by Walter Broeckx, the blind ref’s reviewer
Howard Webb was the ref at Old Trafford. If I had to make a choice before the game between Dean and Webb it would be like choosing between the plague and cholera. Webb also has his own facebook group under the name: Howard Webb, United best player (or something in that style). So the question is: was he their 12th man? Let us try to have a look at his performance.
OTHER: Anderson went down and Webb gave a foul. Anderson wasn’t even really attacked and certainly Song was far away but Webb fell for it. On the other hand I noticed that when Chamakh used his body to challenge for the ball he was oh so quick to call a foul against Chamakh. He did this on a few occasions but this is Old Trafford and this is Webb. But for all the tumbles he gave in to I will take away a point. 0/1
PENALTY: Chamakh misses his header and the ball hits his hand. At the replay it shows that he had his hands close to his body and that he tried to head the ball but just missed it. You cannot say that it was intentional and it was not that he was having his arms far from his body. A good decision from Webb not to give anything. 1/1
OTHER/CARD: Fletcher doesn’t get at foul as they are used to and runs angry after Webb from my angle it looked as if he gave him a push on the arm. Webb does…. nothing. If a player comes running after you like that you should stop the game immediately and show him a yellow card. If a player comes running after you like that and he touches you: you just give him a red card. There is no other way around it: YOU KEEP YOUR HANDS OF THE REF AND CERTAINLY IN AN AGGRESSIVE WAY! So he should have given a free kick against United and a yellow card or even a red card. I really couldn’t tell if he really touched him or not from my angle. And in a replay they stopped just before he reached Webb so I couldn’t tell. So I really cannot tell you it should have been a yellow or a red card. But this was a poor non-reaction from Webb. 0/1 and 0/1
GOAL: A lucky goal but this is not against the rules. 1/1
CARD: Chamakh for a foul on Nani. No complaints there and a correct decision. 1/1
CARD: Arshavin gets a card and again no complaints about that. 1/1
Half time and the half time talk between the refs at my home is about the Fletcher pursuit of Webb.
OTHER/CARD: Ferdinand comes in flying towards Sagna with his foot aimed at the midriff of Sagna. Sagna gets a kick in his stomach while jumping for the ball. This was a karate kick and it doesn’t matter if Ferdinand won the ball or not, you cannot jump to a player with a leg outstretched like that. Sagna his shirt was torn from Ferdinand his shoe. Another poor decision from the ref once more. This is the XXth time I have seen Webb doing nothing against those tackles with a foot aimed at an opponent. Last year in Utd-Liverpool when Neville kicked Maxi against his head, the world cup final when he let De Jong on the field after such a dangerous tackle and now today. 0/1 and 0/1.
PENALTY/CARD: The linesman on the far side, who has been doing his best to signal every foul in favour of United all evening signals a handball. And Webb is happy to blow of course. The incident itself: Clichy slips and he supports himself with his arm. He makes no movement with his arm and Nani kicks the ball against his arm from about half a meter. As he was supporting himself on his arm he could not retract his arm and certainly not when the ball is played from such a short distance. Once again he doesn’t move towards the ball with his arm, the ball is played against his arm. But this is Old Trafford as we all know, this is Webb and his very enthusiastic assistant. What would have been the odds if it would have happened the other way round? I think we all know what would have happened: nothing. Nasri who maybe doesn’t know right now how it works at Old Trafford goes to the linesman and gets a yellow card. And for once I can agree with the ref and this is a useless booking and Webb is protecting his partner in crime, sorry assistant, as he should do. 0/1 and 1/1
CARD: Song gets booked and no complaints about that booking. 1/1
So in total Mr. Webb gets:
CARDS: 3/5
PENALTY: 1/2
GOAL: 1/1
OTHER: 0/3
Total score: 5/11 (45%)
The way Webb handled or I should say mishandled some situations is so poor for a ref who should be considered one of the world’s best. I can tell you that the way he did nothing against Fletcher is so poor and is something no ref would allow in any other country. In Spain you will be sent off, in Italy you will be sent off: you just don’t touch the ref. But Webb would have received a slap in the face if needed from any United player as we know by now for a long time and it just showed again today.
