[Bruvva]

Well, no doubt someone will come in with the 'he's not that kind of player' argument.

Arteta thanked the Anfield crowd for clapping him off, and some of the Liverpool players for texting him. He didn't comment on the incident.

Shawcross & Taylor didn't mean to catch Ramsey/Eduardo that badly either, but that kind of clumsy, unnecessary, physically aggressive approach that is designed to intimidate opponents is what leads to horrible injuries.

You probably never said anything when Vieira was trying to maim all and sundry. And as for Henderson "deliberately" taking out Arteta? Seriously? * hell, have a word with yourselves.

[chrysostom]

Was Vieira often reckless with an opponent's physical wellbeing? I don't remember him accidentally seriously injuring an opponent due to a lack of control. But stay vague with your references, it helps the argument.

My argument isn't that they're TRYING to hurt people, it's that they're trying to intimidate their opponents without the ability to control what their body will do. If you can tackle hard, and you know you'll get the ball then go in hard - if you might not get the ball, then don't go in with 100% force. It's a judgement call. Look at De Jong on Ben Arfa, Guthrie on Fagan. It's recklessness.

How the hell do you look at Henderson running towards Arteta, raising his shoulder to Arteta's upper body (for no reason with the ball going the other way) and clattering him as an accident?

Why did he raise his arm seconds before running past Arteta, clatter him and not even look round to see if the person he must have hit quite hard was ok? It was literally behind the ref's back. But yeah, it was an accident - not worth arguing about with a fan who'll defend it no matter what.

[Bruvva]

Needs to be a delete post option here really..

[chrysostom]

If you don't want me to be patronising, then why don't you address any of the points I made about Henderson's bizarre behaviour (if it was an accident) half a second before knocking Arteta (who's a former Evertonian, and would probably get a rise from the crowd to give him a shove) unconscious, and his immediate lack of regard for his wellbeing after his shoulder has just collided very hard with another person's jaw. As well as the confusing decision to run across Arteta, rather than taking it off topic and arguing that because Arsenal players have been aggressive in the past, that it's somehow wrong for an Arsenal fan to criticise violent gamesmanship.

But seriously, we're looking at it from opposing perspectives, and it's unlikely that we'll reach a compromise. And I'm going to the match tonight, so I'm going to be subject to much more abuse tomorrow morning

[Bruvva]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCqaA_V0ryM

He's running towards the ball, Arteta's moving backwards, they bump into each other. It's entirely possible that Henderson raises his arms to protect himself, accusing him of deliberately clattering him is just silly.

And apologies for being overly antagonistic in the previous reply, you obviously saw it before I edited it.

[G-Sizzle]

Running towards the ball? Utter bollocks.

Look at where the ball was going and look his direction, and look where the ball was being taken. He wanted to give Arteta a nudge to put him off his stride, but ended up doing alot more damage.

Arsenal fans are obviously more sensitive to player injuries because of the horrific injuries suffered to Eduardo & Ramesy by reckless tackles by clumsy players.

Just look at Diaby, his career has has been ruined by injury, And them injuries all stem from a broken ankle suffered at Sunderland by Dan Smith (who now works in a call centre by the way)

[Bruvva]

Running towards the ball? Utter bollocks.

Look at where the ball was going and look his direction, and look where the ball was being taken. He wanted to give Arteta a nudge to put him off his stride, but ended up doing alot more damage.

Arsenal fans are obviously more sensitive to player injuries because of the horrific injuries suffered to Eduardo & Ramesy by reckless tackles by clumsy players.

Just look at Diaby, his career has has been ruined by injury, And them injuries all stem from a broken ankle suffered at Sunderland by Dan Smith (who now works in a call centre by the way)

Larf. * hell.

[Bonanzoid]

Having just viewed it several times, it looks as if Henderson sees he is about to clash with Arteta and tries to amend the course of his run. Obviously I will be accused of bias, but that's genuinely what I think.

G-Sizzle, he is running towards the ball. He changes direction after Song's control but unfortunately he was too close to Arteta to avoid contact.

