FOOTBALL: VIEIRA-VAN NISTELROOY INCIDENT

i read with great interest on e verdict on e matter above in soccernet.com. so whose side do u think i am on? well, 4 every reaction, there must b a cause 2 it. n e reaction of e arsenal players, eventhough childish, but it still make sense IF there is something dat provoked them 2 act so. it is most probably e 1st time u c such dramatic action at e end of a match from a discontentment of a card shown, so there must b some strong discontentment dat caused it. i dun believe dat video playbacks (even slow motions) r good enuf compared 2 e real scene where people who r close 2 e incident can actually FEEL e impact! from wat i had seen, e referee is in a bad position 2 c e real thing, judging by where he rushed in from, much way back. i had played competitive footie b4 so i know sometimes referees r beyond their vision scope 2 c a handball or a foul becoz it was blocked.

face it, i am giving my opinion in e most sensible n neutral way possible. e action happened too fast. e match was definitely pressurising, i'm sure every player on e field was veli, veli stressed. van nistelrooy MAY accidentally kicked his chest or purposely take dat opportunity since he knows veli well vieira's bad temper n dat's e best way 2 send him off. in such a heated competition, i am sure vieira would react like dat. but he is strong enuf 2 freeze his action n hold back. people will say he intentionally do it, but i will also call dat a fast reaction dat did not have any thought put into it. in dat split second, his brain was able 2 control his body n held back a possible kick 2 van nistelrooy. but even so, vieira still deserved a card 4 such an action, becoz it is clearly seen, not matter it was intentional or not. but then again, e sight of van nistelrooy smiling slightly afterwards spoke volumes about his satisfaction 4 e dismissal. he also did not retaliate in e end, which may provide some clues in e argument too.

now, since e whole incident happened in such a short time, there r so many possibilities i pointed up above. BUT i do agree dat e players need 2 b disciplined 4 their reaction at e end of e match, although i would react e same way if i was there n felt dat e referee decision was unfair becoz i think my team mate's image had been ruined time n again. i hope e FA can make a decision not base on history, but perhaps on e account on e video playbacks n e referees from dat match itself. i know a decision will b hard 2 make becoz it is certainly a veli close call, but e clearest indication is dat e arsenal players who reacted badly should b punished 4 e image of EPL.

I particularly LOVE e remark n opinion of tis person below. i have e same agreement with him of van nistelrooy n of coz, i think heskey is another player who is almost of e same quality, just dat heskey can't score goals but van nistelrooy can.

I've said it a thousand times to anyone who'd listen. Ruud Van Nistelrooy is not a soccer player at all. All his goals come within the 6-yard box acting as a rebound board for teammates to deflect their hard work into goals. When required to earn his wages, fails for following:


a. not fast - lots of swinging arms, pumping legs to impress and hide pedestrain pace
b. cannot dribble & carry ball some distance into box to shoot
c. keeps falling down - unbalanced, high centre-of-gravity
d. cannot trap balls dead - seems to bounce a metre from him for opponents to steal from under his nose
e. cannot convert one-on-one against keeper - either straight at keeper's body or balloons it - cannot chip rushing keeper
f. oh, yeah! cannot take penalties

Forlan, Giggs, Solskjaer in combination during last season's Nov2002 to Dec2002 scintillating play (without Ruud, Becks, Keane) shows United have better scoring power. Breathtaking play to boot - incisive passing, pacy - one Champions League match against Spanish Deportivo? was memorable.

United fan since around 1968 win over Benfica a la Pete Kenyon. :-))

n then another good opinion i would think is from tis guy:


This whole nonsense about pushing and shoving after the whistle is ridiculous. This is a man's game. You see Keown elated at a sign of justice and you call it menacing. You see Lauren grappling with Phil Neville and you call it disgusting but when you see G Neville and Fortune throw their weight around it is called acting sensibly and with restraint.

This is typical of the Man Utd bias that exists in our game.

Vieira should not have kicked out. We know this from the World Cup in France, but RVN, the man who set the whole chain of events in motion and who was at the centre of controversy well after the final whistle, escaped and will escape further punishment.

Aside from all this mess, is the FA competent enough to adjudicate on this matter? After all, it was their allocation of a completely out of depth referee which sparked repercussions all over the pitch.

Alan Mait