And the worst part is that next weekend thousands of football players all over England/world will attack refs in that way and will be showing aggression towards the refs. Those players will say: hey if Fletcher can get away with this so can we. This is something that opens the door to more aggression against refs. It is something that Webb doesn’t think about I think but I know it happens and today Mr. Webb doing nothing at all will have as a result that maybe a few refs will stop after being touched the next weekend. Shame on you Mr. Webb for being a disgrace by doing nothing and letting all those other refs down. As a top ref you have the duty to lead by example against aggression and against the lack of respect shown to you by Fletcher.
If you are not brave enough to stand up to United players: for your own sake: stop as a ref. For the sake of all those other refs who will get pushed in the next weeks: stop as a ref. You did act when Nasri complained in a far more modest way against the assistant with showing him a card. So you know the rule and the instructions. It is just that you don’t apply them in the same way for everyone.
The FA can launch as many campaigns about respect for the ref that they want but if the “best” ref in England does nothing when he is shown no respect at all the FA better stops with throwing money away with such campaigns.
And once again for the zillionth time: a player that comes in with his foot outstretched towards an opponent and who comes in flying like a madmen: THIS IS ALWAYS A FOUL AND AT LEAST A YELLOW CARD!!!!! It doesn’t matter if Ferdinand won the ball: it was dangerous play towards an opponent and should be punished. And by the nature of the kick: a karate kick should be punished with a red card. I can even remember Eboue being sent off at Old Trafford in a FA cup game which we lost a few seasons ago for such a foul. And all agreed that this was Eboue tackle deserved a red card but now when it is the other way round you don’t even give a foul? Just look at the picture from the Eboue karate kick and the Ferdinand karate kick and tell me why you even didn’t give a foul? Let alone a red card. The Ferdinand picture will be added later on. (Damned computer over here)
Eboue gets a red card for a karate kick at Old Trafford a while ago.
And now look at the karate kick from Ferdinand. Also look at the perfect position Webb is in. He has no one between him and the players. And he still doesn’t see it???? I really cannot imagine that Webb is blind or has a bad view so the only options can be: not competent or biased.
But this is Old Trafford and it was Webb so we knew we had to be at our very best to have a chance and we weren’t at our best. That is just a fact. But this is no excuse for Webb for not doing what he is being paid for.
A poor performance from United (apart from the “splendid defensive performance” for the lovers of Italian football), a poor performance from Arsenal and to stay in line: a very poor performance from the ref.
Last time we had Webb we won at Everton but his display was also just a poor 46% in points. So he just stays in line with his poor performances.
And I am not saying we would have won the game but two players should have been sent off by the ref and the first when it was still 0-0. So we could have had another game if Webb would have been a brave ref. Which he sometimes can be, but not when United is involved.
Best performance so far this season was from Clattenburg with 93% and Webb is leading the table upside down with an average score of 43%.
The third edition of Making the Arsenal will be published this Friday
The only thing i can say now is – I told u so…
We may complain about the ref, we may complain about the pitch, we can also complain about injuries. But the fact is that we are far away from our defensive best.
But also have to say that United probably gave the best defensive performance of this season. The way they closed down even our defenders and goalkeepers in our own half was outstanding. Szczesny was the best player in our team. Rest were a shadow of themselves. And cant believe how we were so bad in our passes. The most disappointing part is that after that horrible first half, we didn’t change our offensive game plan in mind with their defensive show. Thats why i say, we have to be as good a defensive unit as they are.
Now we are virtually 5 points behind the leaders and again we have to hope that they drop points massively.
I thought we were unlucky to lose but if anyone was going to, it would be us because we did a bit less going forward. That said, dark prince, you shouldnt underestimate the role of the referee yesterday. He gave them practically everything. It was like they had a twelfth man when really they could have ended the game with 9. All the little freekicks take their toll as well. And I didnt think the game was so damning of our side. On another day we could have drawn or even won it. It was a very tight game, won by a real freak goal. Classy finish and amazing reactions from park, a player who I really like actually, but still something we couldnt really defend against, and a type of goal he will never score again.
