Paul Parker Article

Wenger can't handle rough stuff

Mon Aug 31 03:16PM

I was surprised to hear Arsene Wenger's comments about the way they were beaten by Manchester United, describing their physical performance as "anti-football".

The way football is played in the Premier League these days there aren't really any sides who you could call rough, not in the same way that they used to be.

I have got a lot of time for Wenger, I really appreciate the type of football that he preaches, but I can't agree with him on this one.

It was good to see him showing emotion, such as when he kicked that bottle when their late goal was disallowed and got sent to the stands, but his comments afterwards are the sort of thing that annoys people about him.

In my opinion, Arsenal were very unlucky to come away from that game with nothing, and that should have been the main topic of discussion afterwards, rather than Wenger complaining because his team could not compete physically.

When you look back to the Arsenal side that I played against, with players like Tony Adams and Martin Keown, and even Ian Wright and Alan Smith up front, they had players that could handle tough matches.

Sometimes you have to play a certain way in order to beat a team, and Arsenal have struggled to play against physical teams - like Bolton for example. If you can't win by outplaying the opposition, then you must do whatever else you can, and that goes for the top sides too.

In last season's Champions League semi-final, Chelsea they knew they had no hope of beating Barcelona by playing football, so they tried their best to bully their way to victory.

We would love to play a nice open game the whole time, but nobody is going to let you do that - football is about earning the right.

Arsenal are the best side in terms of pure football, but to win week in, week out you need to be able to deal with whatever is thrown at you.

- - -

A lot of people will have been saying that it's impossible to get a penalty at Old Trafford after Darren Fletcher's tackle on Andriy Arshavin, but I don't believe there is anything in that.

That sort of decision happens at every ground, but it only becomes a talking point when it's a big game.

Referee Mike Dean just didn't believe that what he saw constituted a foul because he didn't see it clearly enough, and what you can't see you can't give.

Wenger has often said that he couldn't see an incident, so now he will just have to accept that it was the referee who did not see something enough.

It's easy to start thinking that decisions always seem to favour the big clubs. When I was a player at Fulham and QPR I used to complain about it, but it's just one of those things you have to accept. What goes around comes around.

