....Just one rational conversation with some arsenal fans?

Is anyone prepared to discuss a matter pertaining to United and arsenal
without it descending into name-calling and petty swiping?

I'd like to think so.

Having already sincerely wished Eduardo a full and speedy recovery (Ian's
right, for once, there are things more important than football) I would like
to extend an olive branch or two to our London rivals:

Appalling injury aside, arse were unlucky at Brum. Adebeyor should have had
a pen for a bizarre tug at his shorts and Brum's pen should not have been
given, Clichy (was it?) clearly got the ball and not the man. Another day
arse would have equalled our score against the Toon.

And while I'm no fan of Gallas's, I thought there was something strangely
encouraging about his outburst at the end of the game. I like to see that
these over-pampered players from all teams actually do care about the game
and not just their obscene salaries.

This is shaping up to be one of the most enjoyable title run-ins, I thought
Utd were out of it a week ago, and I would far rather we were going head to
head with arse, who have a very talented manager and side, than either
Chelsea (who don't deserve their success) or Liverpool, for obvious reasons.

Right. Having got that out of the way, I would like to know what arse fans
genuinely think about a couple of things. The following is c&pd from a
football website:

"In the post match interview at OT, Wenger was questioned about the
behaviour of his players after Nani's showboating, who went in hard on the
player, with the biggest culprit being Gallas, who kicked out at Nani twice,
even when the ball had gone. "We were incensed and most rightly so," he
said. "It is difficult enough to swallow when you are three or four goals
down - you do not want to be teased or humiliated."

Does no one see the hypocrisy of Wenger, and many arse fans on this site,
who go on about how many teams try and kick arse out of the game in light of
the above comments?

Is it really all right to attempt to injure a player merely for him
displaying extreme skill?

Eboue's challenge on Evra and Flamini's on Nani showed far more intent than
Taylor's on Eduardo. I feel sickened that Eduardo, or any player, should
suffer such an injury, but I think there's little doubt that there was no
intent to injure. The same cannot be said of the arse tackles on Nani and
Evra.

There are also 12 sides in the Premiership who have been fouled more often
than arse, which also gives the lie to Wenger's feelings. The number of red
cards his players have managed in his reign would also, you would think,
make him think before speaking out about dangerous fouls.

Just wondered what you think.

A. Dieu.

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