NG32 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Former Arsenal striker Dennis Bergkamp has revealed the influence that the English mentality had on his football career revealing that the spirit in the Arsenal dressing room came from the “English warrior tradition.” The modern day Gunners showed a distinct lack of backbone on Saturday when they let a four goal lead slip against Newcastle United at St. James’s Park sparking more debate over Arsenal’s leadership qualities and defensive instability. Bergkamp, who won three Premier League trophies and four FA Cup winners medals during his career at Highbury feels the success was down in part to the old English culture at the club. “We were successful because of our English defenders.” Bergkamp told FourFourTwo magazine. “They put the spirit in the team, which the Europeans lacked. They would say “Get stuck in” and all sorts of other phrases. I love it, especially “How much do you want it?” I thought about it. It stuck with me. “Do you really want it more than the opponent? How much are you prepared to give? How much time do you want to put in to become better? It’s English warrior tradition; a moral code. We go out together and we’re going to give a 100 per cent.” Arsenal didn't want it in the second half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 They thought they already had it I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG32 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 They thought they already had it I suppose. They were wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superior Acuña Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I see Nolan was maybe silly, but he was trying to get the ball off the GK who wouldn't let him have it. It's undoubtedly not as bad attacking someone off the ball. And even if it was silly, it was great to see them so desperate at 4-1 down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Next team they play where they get an early lead like that, they'll absolutely rape them by 6 or 7, they'll not be allowed to ease up like that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Next team they play where they get an early lead like that, they'll absolutely rape them by 6 or 7, they'll not be allowed to ease up like that. Hopefully it'll be one of the relegation candidates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Spaceman Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Next team they play where they get an early lead like that, they'll absolutely rape them by 6 or 7, they'll not be allowed to ease up like that. Hopefully it'll be one of the relegation candidates. Have they played Sunderland twice already? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliGupter Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Wolves at home their next game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATB Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Wolves at home their next game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I will be putting money on Arsenal winning that with Wolves having a 4 goal start. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I see Nolan was maybe silly, but he was trying to get the ball off the GK who wouldn't let him have it. It's undoubtedly not as bad attacking someone off the ball. And even if it was silly, it was great to see them so desperate at 4-1 down. Nolan was pretty wound up - credit for that - his arm went towards the ball the goalkeeper was holding and Chesney moved his body to make a meal of it - so the keeper is responsible for the incident. Also loved the angry manner in which Nolan threw his drink bottle to the ground as he walked to the tunnel at the end, it said a lot about how wound up he was and what it meant to him. A lot has been said about the team and individual's performances in the second half, but I'm sure had Kevin Nolan not been in our dressing room and on the pitch we would not have got that result. He is a big, big player for us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ObiChrisKenobi Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Lost a bit of 'like' for Arsenal in the aftermath of this game. Always overlooked their moaning and woeful sour grapes commentary, but the stuff being spouted out now is terrible - ref was bribed. Barton is an axe murder. Give over and OPEN YOUR EYES. For as wonderful as your team is, you have faults - faults that have been apparent for at least 2 seasons. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Lost a bit of 'like' for Arsenal in the aftermath of this game. Always overlooked their moaning and woeful sour grapes commentary, but the stuff being spouted out now is terrible - ref was bribed. Barton is an axe murder. Give over and OPEN YOUR EYES. For as wonderful as your team is, you have faults - faults that have been apparent for at least 2 seasons. Me too. Always supported them in Europe but they're just as bad as ManU really. Oh and Piers Morgan supports them too........... