Fergie’s Stupid Outburst
73 comments January 28th, 2007
Alex Ferguson is always prone to blow his top. However, this time it’s made him look very, very stupid. This is less “mind games” and more the “mind implosion” of the red-faced Scot. Assuming (with little authority) that Wenger had suggested United tire in the last twenty minutes, he said:
“I thought it was a bit petty, coming out with that nonsense. I’m not sure [why he said it]. I think it’s maybe making him look great again. ‘I’m the great Arsene Wenger’.”
Now, let’s just think about this. Firstly, did Arsene ever say it? Arsene says not:
“I did not say they crumble in the last 20 minutes. At half-time [last Sunday] it was still 0-0. I said: ‘Continue to play until the last minute because remember at Old Trafford, we scored in the last five minutes’. Of course, after there was a big analysis that they concede more goals in the last 20 minutes – but most of the time, that is because they lead and teams have a go at them.”
So far, not so good for Fergie’s argument. So where did he get this impression from? Answer: Matthieu Flamini, who in this interview, where he is reported to have said:
“He [Arsene] said: ‘They are not the same anymore after 70 minutes’. Once again, the coach was right!”
Two problems: 1) this interview was with L’Equipe, so a great deal may have been lost in translation; 2) How can Fergie accuse Arsene of making himself “look great again” in the privacy of his own dressing room? It’s not like he came out in front of the press and said it. If it was ever said (and Arsene claims it wasn’t), it was a private comment made to a group of individuals whose respect he already commands. I am sick of seeing Fergie’s outrageous claims reported as if they are fact.
Anyway.
There’s a nice interview with Julio Baptista and one with Gael Clichy, Roy Collins does a great piece on the youngsters and Denilson (who is “very, very close” to a first-team place), and William Gallas says Arsenal are better than Chelsea. Nice one.
Please let’s do Bolton today. They so deserve it.