I agree with this article. The ref was predictably atrocious. This guy has a reputation for being a utd-supporter and that was enhanced yesterday. The really shocking thing about the fletcher incident was that it almost served as a wake up call to him that he SHOULD be giving everything to utd. After that we couldnt get a look in, so much so that even the damn BBC said nothing was going arsenal’s way, referring to the officiating.
Webb is a real coward of a referee. Not only did he fail to take the big decision to send off de jong in the world cup final, he fell for EVERY SINGLE dive by the spanish players, and there were a lot of them. He just seems so eager to take the easy way out or pass the buck on the big decisions. He always allows players to take control of the game away from him.
On top of that he really seems to have a suspicious relationship with the Utd players. I often see him talking to them like they’re friends or something. As soon as I heard he was in charge of this game, I thought: game over.
Damn this ref!, Damn the pitch!, Damn Monday night football. Isn’t football suppose to be fair?
As I said at the weekend my heart dropped when I realised we had this ref. How he has ever been appointed to the higher echelons I will never know. He is so poor and so concerned with his own image. We cannot blame him for the result. United were the better team; but a game of this magnitude should be officaited by a class act not a buffon from Rotherham who thinks he is bigger than the game.
What will now be interesting is to see who is appointed for our game against Pullis and his kickers. I wonder if kicker-in-chief Shawcross will play?
Here’s a first:
Alan Greene was groaning at the “ineptitude” ( we could say “biased attitude”) of Melton Pickles.
Since he’s a copper, can we say “institutional bias”?
@Davi- the ref certainly made bad decisions. But was he at fault for our attackers not able to create a proper chance on goal???
I was just speaking about our performance. The ref is not responsible for how we play at the moment. We really lacked ideas, and United were full of defensive discipline. Wenger told in his pre match interview that Arsenal dont fear anyone, but what happened on the pitch showed how much we were scared. The defenders had to just put a long ball through the pitch whenever Rooney or Park came to close them. So many of our passes were goin in no mans land. We cant blame the ref’s poor performance for our poor performance.
But your observations, Dark Prince, ignore, that we created about the same amount of chances on as well as off target. United’s best chances came in the last 20 minutes or so when we went all out attack. Before that they had hardly created anything more threatening and I would even go as far and say that before we went more offensive, we had the best chance of the match with Chamakh’s effort that was cleared off the line by Vidic.
Yesterday was a disappointment but no tragedy.
1. It must be sad being a ManU supporter seeing your team line up as defensively as they did yesterday. I’ve already read some comments from them asking why “we” didn’t start with both Rooney and Berbatov.
2. The game was high in intensity but fairly low in quality. Both teams gave the ball away far too easily due to sloppy passing.
3. We started with 3 sure starters out (Fabianski, Vermaelen and Cesc) while ManU could choose their best XI. RvP should also be considered a sure starter when back to form but I’ll let him off this list.
4. Looking at the game, both teams could easily have scored more than they did. Disappointing that we didn’t manage to create more chances with all the possession we had.
5. The ref did a really poor job. I notice Walter didn’t comment on the situation when ManU’s RB body checked Chamakh. I’m not sure wether that is a foul or not, it would be interesting to hear from a referee point of view.
6. It was more important for ManU to win than for us not to lose. I was disappointed in the lack of effort some of the players showed. Several, even Wilshere, didn’t track back quickly enough when ManU broke and started their counter attacks,
7. ManU won playing at 70% of their capabilities against an Arsenal side playing at 50%.
8. We need to win against Chelsea. However, it does look like Chelsea is over their slump but notice how few points they gained while playing without only 2-4 of their starting XI.
I don’t want to sound as a schoolmaster but this article is based on the performance of the ref. Our own “not that good performance” is no excuse for the 2 shocking non-decisions Webb made.
