Martin Samuel replies to comments on whether Nani's seal act showed Arsenal the respect they deserved

Martin Samuel really lit the blue touch paper this week. His debate, "Did Nani's seal act show Arsenal the respect they deserved?", elicited a huge response and, for once, you nearly all agreed with him. Of course, there were a few die-hard Arsenal fans who refused to drink the milk of human kindness. Below, the five times Sports Journalist of the Year responds to a few of your comments.

What did Arsene Wenger say about that comedy penalty trick that went so badly wrong between Robert Pires and Thierry Henry a couple of seasons back? Were they showing respect to the opposition? Will Fred.

MS: Exactly. Once you start this respect issue, where does it end? Basically, if you have the ball I reckon you should be able to do whatever the hell you like with it, providing you stay within the laws. If you have found a way if dribbling around the opposition by balancing the ball on your nose, then go for it. I thought Arsenal’s penalty idea showed two players thinking about the boundaries of the game and, even if they ended up over-complicating it, that can only be a good thing. I wish more players would try the unexpected, like Nani. Indeed, I wish more players had the wit and ability to do it: particularly the English ones.

By complaining about the apparent disrespect to his players, Wenger did an excellent job of deflecting attention from the manner in which Arsenal lost. Why can't he be as honest as Sir Alex Ferguson after the Manchester City game and admit his team played badly? Bruin.

MS: What Wenger attempted was an old tactic and it did not work because he compounded a dismal performance by appearing to be a sore loser, too. I would take issue with you on Ferguson, though. He said nothing after the City game because he was flying to South Africa to promote a commercial exercise and in his place Carlos Queiroz came on and moaned about the international matches. United are no different to Arsenal when they lose. And, by the way, the reason the papers on Sunday and Monday were full of Arsenal complaints is that, unlike Ferguson, Wenger speaks to the press after matches, win, lose or draw, and Arsenal made their captain, William Gallas, available for interview despite a 4-0 defeat. Ferguson does not do post-match press conferences and no Manchester United players were put forward by the club. Manchester United has the worst PR set up in the country. Arsenal’s leaves them for dead.

Nani had to keep possession in his defensive third. If a defender had headed it back to the goalkeeper to retain control of the ball for his team, there would be no problem. MSM.

MS: Yes, and wouldn’t that have been a thrill.

What was skilful? Most professional footballers could do what Nani did but realise there is no point juggling the ball to your own area, preferring to contribute to the team. What did it get him? A full-on, and legal, tackle from Mathieu Flamini. Had it taken place around the Arsenal box he should be praised. As it is he looked a fool and woke up with a few bruises. James Pickles.

MS: If you pay attention, James, I think you will find he juggles the ball, brings it under control, turns, beats the tracking player and then sets off up the field before Flamini tackles, winning a Manchester United throw from a difficult situation. Sounds like good work to me. Wingers wake up with a few bruises every Sunday morning, so he will be used to that. As for fools, there were plenty at Old Trafford on Saturday and Nani was not among them.   

We loved George Best for his show-boating and for the entertainment he brought to dreary games and dreary opponents. Rejoice in Nani. It's great to see talent entertain us. Brian.

MS: These are such dour times. We have managers who disregard the chance of FA Cup glory to consolidate 14th place in the table and a generation of fans that have been brainwashed into thinking of football as an accountancy problem. Now we want to stop the players exhibiting skill. We seem to have forgotten what the game should be about. If you were playing football in the park and somebody did what Nani did, you would not feel disrespected. It is meant to be a game of skill. If every kid tried to imitate Nani’s trickery, English football would be improved immeasurably.

Nani did nothing wrong. He was cheeky, but the Arsenal players looked foolish in their reaction to him. One falls, then gets up and tries in vain to catch and shove him and as another player slides in toward Nani's knees, the first guy runs right up his back. Then Gallas takes a cheap shot, for which he could easily have been sent-off. Was that kick any less petulant than David Beckham's in the 1998 World Cup against Argentina? Not in the slightest. Pdxor.

MS: No, the stance of the Football Association seems lenient in the circumstances.

The beauty of football, as expressed by Brazilians for generations, is attempting to do something with the ball, when under pressure, that requires skill rather than simply getting rid of it. Well done Nani, you were man of the match for me. TheoD.

MS: What also separates the Brazilians is that they will sometimes pass to players that are marked, because they know they have the technique to get out of trouble. Kaka will receive the ball with two, maybe three men in proximity. Those who talk about Nani’s position on the pitch miss the point. He was surrounded by Arsenal shirts, so it was still a brave thing to do.

We complain about a lack of ball skills on view in England and then Nani gets slammed. Opposing players would love to be able to do this against Manchester United. Bring it on. Dave Candler.

MS: Wouldn’t that be great? A nationwide piss-taking competition. God knows some games need it.

I say let Nani do it, wait until he plays against a few more defenders and after six months sidelined with injury he will surely cut it out. Who cares if he keeps it up? I will just laugh when he gets taken out big style. Dave.

MS: Dave, I’m sorry but I think that stance is everything that is wrong with English football, and has been for 40 years. How can you condone injuring a player for demonstrating skill? What is a greater lack of respect than that?

