‘I admire Arsene Wenger for everything he has achieved at Arsenal and the style in which he has achieved it. The man is a class act. All the more reason why I wish he would shut up about Ruud van Nistelrooy, stop whingeing about Manchester United and get over it.
‘Arsenal lost at Old Trafford on Sunday. Some very important decisions went against them. United played a very physical, uncompromising brand of football. None of that takes away from United's achievement. They were determined to win. By any means necessary. And it was up to Arsenal to stop them. By any means necessary.
‘But Arsenal failed. Wenger failed. It's an unpalatable fact for a team who hasn't lost for 49 matches but it happens. Now it's time to move on.
‘Anyway, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. People with glass jaws should keep their mouths shut. Arsenal may be aggrieved about van Nistelrooy's antics but they are hardly angels themselves.
‘Let's not forget the cunning dive of Robert Pires against Portsmouth at the start of last season that earned his team a penalty. Without that, there would never have been a 49-match unbeaten run.
‘Let's not forget some of Ashley Cole's histrionics or some of the tastier tackles of Patrick Vieira. These guys can mix it, too. They're not choirboys.
‘I think van Nistelrooy should be punished for his challenge on Cole. I'm glad the FA have charged him. But it's no longer Arsenal's concern what happens to him.
‘Their unbeaten record is gone. United beat them. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the penalty Wayne Rooney won, another blatant spot kick was denied United five minutes later when Cole upended Cristiano Ronaldo.
‘On tumultuous winter afternoons like Sunday's at Old Trafford, football can be a hard, breathless game. Tackles can hurt. Mistakes can be made.
‘Sunday was such a day. Referee Mike Riley didn't do them any favours but it is ridiculous to suggest, as Wenger did, that he was deliberately biased.
‘It would just be nice for a team to accept a beating once without blaming someone else. It would be nice to see a side accept their fate with good grace and acknowledge that sometimes you get the rub of the green and sometimes you don't.
‘But in the 17 months since it last happened, we have allowed ourselves to forget that Arsenal are not like that.
‘Wenger should take a look at himself before it's too late. Next thing he knows, he'll be standing on the touchline tapping his watch and gesticulating at the referee.’