Just look at the two pictures. Both the same kind of attack. One punished with a foul and a red card, one not even punished with a foul. The only difference: the team the attacking player plays for.
And how much Ferdinand was pleading innocent and saying he was looking at the ball I can tell you that he knew damn well Sagna was coming and he knew damn well that jumping towards a player like that is dangerous and can cause severe injuries. If he didn’t know that Sagna was coming towards him why did he stick out his leg like that? By doing so he only brought himself out of balance as he made sure that when coming to the ground he would lose balance.
Going in like that is dangerous. I think Ferdinand knew that he would get away with it. He is experienced, he is clever, he knew what was going on.
Oh and did you notice a certain Mike Riley in the stand, next to Capello, brought in the picture at a certain moment. Were we looking at the next head of refs in England in some 10 years time?
Evil- The Chamakh shot which was cleared by Vidic near the goal line was the only proper chance we had…rest all were half hearted. United won the game 1-0, but they cud have easily made it 2-0 or 3-0. They wasted their good chances, and Arsenal should have taken advantage of this. But we never looked to be in the game other than for some 10mins in the second half. Rest 80 min, we were completly lacking ideas.
And one important thing, why do we start lobbing balls through the field if we know that it will only end up with the opposition?? There was no sort of composure from our players.
Unfortunately Old Mother Riley was no better than Webb. Remember that he was the referee when we lost the @Invicibles’ record at Old Trafford. Recall an early cynical foul on Freddie by that ugly twat Ferdinand early on. Ugly Twat was the last defender but the foul was actually violent conduct. We all know what Old Mother Riley did!!!!
lol Walter… I know how you feel – to be honest I’m just glad to have the comments!
😀
Did anyone even notice those last two graphs on my article? They were pure gold – the Webb one was unreal… he can control games any way he likes – the run up to the world cup he took a break and kept his head down – it’s there in the figures clear as anything – it’s like the lives suddenly pinch and then resume their trends!
And as for Dowd… well – I’m a tad disapointed that nobody commented on it.
Great article by the way – and it just goes to show how much the referees can get away with – the fans will always blame the team for just not being better and ignore the obstacles in place to a fair game – I must say that turning the hosepipes on the pitch pre-match was another Fergie ‘classic’ tactic – but we have to accept that and we did try and change our approach.
It was Old Trafford, Webb was the ref – did anyone expect anything less other than ‘home advantage’?
I would like to draw your attention to this article which pretty much hits the nail on the head.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11979_6577963,00.html
Why is everyone laying into the defence? I thought this time it wasn’t as shocking as it has been lately. The problem for us was our attack. We had nothing. We made some very good tackles in some very important areas. Clich though could have done a bit more, was outstretched and took a deflection which you cant do anything about.
We can put the blame on Webb(cards not given) n Wenger.Does he want 2 sell V.Persie?
@Davi
Unlucky to lose? What game did you watch? We were lucky to lose by a solitary goal.
Tactically we were outplayed. MU owned us, period. Don’t look stupid by giving crap excuses. They don’t bite. As for the players, well, its deja vu…
Wenger insisted we were good enough and come Jan, he will not go to the transfer market, hmmm…. He knows best, cos come May, he will have to answer for the results. Then the cycle repeats again.
We lose 1 -0 at OT, BUT the first choice spine is either not fit or out injured, we are second in the league despite all, the ref put in one of the most biased performances I have seen for a while – yet the self harmers, and Wenger out brigade seem to be out in full force.
What this site calls the AAA, and sections of the media now have us in full blown crisis mode. We HAVE to win something major this year, or maybe the world will go into apocalypse mode. We lose 1-0 at OT and now stand at the very gates of oblivion.
We need some key players back and in full effect, we need to rest the likes of Chamakh, we need to iron out a few mistakes, we need a good run, and some decent refs in key games.
Things could look very different in a couple of weeks, in a couple of months or in May.
