YOU'RE AN EMBARRASSMENT

Last updated : 17 February 2003 By editor

‘RYAN GIGGS SHOULD console himself that he was not the only one to embarrass himself by swinging and missing the target at Old Trafford on Saturday. Sir Alex Ferguson’s attack on Arsenal’s behaviour was laughable, given that Patrick Vieira must still be searching for Paul Scholes’s studs embedded in his shins.

Bullying tactics may work for Ferguson in his dealings with Sven-Göran Eriksson but Manchester United’s attempts to muscle Arsenal out of Saturday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie proved disastrously misguided. It only served to make Vieira and company even more determined to avenge their limp defeat at Old Trafford earlier in the season, a task they accomplished with an assurance that makes them strong favourites to win the Cup and the Barclaycard Premiership, and a decent bet to win the European Cup.

"It reminded me of the beginning of the championship game last year when we played here," Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. "For the first 20 minutes it was exactly the same, they tried this kind of game. I don’t think it’s their nature. They are normally like us, a footballing team who like to pass the ball well." United’s flailing arms and legs betrayed their fear at meeting a superior team.

On Planet Ferguson, it was Arsenal who were the sinners. "Their reaction to our tackling was very poor," the United manager said. "There was no need for players of 6ft 3in to fall down the way they did." If he meant Vieira, his criticism could not have been more misplaced. Lauren may have been guilty of acting, even if he did suffer a forearm smash from the erratic Ruud van Nistelrooy, but Vieira was impeccable in his play and blameless in his conduct. Booked for dissent, the France midfield player appeared only to be asking for protection from some illegal kicks.’

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