Wenger and Mourinho on the Chelsea v Arsenal brawl
A quick look at what Wenger and Mourinho said in the aftermath of the Cup final.
Mourinho said that Arsenal players had reacted out of frustration and that his players did not deserve their cup win to be marred by such incidents. No word on Terry, although I assume we’ll know a lot more tomorrow once the doctors have assessed him and Chelsea release a statement.
Wenger (at the post-match press conference) did not blame either side, saying that both sides had lost their calm and that the Arsenal players would learn from this incident. He also blamed the referee for making poor decisions - the offside call for one, and the cards awarded after the incident (as well as his handling of it).
Mourinho is partially right - Toure reacted badly, and Fabregas reacted badly as well. On the other hand, Obi Mikel is a pretty volatile character himself and Lamps is no saint either.
Wenger’s right, but the more important question is whether we can do something about it. The offside decision was marginal and hard to judge, and considering that this rule has caused so many problems there is definitely room to alter it so that it makes it more clear-cut and easier to call for linesmen.
More on this (and reactions from both sides) as I find out.
Earlier coverage on the game:
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That’s why what Wenger had always said is absolutely correct about the refereeing - you definitely need tv to help refs from wrong decision. I dont see how english refs’ standard is going to improve.
It’ not exactly a coincidence that these things always happen with Arsenal. Now that David Dein isn’t on the FA to smooth things over for them it’s about time they did something once and for all.
Haha. That David Dein/FA bollocks again. Rubbish.
Dein is no longer the Premier League representative to the FA but he is still on the FA Council. It actually made no difference to his involvement whatsoever.