Any genuine Gooner who really wants Wenger out either needs a head examination, has a short memory or has not been a fan long enough to appreciate reality. As for the rest of the Wenger out mob – might be worth returning to your Spurs forums, unless of course you want to plan another anti Wenger march that nobody attends
I do believe nobody has gone on and won the English Premier League after being top at Christmas, so thank you Manchester United for helping us to avoid this Jinx.
As for Webb, C’mon, we’re talking about Old Trafford. It would not have mattered which ref officiated the game.
Mandy, you are welcome to examine my head 🙂
@ Mandy
The reality is we have not addressed our weaknesses season after season.
United went in defence mode at home and got lucky with a deflected cross. 0-0 would’ve been a correct result, as both teams created little in front of goal.
well all good teams need some help from the ref. Nobody and i mean nobody has ever won the PL without the refs on their side during the season. if you know a team that has then name it.
Its vitally important that the ref decisions go your way. why you ask? cos the margins are so so so small in top football. Rio out would have meant defensive instability to United as lets not kid ourseves, Rio is a really good defender.
Ref is 10% and team preformance is 90%. But ofc if the 90% you put in is of the quality we had yesterday you cannot use the ref as an excuse.
But dont kid yourself into refs do not matter. It will be interesting come May to see the ref index and see how good or bad the overall preformances of the refs have been in the Arsenal matches.
I reckon 75% for a ref is decent and if we get refs that get overall scores of 75% in each match we should feel happy.
@Andrew – there were very few real chances in the game. They had their freak goal and a nani chance, we had the chamakh thing. I suppose you can say we were lucky rooney missed the penalty, but then they were lucky to get it! Overall the teams were pretty even. Utd were able to look superior because all they had to do was sit back and counter once they had their goal.
It’s similar to the chelsea game, drogba scored a freak goal, and then chelsea were able to sit back and control us, scaring us a bit with counter attacks. It’s sheer bad fortune that they have both been able to come up with these unrepeatable and frankly unstoppable goals, but it’s happened twice in a row now. It’s not an excuse, it’s just what happened. THe legitimate criticism of arsenal and the manager is that we were unable to really threaten them often in our attempts to get level. I think it’s ridiculous to claim the referee didn’t play a part in that, but it is also correct to say we weren’t great going forward and Utd did defend well. I don’t think it’s a crisis however. Utd are not streets ahead, as some would suggest, by any means. It was an even game in which they were fortunate to get their noses in front.
Gulp, I am working on a comparison between the numbers the ref have got in the EPL and the CL. Watch out for it as I think it is rather interesting.
T2T – I dont think injuries are a fair excuse. We got to top of the league without TV, RVP or cesc largely, and when we have had these players we haven’t actually looked as good. Also fabianski can hardly be considered a key player when we can bring in szczesny who is arguably better anyway.
Utd also had valencia out, who IS a key player for them. Very strong, fast and reliable, and pretty skillful too.
Great article. I thought I was the only one to notice Webb’s work on the result. I’d also add the times when he played the advantage for us instead of free kicks at the edge of the penalty area, especially because there were no Arsenal players in the box. Arshavin’s wasn’t a card as he clearly got the ball.
Davi, when TV was on the field we won 2 and draw at Liverpool.
Van Persie has only played 25 minutes as a starter and then had to come back from his injury and isn’t fully to his best.
The same for Cesc who had a few good games untill the Sunderland injury hit him and since then is fit/not fit and hasn’t been able to keep a good run of games together to return to full fitness.
So yes they haven’t looked good in total but this is just because of the injuries they have suffered and the fact that they have to come back each time.
I actually “predicted” over week ago that Webb, Dean or Dowd will be referee in this match and only Dean was missing…
We didn’t lose because 1 or 2 things but several with Webb being one.
I’m happy that Walter told that I had been right about rules (I had started to think it is allowed to push ref if you disagree with him like Fletcher).
Someone did retweet Ferdinand’s comment about his karate kick of Sagna and honestly I got more angry about it.
I hate violence but I so hope that in next match someone will do what Fletcher did to Webb and we see how he handles it (if he punish there is complaining about Fletcher and it should be either no punishment or Flether getting one after the match).