[chrysostom]

[Bonanzoid]

Fair point. Short of Jordan Henderson coming out and saying if it was deliberate or not (which he won't, if it was) it's quite open to interpretation.

[chrysostom]

went for the ball.

[Yudster]

This is funny. Henderson took him out. Not because he's a Liverpool player, because he's a footballer and that's what they do.

[Johnny 1989]

Running towards the ball? Utter bollocks.

Look at where the ball was going and look his direction, and look where the ball was being taken. He wanted to give Arteta a nudge to put him off his stride, but ended up doing alot more damage.

Arsenal fans are obviously more sensitive to player injuries because of the horrific injuries suffered to Eduardo & Ramesy by reckless tackles by clumsy players.

Just look at Diaby, his career has has been ruined by injury, And them injuries all stem from a broken ankle suffered at Sunderland by Dan Smith (who now works in a call centre by the way)

Diaby is a sad case when you think about, my Brother has always said that when he puts his mind to it he can be a great player, unfortunately he doesn't half the time & sadly that injury has ruined his career, back half hour for the first time in months & yet out again.

[Bonanzoid]

That Pablo Guerrero foul is pretty shocking. Hasn't he been banned for 4 games or something for it? It reminded me of Joey Barton's cynical lunge on Xabi Alonso a few seasons ago.

[chrysostom]

I was really proud of the team last night. The display was great, the crowd were amazing and my voice is completely gone. Best night I've had at the emirates by far.

[Bonanzoid]

I wrote a wee article following Chelsea's Champions League win against Napoli, would be good to see what some of you thought of it.

If Charla reads this, then I apologise. It's not the most positive article about Chelsea.

[chrysostom]

I think AVB is a very important reminder that football players are people too.

Just like any unit, team or department - if you are a poor man manager, with ideas that conflict with a majority of the personnel then productivity will wane, and discontent will be rife.

A squad containing seasoned high performing professionals needed a strong manager who would be able to manage their egos, while slowly moulding them to his style. AVB was naive, arrogant and always seemed quite unlikable from a Chelsea player's POV.

If AVB was to interview for that vacant position, he would never have been given the role based on an incompatible personality - but he was given the job by a owner who judged him based on his CV.

That team can only be managed by Mourinho or a friendly, experienced manager (such as Ancelotti/Sven/Hughes) without things kicking off. Having said that, I genuinely think that the squad could manage themselves for next season. Until Lampard/Terry/Drogba/Cole/Malouda leave - there's too much of the old Chelsea to try and carve a new one.

[Bonanzoid]

Don't know if anyone is watching the Man Utd game today, but what a shocking decision it was for the penalty. Wigan and now QPR have both been humped by atrocious officiating.

[DevilsDuck]

It was a shocking decision, but... 8 points clear... Woop

[Yudster]

It was a bad decision but I'm so glad it happened becuase the comedy value of Jamie Redknapp ranting about it was immense. He was SO angry, I genuinely think he is trying to get Gary Neville to argue with him the whole time now, and he will fail, Nev has already demonstrated that is totally capable of loving United and doing his job as a pundit and commentator without any bias towards them or bias against City/Liverpool/anyone else. Angry Jamie is hilarious.

[chrysostom]

Gary Neville is the best thing to happen to Sky Sports since Fanzone.

[Bonanzoid]

Gary Neville is the best thing to happen to Sky Sports since Fanzone.

I'd have to agree. At first, the prospect of that toerag being on my screens all the time was fairly bleak but he's proved me wrong. He's actually a fantastic pundit.

[Yudster]

He's surprised a lot of people, but no-one who knew anything about him. He was always one of the most articulate and intelligent players in the Premiership and he understands his job and knows how to do it. I'm not sure why anyone thought he would be anything other than good, unless people think that playing football is the same thing as talking about it.

[chrysostom]

Because he reveled in being a figure of hate from opposition fans. And he has dodgy facial hair.

[Yudster]

I'm not sure he revelled in it particularly, although he certainly relished the competitiveness is engendered. He still does, he has said often on Sky that to clamp down on that sort of edge between players and clubs would be a bad thing to do. But why would you think he would behave like that in a TV studio, where he has got a completely different job to do?