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRL Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Watched a bit of footage that was likely mentioned earlier in the thread but I thought was pretty interesting... Seems about 3 mins into end of first half stoppage time Barton intends to go two-footed at Arshavin, who turns, and Barton pulls out partially, eventually going through the back of Arshavin's legs with and almost on his own knees, looked like a foul but nothing more thanks to him pulling out. But as a foul wasn't given, Barton manages to crawl back to his feet and play the ball forward, at which point Diaby comes in massively late, seemingly intent on going for Barton's ankle and not anywhere near or with any intention of getting the ball. Barton looked to be pretty hurt by the tackle but Diaby did the whole 'play hurt' thing as well and we got a free kick but there was no caution. May have meant Barton saw him miscontrol in the second half and go in as full blooded as possible. Not saying it was a foul by Barton, but he may not have gone in with quite as much vigour had someone else miscontrolled. Know we can't post links but as someone mentions 101greatgoals.com hoping i can mention that this was at the arsenalist.com? If not, apologies, please snip away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I marginally dislike these less than Spurs and Liverpool. Just one of those clubs I hate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I love the way the play football but some of their individual players (and their manager) are annoying as fuck. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRL Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Also, petty gripe, but can the sub-ed not even get simple things like which penalty this is right? http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/feb/07/newcastle-united-arsenal-premier-league (although rare praise from Taylor...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 For me it wasn't an issue. If the Arsenal players don't like being tackled, they should go and play basketball or netball or one of the other games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan_Taylor Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 For me it wasn't an issue. If the Arsenal players don't like being tackled, they should go and play basketball or netball or one of the other games. Brilliantly forward that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 "EXCLUSIVE: EVIL BARTON VICIOUSLY SLAMS OTHER SPORTS, SHAQUILLE O'NEAL NOT HAPPY" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I see Nolan was maybe silly, but he was trying to get the ball off the GK who wouldn't let him have it. It's undoubtedly not as bad attacking someone off the ball. And even if it was silly, it was great to see them so desperate at 4-1 down. Nolan was pretty wound up - credit for that - his arm went towards the ball the goalkeeper was holding and Chesney moved his body to make a meal of it - so the keeper is responsible for the incident. Also loved the angry manner in which Nolan threw his drink bottle to the ground as he walked to the tunnel at the end, it said a lot about how wound up he was and what it meant to him. A lot has been said about the team and individual's performances in the second half, but I'm sure had Kevin Nolan not been in our dressing room and on the pitch we would not have got that result. He is a big, big player for us. It's a double edged sword really. Nolan couldn't get near any of the Arsenal midfielders in the first half, he really only came into the game when they lost a man in midfield. His attitude is great...physically he just can't live with some teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
afar Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Past few pages on this thread read exactly like the post-match comments on Man City's forum after our game with them which resulted in a star player's leg snapped in two by a thug without even so much as a free kick being awarded, and two bad penalty decisions going against us. Similar rose-tinted analysis of decisions, similar "rofl at the whiners" comments, similar "it was a fair challenge, the lad is soooo misunderstood by the evilz mediyah" etc etc. There's nothing wrong with saying that we were on the welcoming end of most of the bad decisions in this game, which we clearly were imo. On top of two poor penalty calls, we won a number of free kicks where our players just went to ground very easily. It was that sort of game where one side knows that the ref will blow if they fall over, so will take advantage of it. It did look like a few of our players had received half-time training from Van der Vaart on how to go down at the slightest contact. The referee, as with most referees in the Premiership these days, just bottled things in front of the home supporters - maybe he felt sorry for us at 4-0, who knows. Nolan's headlock + throw should have been a red card in light of Diaby's red (which was a very fair straight red car imo). I just don't see how it isn't as it's pretty thuggish behaivour to grab someone round the neck and throw them to the ground. On that note, what an utterly daft thing to do from our captain, given that many refs are all too happy to "even things out". The only saving grace is that for some reason, referees seem to be a bit leniant when a player who is trying to get the ball quickly gets angry at the keeper for holding onto it, allowing them to get away with a moment's rage. But yeah, ultimately we benefited greatly from some poor/weak refereeing. IMO of course. I'm sorry