Examine heads ok maybe best not go there but lets examine alternatives to Wenger – lets start who would you have replace Wenger whilst keeping us in the top 4 on our budget with an aim to be debt free in 18 months, a 60000 stadium paid for, a youth policy in place keeping to the EUFA fair play rules.
Jose – you are having a laugh – he these days needs money, more money and plays boring football. Hiddink – by his own admission does not want day to day club management any more. Guardiola is at Barca. Van Gaal – not available. Coyle / Moyes – won even less that Wenger if that is humanly possible according to some!!
Arry – his squad cost 3 times more than ours, and is chasing an unsustainable transfer policy for his club, as he tends to do – ask Pompey but still…., they remain in our shadow.
Big Sam is available!
Who else – realistic candidates only please.
Back to the Man U game – two closely matched teams, fluke goal, dodgy ref,a missed chance, creative players not at their best, first choice spine missing or not match fit,lost 1-0 at OT not really the end of the world is it? Just dont believe the hype, the media or the fakes who just could be disguised Spurs fans – who to their credit realise the value of Wenger to our team but will just never admit it!
@Mandy Dodd- I think you should ask that question to yourself. Ever wondered who will come in his place if Wenger decides to retire at the end of his contract in 2014?? I think this is a question for every Arsenal fan…
Just think, which manager is capable enough to handle our youth policy, our sustained budget, the training of the youngsters, and most importantly to play football in the most beautiful way???
The answer is No1 can replace Wenger…and that for me will become one of the biggest crisis for Arsenal once Wenger retires. And he has just 3yrs remainin in his contract. Its not a long time left, but we still haven’t even imagine to start lookin at different alternatives for his future replacement.
My take is that program notes from managers are being used to communicate to the refs on what to do. Just have a look at what SAF wrote . . . . and then compare with what Howard Webb did on the field.
There is absolutely nobody in world football right now who can continue to do for Arsenal what Wenger has been doing. That being said, our players really need a kick in the buttocks to make them realize the importance of every moment on the field so they don’t keep going to sleep.
I am not very disappointed from the result. 1-0, I can live with if I know that the boys gave their best and tried everything they could to win. But that isn’t the case.
There is a great dearth of confidence in our team. This is made more and more apparent from every game against a “big” team. Did anyone notice that long ball when Rooney was alone against Kos and Squill and was allowed to take the ball under control and look around if there was any support and then proceed to take the shot. Our centrebacks looked scared and only watched while Kos made a perfunctory attempt to close him down when he realized Rooney was about to shoot, Squillaci only tried to block the path of the shot with his back. On the other hand, how many times can you recall when Chamakh could bring the ball under control when up against Rio and Vidic? This really isn’t about ability, it about confidence! And technique.
La Shiz, a problem is of course that if Koscielny or Squillaci would have been on Rooneys back like Vidic and Ferdinand do, they get a foul against them.
Each defender at the start of a game is trying to see how the ref reacts. The first ball they go in sharp and see if the ref allows it or not. If they feel he does not allow it, they tend to go in in another way.
Ferdinand and Vidic knew they could go in even with an outstretched leg and so they were free to attack Chamakh at any time (and never get the foul against them)
On the other hand when Koscielny (who was marking Rooney most of the time) went in on the back of a United defender he got the foul against them when Utd lost the ball.
Also the difference of allowing to use their body was visible. Vidic/Ferdinand could push Chamakh in the back and no fouls were given. But when Chamakh used his body (perfect) to block Vidic and then turned and had the shot our dear friend Mr. Webb was immediatly blowing his whistle to stop Chamakh. It is those little details that go mostly unnoticed that can make a big difference.
And just a last thought on the Ferdinand karate kick. Just imagine if Sagna would not have jumped in an attempt to head the ball. Then Ferdinand would have smashed his shoe right in his face.
The more I think of it the worse it gets.
And the more I can fill in my own question: “I really cannot imagine that Webb is blind or has a bad view so the only options can be: not competent or biased.” = It is both, not competent AND biased.
