Premier League - Managers: Eboue defended

Eurosport - Sun, 20 Sep 13:14:00 2009

All the reaction from Saturday's Premier League games with Arsene Wenger quick to quash another cheating row.

FOOTBALL Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger looks on during the 4-2 Premier League loss at Manchester City - 0

Arsenal 4-0 Wigan

Arsene Wenger (after Emmanuel Eboue was booked for deliberate handball): "Of course we want to stamp out cheating in the game. It is not necessarily cheating sometimes, it (handball) can be a reflex as well. I do not encourage cheating and we all have to fight against it, but in this particular situation it can be a reflex as well. When the player goes down sometimes it is not always because he wants to cheat. I feel in England that the personality of the player who does it is more important than the importance of the foul and the cheating."

Roberto Martinez: ""We were very poor in our performance. That was not our style at all. We did not get anywhere near the Arsenal players in the first half. Our starting position was wrong and there was a lack of belief. We are not normally a defensive side, but we had a slow start and that was the reason for our performance. I cannot not take any positives from the performance - or the lack of it."

Liverpool 2-3 West Ham

Rafael Benitez: "If he (Fernando Torres) continues to play like he did today, he can be one of the best. When you talk about the Premier League you talk about a lot of players with quality so it is not easy to pick just one, but he is among the best. He is a very good player and it is easy to see his qualities. If he is keen to learn, he will improve. He is now fit and we are working hard with him to prevent injuries. If he cannot play one or two games, we have Kuyt or Ryan Babel who can score goals."

Gianfranco Zola: "Zavon (Hines) has done very well in the last week but today was even better against a difficult team. The boy is taking his chances very well. he helped the team defensively and he is establishing himself, which is down to his work and attitude. You need to have players like him. I am hoping a few others will do the same in the next few weeks. He is playing with a brave attitude and making an impact."

Aston Villa 2-0 Portsmouth

Martin O'Neill: "He (Gabriel Agbonlahor) is playing brilliantly for us and that was a fantastic goal. I know South Africa is a long way off but if he can continue that sort of form he will be hard to ignore. We got a bit of momentum going before today and it was important to keep that going. We looked a bit tired which is inexplicable but we won the game and know we can play much better."

Paul Hart: "You are distraught if you give away two goals that you would be distraught about if you were an 11-year-old. That gave us a mountain to climb but overall we played extremely well. They were two errors that in terms of Premier League football I can't quite understand. I have got great belief in my players and I do think we will turn things around."

Bolton 1-1 Stoke

Gary Megson: "You will not see a worse goal to concede at any level, never mind professional football. It was a lack of determination and that cannot happen. People have got to do a lot more to score against you. We have dealt with corners, every throw-in from Rory Delap, but gave away a terrible goal."

Tony Pulis: "Strikers live on confidence and Dave (Kitson)'s got three goals now. I hope he gets a run of form together. Perhaps he will go on to score 12-15 goals in a season, which is what we thought we would get when we bought him."

Burnley 3-1 Sunderland

Owen Coyle: I've always had the greatest belief in David (Nugent) as a top-class player and that's why we've brought him in. His two finishes were top class and he has got to use them as a stepping stone. I would love to have him permanently and as long as he's happy I'm sure he can keep producing on the pitch."

Steve Bruce: "I was delighted at half-time but it was disappointing that we petered away to nothing in the second half. We were the best team by a distance - we let in a poor goal and bounced back from it. The second-half performance is something we have got to put right. For the second half, especially the last half-hour, we weren't there."

Hull 0-1 Birmingham

Phil Brown (on Stephen Hunt being denied a penalty): "I don't want it to sound like sour grapes but it looks a stonewall certainty to me. But I'm bound to say that now we have lost 1-0. We could have got something from it. We had the opportunity but didn't take it. For someone to walk into our six-yard box and get a free header needs to be looked at. Confidence levels are now low and they need picking up."

Alex McLeish: "We have had a catalogue of injuries that would absolutely frighten you. We were down to the bare bones. Garry (O'Connor) was on his sickbed as well. He was off Thursday and came in Friday and did a little jog. He came in after 10 minutes and the puppy-dog eyes were there - I think he wanted me to send him home. I said, 'You need to come. We'll put you in a car, not the bus, and you can have a single room'. He came down this morning and was bright and bubbly, devoured his breakfast and said he was available if I needed him. I said, 'I really need you'. When he came on you wouldn't have known he had been ill, he was very sharp."

Eurosport

Comment 30 - 49 of 49

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  1. Arsen has to defend him in public but i will put my­ house on the fact he wont get anywages for 2 weeks.

