SOCCER Arsenal v Manchester Utd: ARSENE WENGER remains wary of the threat posed by Wayne Rooney, both as a goalscorer and as a striker who will tread the fine line between "intelligence and starting to cheat", ahead of tomorrow's potentially critical clash with Manchester United.
Yet the Arsenal manager will have no qualms about thrusting Sol Campbell into the fray to confront the England forward in what would be a first Premier League start since last May.
Campbell is set to feature against United with Thomas Vermaelen rendered doubtful for the game at the Emirates after sustaining a leg injury in the 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on Wednesday.
Wenger pointed to a renewed focus in the veteran centre-half’s game since he was left without a club following his brief spell in League Two at Notts County, with the Arsenal manager confident the 35-year-old can cope with Rooney despite the forward’s stunning recent form.
Yet the defender has been left scarred by Rooney in the past, not least when the striker tumbled over his challenge to win a penalty en route to United ending Arsenal’s proud 49-match unbeaten run at Old Trafford in October 2004.
That memory still riles Wenger, who saw Rooney win another penalty in the corresponding fixture back in August, even if his admiration for the forward remains undiminished.
“I don’t question his talent at all – he can play anywhere in the world, is still young and is coming to the best age now,” the Frenchman said.
“Before, maybe he was a bit too keen. Now he is more relaxed. But you know how strikers are. There is no ‘angel’. They play a game.
“I still don’t agree with that first penalty because Sol did not touch him at all but, if you look at the penalty at Old Trafford this season, you cannot say it is not a penalty, even if the ball was already out and Rooney made more of it. It is a penalty because Almunia goes for the ball but is late.
“You can say that it is ‘intelligent’ by Rooney. Every striker plays on the border between intelligence and starting to cheat.
“You have two games: one with the opponent, and one with the rules and the referee, and you try and extend that to your advantage. Sometimes you go a little bit over the limit, but that is part of a striker’s game. It is not cheating – it is being a striker. You always have to push a little bit.”
Arsenal, unbeaten in 10 league games, will attempt to monopolise possession in a bid to nullify Rooney’s influence – “When we have the ball, Rooney cannot score,” Wenger said – though there is confidence that Campbell, who has two appearances as a substitute to his name since rejoining the club this month, can impress against his old adversary.
The centre-half had started only one game since leaving Portsmouth at the end of last season, in Notts County’s defeat at Morecambe in mid-September, but impressed sufficiently while training with the Arsenal first-team to warrant a deal until the end of the season.
As United manager Alex Ferguson prepared for what he described as “the biggest game of the bloody season”, he made a point of appealing for his club’s supporters not to subject Wenger to the “paedophile” chants that have plagued him during his time in England. “Sometimes I can’t hear these chants and can’t make them out but I know there’s been some terrible abuse from our fans towards Arsene.
“There must be a line drawn and I think that they must know that themselves. Our support, as they showed on Wednesday – there’s none better, fantastic support, and I was really proud of them.”
Ferguson feels so strongly he intends to write an open letter to the club’s supporters before Arsenal visit Old Trafford next season. “I think it’s unavoidable that managers get abused,” he continued. “I get it myself and Harry Redknapp got some terrible abuse recently but there has to be a line drawn somewhere.”
His ire was reserved for the FA after Rio Ferdinand was banned for three matches on TV evidence for striking the Hull City striker Craig Fagan last weekend and given an extra one-game suspension for what the disciplinary commission considered a “frivolous” appeal. The fit-again Nemanja Vidic can take Ferdinand’s place but United are considering a second appeal and Ferguson could not disguise his irritation.
“There are conflicting ways of viewing some of these decisions. I watched Charlton against Leyton Orient the other night and there was an elbow on a Charlton player three times and yet nothing has happened, so there’s a lot of confusion.”
Guardian Service
