Tunnel Vision

Arsene Wenger may be famous for the phrase "I didn't see it" but it is becoming apparent he just - doesn't get it! There is no doubting the qualities of the football his side plays or the fact that he has an 'eye' for young, talented individuals. What has to be concerning is the fact that he still feels he has the right to criticise anyone whom he deems has the temerity to challenge the 'nasty' side of his team.

The latest to feel his venom was David Moyes, but Wenger had picked upon one of his peers who decided to react to the injustice of the complaint as it challenged both the integrity of his team and also himself. Moyes also asked people to decide themselves who they thought was telling the truth and judging by the past record of his teams there were few who leapt to Wenger's defence. Gary Lineker's smirk as he said "I think we should believe David Moyes" after Everton's Match of the Day appearance seemed a little random at first glance - with pause for thought he was no doubt speaking for many in the media.


Wenger joined Arsenal in 19996 and by November 1999 the Arsenal chairman Peter Hill Wood was already voicing his concerns over the club's disciplinary record.
November 2000, following the Leeds v Arsenal game, saw a protective corden being put around the referee as Arsenal players lost their cool.

In the Summer of 2001 Arsenal were given a suspended fine for clocking up the most bookings of 9 red cards and 89 yellow cards.

Sol Campbell was involved in a tunnel incident in November 2002 after the game against Tottenham and following their game against Man Utd in October 2004 there was the infamous 'Pizzagate' incident, again in the tunnel, but unfortunately Wenger did not see anything.

Another tunnel incident involving Patrick Viera and Gary Neville, with Roy Keane 'protecting' his teamate, took place before the game with Man Utd in February 2005. The following month Cesc Fabregas was accused of 'spitting' at Michael Ballack as Ballack lay on the floor following a tackle by Fabregas who was sent off at Goodison Park the same season for grabbing Tim Cahill by the throat.

Another 'spitting' accusation was levelled at Fabregas after a game against Hull City in which he did not even take part. It was alleged that he came onto the pitch to abuse players and officials followed by an accusation by the Hull assistant manager that Fabregas turned in the tunnel towards him and 'spat' on the ground.

Recently Huddersfield and Ipswich players have questioned Fabregas' attitude towards them and then came the recent tunnel 'bribery claim' involving officials and Everton Football Club.

Moyes' condemnation now seems a little too familiar for a player who perhaps feels he is 'untouchable'. In fact Phil Neville was once quoted as saying that he thought Arsenal players felt they had it written into their contact that they couldn't be tackled.

Fabregas is a role model to younger players at the club and it is sad to see Jack Wiltshire ranting on Twitter about the performance of the official at the weekend.
Arsene Wenger should see the bigger picture. In an interview in October 2010, reacting to their improved disciplinary record, he stated " When we make a mistake, we come out and say sorry and we won't do it again". Quite clearly this club does little to learn from its faults. This may just be the reason they never achieve their realistic ambitions and continue to operate in a vacuum of in-house back-slapping and over-protection.