    It­ is his antics that the arsenal fans dont like, that is­ why is got booed last year , he was not playing well­ and was trying to fool people into thinking he got­ fouled ect

    From Alex F, on Mon 21 Sep 11:20PM
  2. liverpool a gonna get 6th mancity 3rd man u 4th arsenal­ 2nd Chelsea 1st

    [arsenal fan]

    From jodain, on Mon 21 Sep 4:20PM
  3. What some prats see in Arsenal and Wenger is what I­ cant get. Wenger's main work is to train and mould­ the boys. There's a ref to oversee the game. If­ there was (or not) a handball, (Rev) Eboue was aptly­ penalised and that's football. What else does these­ Man U and Man C losers expect? Leave Wenger alone. He­ wont be reading your dirty, one sided, sloppy opinions,­ anyway.

    From Burts, on Mon 21 Sep 2:48PM
  4. Liverpool lost at home to West Ham... I guess I was­ watching an entirely different match...

    From Constance, on Sun 20 Sep 4:54PM
  5. Which means that when it is a man city player who­ commits an infringement the motive is always wrong, but­ when it is an arsernal player it is a reflex­ action?...how is the world would you say that a wrong­ is a wrong depending on the persons character. Surely­ because it is wenger and arsenal the FA will put its­ tail between its legs and do nothing. Arsernal, Man U,­ Liverpool and the blues are untouchables in the British­ football. Rules are dependent on the team first of all,­ second on the player and thirdly on the supporters.

    From Trisa, on Sun 20 Sep 1:52PM
  6. So what Eboue got yellow carded for his handball it­ aint like he tried to deny it is it. he got up and had­ a laugh with the ref as he told him what he did so you­ cant really call him a cheat.

    From craig, on Sun 20 Sep 1:29PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Is That Wenger at it again defending his Cheating­ Players. There is Backing your players and being­ absolutely Stupid Wenger doesn't know when to do­ either.

    From Ronnie, on Sun 20 Sep 1:01PM
  8. ha - Wenger.... look at the ammunition you gave the­ yahoo tards, maybe best to shut up on this one?

    From smith00htims, on Sun 20 Sep 12:54PM
  9. That city player the other day must have had a similar­ reaction, amazing that. And as for cheating, what me­ ref no never. Yes we should all condem cheating mr­ Venger, when you going to start.

    From Avenue T, on Sun 20 Sep 12:53PM
  10. Bet Wenger has bollocked Eboue in private though.
    Of­ course Wenger saw it, after all didn't Mourinho­ call him a voyeur once?

    From Lawrence, on Sun 20 Sep 12:40PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    More like Arse @#$% to me, this cheat should leave the­ EPL we don't wrinkled face french GAY bashers in­ the EPL

    From Godwin, on Sun 20 Sep 12:39PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    KKKKKKKKKK!!!!! Folks when an Arsenal player cheats­ its reflex action but when its Adebayor he can ease-off­ if he wants to and Mark Hughes will only make up 1% to­ defend such action. I think the greatest threat to­ premier league football is the kind of mindless and­ malicious spin coming out of Arsenal and their spin­ will even put Westminister politicians to shame.

    From remigus o, on Sun 20 Sep 12:37PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    oh dear yet again the prat at the emirates makes a­ bigger donkey out of himself
    on one hand he wants to­ stop cheating but on the other he says it wasnt fair or­ a deliberate hand ball fact of the matter is epoo-ay`s­ hand touched the ball there for its a handball
    again­ wenger shows the world just he is a joke just like his­ team

    From Daryl S, on Sun 20 Sep 12:34PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    palirock

    HE HAS DONE A LOT FOR ENGLISH FOOTBALL­ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, 0 ENGLISH PLAYERS IN THE STARTING­ LINE UP YOU BLIND MUPPET

    From rafascrackingup, on Sun 20 Sep 12:32PM
  15. its obvious that wenger support cheating, what a­ shame?! he is just a whinger and will never win­ anything this season again....a cheat is a cheat­ someone need to ring that into wenger ears

    From Dynamic, on Sun 20 Sep 12:32PM
  16. #18: Stop shouting at us! That's what you're­ doing when you keep the 'Caps Lock' on and­ it's very, very bad mannered!

    From Paperboy, on Sun 20 Sep 12:31PM
  17. stop blaming Arsene wenger.. he has to back his­ players, thats wat coaches do.. he has done alot for­ the english football, by putting the youth out there­ while other clubs spending on forign players that u can­ rarely see a british player in their team.. will u be­ happier if he bought 2 or 3 more expensive players and­ have those youth sit on the bench ?

    From palirock, on Sun 20 Sep 12:20PM
  18. Rafa benitez still plays the same formation and the­ same way of attacking as in the past seasons... When is­ he going to learn that this isnt working ?! .. A lucky­ win over west ham utd, 2 defeats in the start of the­ season.. you cant have torres upfront alone and expect­ him to score so many goals.. no strikers can do that­ for u when there is no other strikers to back him up..­ i think he should go with Kuyt as a left striker and­ gerard as center forward behind them .. Kuyt have shown­ his dedication and work.. and goals

    From palirock, on Sun 20 Sep 12:16PM
  19. What...he saw it this time?

    From Arthur, on Sun 20 Sep 12:13PM
  20. West Ham did well but unlucky.

    From Kah Wai, on Sun 20 Sep 12:10PM
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