I think the only time Webb did not gave a free kick to Utd when one of their players went down was Fletcher. Fletcher who than ran to Webb, attacked him and reminded him of his duty to give the fouls to United on every occasion.
As i said earlier, to blame the ref’s for our poor performance is not justified. The ref did make bad decisions. But to say that Koscielny and Squillaci didn’t defend well against Rooney or co. jus bcoz they were scared of the ref’s decision is pure bad excuse.
Also refs r not machines, they r humans, they can make mistakes in their decisions. But its is very naive to say that Refs r always against us and we cant win matches if the ref makes bad decisions against us.
I think its high time that instead of focussing on the ref’s mistakes, we look at our own weaknesses. Bcoz analysing wat the ref does or doesn’t, will not help Arsenal in any way watsoever. But it can be detrimental to Arsenal if any of the refs start reading such articles.
Walter, its plain to see you are very angry and frustrated about the refereeing in the match just like so many other Gunners. I have seen this happen year in and year out. Penalties being awarded to Manchester United when a similar claim from Arsenal is shrugged off by the referee. It is said that refereeing decisions are levelled out by the end of the season and every team gets its fair share of good and bad decisions. I really don’t think I am biased when I say this, since I have seen the pattern repeated for the last 5 years, Arsenal always seem to get the raw end of the deal.
Statistics are being thrown about all over the internet today saying that out of the last 11 matches against Chelsea and ManU, Arsenal have drawn 1 and lost 10. Although, it does show you how bad we have fared against the top teams(which is fair enough, I concede), it does not show you how many bad refereeing decisions have been made against us.
About the Kung-fu kicks, I think the pictures you’ve put up of Eboue’s sending off in contrast to just a foul for Rio’s Street Fighter mode, speak a thousand words.
Dark Prince, will analyzing the players with a magnifying glass on 500 blogs help Arsenal in any way on the field?
And do you suggest we just should shut up to prevent worse to happen? Give them a free pass to do just as they like?
I think any ref that is being serious with his job will be glad with his game being reviewed. And this doesn’t mean he has to agree on anything. But just the fact that he might rethink his game will benefit the ref.
It is obvious that untill now no one had dared to say to Webb that he doesn’t pay attention to karate kicks on the field. I have seen him not react on many occasions (mostly when a United player involved in fact). So maybe if someone would have told him some time ago: Howard, do give a foul for karate kicks will you. Then maybe he would take notice and act and do something about it.
Forget the ref this was just a question of same old, same old, again we have ain’t produced the goods when needed. Yes the ref was poor but everyone knew that was the case before the match even started, so should of we been prepared for that? Cesc said this summer that Spain prepare for 10 times more than Arsenal for a match. They actually look into the opponents strengths and weaknesses and work on it whitch is nearly non-exsistent with Wenger. Lord Wenger just says to the players if we play our football and play to are best ability will win! Which in fairness is true to a point. Though clearly no plan B when teams happen to put up a fight against us and press us up high putting pressure on our passing game and look for a counter.
In my eyes were going to need to end our appalling record against the top sides or trophy drought will continue. “If we are going to win the league this season, and I believe we can, then we have to win that mini-league,” words from Wenger himself. Tactically we must prepare for big games we can’t just go into matches thinking that if we play we will win. Remember the only team to win the prem without winning any of the big-team games was Man Utd and that has only happened once!
I do’t think in the last 5 year we progresivly have got much better, if have just lost key players just when it looked we were nearly there. Replacing them with young talented players that take about 2/3 years to get up to speed which by then we have lost another one. Evra’s windup with Arsenal are a football training centre… as mush as it hurts is ever so more looking like its true. And were only fighting at the top because Man Utd and Chelsea have become grandually worse as Tot..Shite, Man City….have become better. 5 loses already, poor!
