenal showed they still cared about winning today, and after what Inter did to them, there was no guarantee they wouldn't roll over and die the rest of the way.
In the first place, you took my quote out of context. I was originally talking about the bigger picture, not the specifics of today's match. And thanks for the Chelsea analogy to guide my thought process, but I'd already figured it out, as you would have known if you'd read what I wrote immediately after the game: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=1615714#post1615714
Is that moderator title for real - because you're not particularly moderate. Surely a moderator shouldn't flame and troll in this manner?
They showed the pictures of the manc scum hitting Arsenal supporters on sky sports, now about that property, will you be paying for the beach ?
He can do whatever he wants, as long as he obeys the TOS. Motter, I'm disappointed in you. This seems below you, buddy. But I guess that it's to be expected when you post in a thread that's titled the way this one is.