Sir Alex, are you watching?!
The same team being portrayed by the Manchester United manager as “a dirty side” merely a couple seasons ago has won the Premiership Fair Play Awards last season! And all that being achieved despite the highly hyped Old Trafford “disgrace” by the media.
I am very proud of this particular achievement by our players and club. There is a fine line between aggressiveness and dirtiness. Some players master the art of cheating without ever get caught (read a certain Man Utd Oscar-winning-style superstar striker)… Some players tend to fall into the trap of if-you-can’t-beat-him-get-him-sent-off nasty trick… on this occassion, I’m very glad that, for once, justice finally being done!
6 Responses to “The winner of Premiership Fair Play Award is… Arsenal??!!”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
August 25th, 2004 at 2:04 pm
I recently read this as well… and think it is FANTASTIC. Not only are we the best team in the league… we have won the Fair Play award for BOTH the team and the fans.
We are NOT a dirty team… and have an excellent disciplinary record in the last few seasons. This very point has been debated on Arsenal America.
Here is PROOF. We are the best and fairest!
August 25th, 2004 at 2:54 pm
We’ve got another chance to prove it in a few minutes…
UNBEATABLES.
August 25th, 2004 at 7:37 pm
Arsenal 3-0 Blackburn
#43 is now up and counting…
Fergie couldnt even dream of such a record.
August 25th, 2004 at 11:56 pm
In the current Arsenal team, probably Viera will be considered as a ‘hard’ player but a fair one. Since the rash of red cards he received a few seasons ago, he has become more careful in his tackling. By virtue of Arsenal’s style of football which is more focus on creating rather than destroying, there is really no place for a ‘Norman Hunter’ type of player in Arsenal.
It is my opinion that ManU has more hard players than Arsenal. I think it is part of ManU’s gameplan to take out opposing team’s star players via physcial intimidation. We are of course talking about someone like Keane whom I would describe as a lunatic (remember that injury he purposely inflict on the ManCity player a few years ago?). Smith is another player whom I would consider somewhere in between hard and dirty. I think it was Frank deBoer who was playing for Barcelona when they played Leeds in a Euro tie a couple of seasons ago where he described Smith played more like a thug than a footballer. ManU also have other hard players like Scholes, Djembax2 and Eagles. In the last two games between Arsenal and ManU, I remembered Scholes taking out Reyes with a few vicious tackles.
Perhaps the dirtiest player in the EPL is Robbie Savage of Birmingham City who was just banned for 3 games for elbowing Kezman. Interesting Savage has yet to be sent off in an EPL game but it is a matter of time.
Oh by the way, did someone said that Savage used to play for ManU before joining Birmingham?! He must have learnt his ‘trade’ there!
August 26th, 2004 at 9:15 am
Savage has to be one of the most perfectly named athletes in the world. And believe it or not, he’s one of my favorite players. He’s the comsummate EPL bad boy who seems to relish the guff he gets from opposite supporters. I saw The Arsenal take on Birmingham in May at Highbury (typing that never gets old) and Robbie always smiled when he had a corner to take in front of the North Bank. I was a few rows from the pitch and actually think he loves the attention, and that the fans kind of enjoy him.
He may be dirty, but he’s also a pretty decent writer. His articles in 4-4-2 are thought-provoking and well-written in my opinion. He’s a no apologies type of guy with a lot on his mind. Something of a different ilk then the other brutes around the English game. And he’s dangerous around goal, much like Keane.
That being said, you’re assessment of him is accurate. He needs a beaten. And his two fixtures against us will hopefully see him impotent. But I still follow B.City because of him.
Alright…back to Gunnermindedness.
August 26th, 2004 at 11:57 am
Dream of such a record is ALL he will ever do!