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@#$% article
From oluwafemiodusanya on Mon Aug 31 03:27PM
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Poor Parker
From helotism_free on Mon Aug 31 03:32PM
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@#$% again from Paul Parker... I wonder when the bloke will write a NEUTRAL piece, one that is devoid of love for Manchester United?
From stanessel on Mon Aug 31 03:32PM
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is this supposed to be an article or a comment about wenger?
saying people are supposed to deal with whatever is thrown at them is like saying people have to deal with diving because it's a part of the game..
I want to see football that is attractive not football that you could see people playing on streets. That's why I became an Arsenal fan in the first place.
why don't you just leave comments like everybody else on this website and stop trying to make your voice sound louder, you seem to only want to be heard.. not understood.
From ighnaz_mx on Mon Aug 31 03:34PM
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always is a useless article from pp.
From katrinajeffery on Mon Aug 31 03:36PM
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Awful.
From h.worley on Mon Aug 31 03:36PM
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Bias but good article Parker!
From redangelsfc on Mon Aug 31 03:40PM
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very very true!!!!
From yavortodorov on Mon Aug 31 03:42PM
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Paul Parker ex Man Utd.Enough said!
From highburyleft on Mon Aug 31 03:42PM
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you cannot cater for incompetence and both Mike Dean and his officials were.
From d.g.munn on Mon Aug 31 03:43PM
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wow that is another article on how MAN U is superior to Arsenal....
congrats Paul, I am a crazy-blinded fan of Arsenal, but still can admit from time to time they did something wrong or played really bad, You meanwhile had never done it....MIGHTY RED DEVILS are 100% pure in terms of everything
From tomjar21 on Mon Aug 31 03:44PM
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I was really waiting for you p.p to bring your anti-Journalism once more and without waisting any time you did.
Can you for once call a spade a spade?
"Wenger has often said that he couldn't see an incident, so now he will just have to accept that it was the referee who did not see something enough." The ref. is being paid to make the game a fair play, and the manager is paid to train and manage his team not to look around for where incidents that referee suppose to look on and execute his judgment as the middle man. For the fact that it is United, i trust you parker to bring the best defending terms. Shame on you
From helotism_free on Mon Aug 31 03:44PM
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comments 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 .....wow...morrons......
From yavortodorov on Mon Aug 31 03:44PM
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Another United article people move along.
Do you know that United is NOT THE ONLY TEAM IN THE PREMIERSHIP???....
Why not write an article about how Spurs are TOP of the table?
From januscanal on Mon Aug 31 03:45PM
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This is the truth !!! Sounds bad (to Arsenal fans) but again .....it is the truth.....
From yavortodorov on Mon Aug 31 03:46PM
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Brutal, brutal article. Is he getting paid for this?
From fgjc1 on Mon Aug 31 03:46PM
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Parker would support Man Utd, if they had shot Wenger. He's another Fat Sam, Fergie Arse kisser. He talks sh#*.
From david.sivyer on Mon Aug 31 03:48PM
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Come on this isn't bias heavy. He makes some fair points. I'm an Arsenal fan fuming with rage about the Man U game, and I usually hate Parker articles.... but I can still see Parker makes some good points.
From tolu_wanile on Mon Aug 31 03:48PM
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I know people who are die hard supporters of clubs and can just not see reason. PP is so emotional when it comes to Man U, he just couldnt wait to weigh in with his rubbish. What are you trying to say Mr. Parker? Is it to confirm your known allegance to Man U?
From morgengomo on Mon Aug 31 03:49PM
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What is the point of Paul Parker commenting on Man Utd v Arsenal?
He's as biased as Mike Dean ... in fact, could Mike Dean BE Paul Parker in a mask??
From alan.habanero on Mon Aug 31 03:51PM
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It's really unfortunate tha Paul Parker has not improved on this his column after last season's criticism from people all over the world. I advocate for Parker to stop analysing games 'cos he is always misguiding those who depends on his sentimental analysis. want to know the truth, avoid Parker's column period.
McCarthy (Warri, Nigeria)
From mckoyng on Mon Aug 31 03:53PM
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Pure Diahrea and no substance.
From ahpotter on Mon Aug 31 03:54PM
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Paul if you are not transparent, you should not be writing articles on the web more than 1 billion people sat down and watched that game so you cant tell us you know soccer more than all of us.in that game Arsenal concided 6 yellow cards, united were more dirty like you said and came out with two yellow cards, Arsenal had a penalty dis-allowed, In fact the ref should be investigated.
From ekechukwude on Mon Aug 31 03:54PM
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This is such a narrow minded analysis of Wenger's comment. It is football that is being played not rugby and when teams get physical to win or avoid losing, the games loses its appeal and beauty. I wonder if players will support PP's view because they also know that a hard knock from an opponent can mark the end of their career. Pp should learn to be more balanced in his analysis when writing for diverse readership otherwise he should share his opinions with only his partisan friends.
From babatunjifarinloye on Mon Aug 31 03:55PM
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this really shows how biased u are, i have been reading your so called article or comment or whatever u call it for sometimes now and u have never made any sense to me in all ur comments always criticizing arsenal for playing pure football. But i've got one question for, What would you have done if you had your leg broken while playing for English second national team called manyoo? Maybe you would be making some sense now.
From d104real on Mon Aug 31 03:56PM
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The referee is paid to see not the opposite.
From rakimi on Mon Aug 31 03:56PM
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you are all like little children, man u haters LMAO
if you don't like his articles, don't read, i don't visit arsenal website because i think the french man is way overrated man, team is pure @#$%, unknown players, and yet you say they are so big but they are very long time without the trophy.
and i agree that he writes about man u, man i is the talking point for last 3 seasons! its the best team most of them 3 years in the world:P barca got the better of them last final and fair enough. but your constant attacks on PP is just sour grapes. you cant take that your little team with big stadium cannot allow any cash to be spent... oh you poor fans... go support man city now or something as most of you went for chelsea when they got the cash and stop whining about things that does not matter. i thought you are men, not women
From eoinbrowne999 on Mon Aug 31 03:58PM
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@ comment 13
i guess you dont follow this guys articles.. if you did you would understand the comments
From i_amnr on Mon Aug 31 04:00PM
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I am so ashamed to see pple like Mr. parker given the opportunity to say rubish in a respected site like Eurosport. I am a die hard fan of Eurosport, but to see comments like this is sickning.
Mr. Parker himself said it all "A lot of people will have been saying that it's impossible to get a penalty at Old Trafford after Darren Fletcher's tackle on Andriy Arshavin, but I don't believe there is anything in that".
How is Almunia's called a penalty when that of Fletcher does not appear to be one.
Mr. parker please go and watch that match again, and come with a truer comment.
From agodirin on Mon Aug 31 04:01PM
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This is a Well written article. I am a freelance writer myself and i can honestly say that this is a competent piece of writing. It is very clear to me that the majority of you who regularly slate Parker about his journalism skills are not qualified to have an opinion.
From wobblay on Mon Aug 31 04:02PM
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