but that's the biggest load of crap I've read here. I'm with Yorkie, there was only one dodgy decisionand that was the 2nd pen, but even then I can see why he would have given that, look closely at Rocisky clearly barges Williamson and puts the guy off, it's still soft though as that sort of stuff happens all the time. Anyway it's a moot point because of the clearly onside Best goal that was not given, evens it out. There was a clear difference between the malice and anger shown by the Arsenal player to a perfectly fair challenge and the just wanting to get on with the game that Nolan should, he was carded for that and that was fair. It seems like everyone is trying to take away from what was a truely epic comeback. The referee, did pretty well in my book, and he certainly didn't hand us the draw, that was all down to the players who put in a great effrot and should excellent spirit in that 2nd half. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRL Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 fwiw Referee365s take pretty much sums up my thoughts on the game: So it comes to this - Newcastle v Arsenal, February 5th 2011. A simply amazing game, history-making and title race shaking, full of drama that if written as fiction would be dismissed as corny and far-fetched. I don't even recall Melchester coming back from 4-0 down to draw 4-4. Especially not if they'd sold Blackie Gray for £35m to Portdean earlier that week. As far as major refereeing calls go, we'll start with the dismissal of Abou Diaby, which was really the turning point of the game. Now I understand Arsene Wenger's point about Diaby having suffered a severe leg injury in the past, which may go some way to explain the midfielder's reaction, but that cannot come into referee Phil Dowd's head. I thought he got the decision spot on. There was nothing at all wrong with Joey Barton's challenge. He anticipated the situation brilliantly, took the ball very cleanly, and for me wasn't even all that reckless. In fact I don't think it was reckless at all. Sometimes there is bound to be contact between players in a challenge. It doesn't give Diaby the right to shove people in the head if he doesn't like it. I think his grab on Barton, then a violent push and a subsequent shove to Kevin Nolan got him sent off. If he had done just one of these acts he might have got away with it, but cumulatively, Mr Dowd saw it as worthy of a red. I have to agree. I'll now leap to the incident which saw the cautions of Wojciech Szczæsny and Kevin Nolan, because it is obviously comparable. This is probably the moment where I will need my tin hat at the ready, because I believe once again Phil Dowd got it RIGHT. I will say that I understand entirely the argument that people will have saying that what Nolan did to Szczæsny was the same as Diaby on Barton, but I respectfully disagree. I believe a major contributing factor in Mr Dowd deciding to dismiss Diaby was that there were three parts to his offence leading to the sending-off. If Diaby had just have grabbed Barton, or just have pushed Nolan, then he may just received a caution. I even think that the push to the head by Diaby isn't all that bad, and would probably in my book just be a yellow card. I think Nolan reached out and grabbed Szczæsny, but I didn't think he transgressed the laws to the extent that he ought to have been sent off. The term in the law book is 'Violent Conduct', and it states, as we have discussed in this column recently, that the definition of this is 'excessive force or brutality'. In my eyes, I don't believe that either Diaby's push to the head or Nolan's grab at Szczæsny could be considered to use excessive force or brutality. At this point you could argue that Diaby, then, should not have received a straight red, but instead two consecutive bookings. I'd concede you have a point, but that ultimately it doesn't matter in the context of this one game. Moving on to Newcastle's two penalties, and for me it's one right and one wrong. I think in the first instance Koscielny was clumsy, leaned in and tripped his opponent. I can't fault that decision. The second was more suspect. I can only imagine it was given for a perceived push by Tomas Rosicky, but contact there seemed minimal, if at all. Simply a mistake, in my eyes, by the assistant referee. An AR, incidentally, who got an offside decision badly wrong when Leon Best thought he'd pulled another goal back at 1-4. All in all, I thought Mr Dowd did a good job in the major incidents that I have seen. Whoever said that no-one wants to see a red card, or that they ruin games, eh? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest YANKEEBLEEDSMAGPIE Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 TIOTE FOR SAINTHOOD! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Diaby's red was two yellows. One for the headlock and one for the push on Nolan. Nolan got Szeczny (sp?) in a headlock and got booked. Szeczny also got booked for time-wasting, btw. Diaby got a straight red for violent conduct and will be banned for 3 games. I think he meant each incident was worthy of a booking, hence the red card. Yeah. If one had been without the other, i don't think he would've gone. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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