Its not all doom and gloom, if Chelsea beat Man Utd at the bridge and we beat Stoke…that puts us back 1st. Man Utd will still have a game in hand but we are still be there.
arsenal1again
why make such silly statements ? have you heard of google ? it;s an interesting product. it works like this : type in a question and you get an answer or many of them). there is a web site that show the league table any day of any year.
http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2000-2001/table/2000-12-26
and this
http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/1993-1994/table/1993-12-22
and this
http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2005-2006/table/2005-12-18
and that is without trying !!!
Walter- this is wat was written in the ref watch article few days back- “up untill 2008-09 season, its fair to say that Howard Webb has been a total and proper c&^t to us”
How do u think he will feel after reading this statement b4 the match??
Also even if he is biased, do you think he will change after reading this review on his performance?? Definately not!! I mean, why will he be concerned about his performance if he knows he’s going to be biased??
Also yes, analysing the problems we face through a magnifying glass is the way we can solve it. But let me ask u in return, will ignoring the problems we have in our team can anyway give us any solutions to solve the problem?? And i’m not saying we have to buy anyone or sack anyone, i’m just talking about our offensive and defensive tactical plans for every game. If we dont analyse this, then who will?? I’m saying this bcoz, half of the other arsenal sites want to buy new players, and the other half wants to sack the present players. This is no solution, atleast not a solution to divulge in between the season. What wud be really helpful is a tactical preview and review of arsenal’s matches on this site. Which i think is going to be more of a solution to arsenal’s problems than a ref review.
dark princess,
Webb is a referee like you are an Arsenal fan. Both totally unfit for their roles.
Walter,
love your ref reviews.
Here’s what our away support sang at Webb during the game:
‘Fergie’s rent boy’. And that’s what the Manure fans sang back: ‘We’re Man United and we do what we want.’
Keep doing the good work that no one in the media is willing to do.
Dark prince, there is an idiom in Dutch that translated goes like this:
“if you drink you will die
if you don’t drink you will also die
So lets just booze”
I don’t think any EPL ref will read our reviews. And if they do: Hi, how are you out there?
But suppose Webb has read this and felt angry about it and would screw us even more. This would just mean he is unfit for the job.
But if I shut my mouth: he will screw us
If I speak: he will screw us
Then I prefer to spit it out and I will point it out for all those who doubt and who haven’t noticed it.
And if I can get one EPL ref (suppose if they read this) to get him start thinking about some issues in the game it will be a succes that goes much further than I ever could imagine.
When you are a ref you know you are open for critics and reviews. It is part of the job. If you cant stand it you can always stop.
Any good ref will analyse his game and try to learn from it. Biased refs will do no such things as they know what they are doing so they know when the game is over if they have done their job. And that is all that matters for them.
And I do believe that there are refs in the EPL who really try to do their best and try to be unbiased. But I also know that there are others and no matter what I or Dogface write about them, it will not change them. I can only hope that they have some kind of conscience and remember what the first and only task of a ref is: getting the laws respected by both teams in the same unbiased way.
typefaeces- you are no better than those united fans who chant ‘paedophile’…or maybe ur jus a spuds fan who doesn’t want arsenal to become better. either way ur not even an arsenal fan, so wat r u doin on an arsenal site?
Walter- i dont think the EPL runs on a dutch idiom…and i hav noticed that you do have a prejudice towards refs who judge arsenal’s matches. I mean, even d ref’s hav integrity, if we question their integrity everytime they make a mistake, then wats the difference between us and those guys who questions Wenger’s commitment everytime we lose a match.
The ref preview and review, on all accounts should be unbiased. If there is a ref who’s tryin his best to be unbiased in Arsenal’s matches, and if he sees wat type of bad things are written about him by Arsenal fans b4 every match, then we are ourselves are to blame in making him against us.
http://anotherarsenalblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/video-of-fletcher-barging-referee.html
spot on, i also wrote on the fletcher barge today, petit was sent off for far less on durkin
the media’s pathetic lack of objective anaylsis has also been obvious
no comment on the push on webb, this would not happen for an arsenal player
then no comment that it wasn’t a pen, various tv stations and papers just stated it was given without saying whether it was deserved or not