My dear English, please remind me: why would football be called the beautiful game if tantalizing skill is criticized and the skilful and gifted player is branded disrespectful to his opponents. Only in England, where cloggers are adored. Was Zinedine Zidane disrespectful? Are Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic disrespectful? Are Brazil or Portugal disrespectful teams because they show skill in abundance? Was it Fabio Capello that said that your national team needs more skill and technique? Do you wonder why you didn't qualify for Euro 2008? With this kind of mentality it is no surprise. Let us applaud Nani and ask the referee for more protection. Enjoy the beautiful game. Marcos Soares.

MS: This is what happens if you put a foreign coach in charge of the national team: we must now stomach five years of patronising lectures. Marcos, the majority of Englishmen – Dave aside – are on the side of Nani, not his assailants. As Marco Materazzi ably demonstrated on Tuesday night, not all cloggers are English, either. Nani may have started his show by embarrassing Justin Hoyte, but the over-exuberant slide tackle was committed by Flamini and the off-the-ball kick administered by Gallas. To the list of gifted players you mentioned, one might add Wayne Rooney or Paul Scholes, too. The reigning Footballer of the Year here is Cristiano Ronaldo and recent winners include Thierry Henry, Gianfranco Zola, Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp and David Ginola, so there is an English appreciation of foreign flair, but it was not only attacking technique that cost England in the European Championships, far greater factors were lousy goalkeeping, poor defending and crippling injuries. As for Ibrahimovic, was he the chap that used to play for Inter Milan? I saw them at Anfield. I wonder what happened to him. 

Emmanuel Adebayor faked the foul, got caught and got a yellow card. Why say anything more? This reminds me of the criticism that Didier Drogba received for faking. Paul McCullough.

MS: Why say anything more, Paul? Because he’s a cheat and he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it. Do you think Drogba would have stopped had he not been subjected to such intense scrutiny?

Arsenal want to have their cake and eat it too. Can they please decide whether they love the beautiful game or hate it? Nick Cotter.

MS: Good point, Nick. For Arsenal, of all clubs, to seek to put a limit on what is permissible seems particularly strange.

Was there a lack of respect in the team selection? No. Arsenal played who was fit. Manuel Almunia has a virus, Bacary Sagna has a personal problem, Gael Clichy is injured, so are Flamini and Adebayor. Wenger played his only fully fit strikers. Maybe Scholes, Carlos Tevez, Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo were unfit, too, or was there a lack of respect by Manchester United as well? Timothy Tanner.

MS: Timothy, if you read the original piece I did not specify that Arsenal’s selection showed a lack of respect, that point applied equally to both sides. What I would say is that although Ferguson chose a second-string team, he clearly sent them out with greater ambition than Arsenal displayed. It was not just the team Wenger picked, but the manner of the defeat. I am not a big believer in all this pride and passion nonsense because if football was really down to that Neil Warnock’s team would win the league every year, but on Saturday Manchester United genuinely did seem to want it more and that is what most people found shocking. As for these injured players, do you want a bet that they play against AC Milan?

If you had ever played football you would know that it is not too hard to do three headers and a couple of keepy-ups. Alex.

MS: That’s right, Alex, I’m the only bloke in Britain that has never played football. I’ll wager, though, that your experience of doing three headers and a couple of keep-ups (actually it was knee, head, head, head, knee, knee, foot, turn, while on the run and shielding the ball) means you know exactly what it must be like to demonstrate that sort of skill surrounded by angry Arsenal players in front of 76,000 people. Happens to you all the time, I bet.

I remember Ronaldo getting the same type of comments when he first came into the league. Get over it. Ricky.

MS: Not from me, Ricky. Tipped him to be Footballer of the Year within three years of his first season – and said he would rise above the Rooney controversy after the 2006 World Cup.

Is Nani a showman or a show-off? It isn't mutually exclusive. He received the ball on his head, with an opponent right behind him, while running towards his own goal. Could he have just kicked it to the stands? Yes, but why should he? He succeeded in keeping possession. So, he solved his problem. Hugo Carreira.

MS: My thoughts exactly.

If it had been done while Manchester United were thrashing Barnsley say, then it would have been bad form. But against the team that is proclaimed the best since Brazil in 1970 it was just hilarious. Neil Casey.

MS: Fair point. Manchester United and Arsenal are seen as equals, and therefore fair game. Had Nani been playing inferior opposition there would have been an element of cruelty to his actions, even though in essence, if you are good enough to do that why limit yourself? Last word to Claire, because she makes the most sense...

Fair play to Nani, if you have the skill, why not display it? It is funny that professional footballers get bent out of shape when opponents show a bit of skill, yet on the school playground or on amateur pitches, such class is encouraged and appreciated. Maybe if Arsenal's players had been as motivated to win as they were to chop down Nani for a bit of ball juggling, they might not have been so outclassed. Claire.

Comments

[Ali]

Timothy i was not trying to typecast the author into being an anti-Arsene for no case,its just the whole feel of the article and his replies were not in the correct sense always.
As far showing respect to the opposition is concerned, i think it should be the primary aim,to play the game as a gentleman. Mr.Henry was not always correct in his attitude as well and i certainly think we have also stepped the mark on some occasions but my point is just that nani at that instant knew what he was doing...not the show his skills but to rub salt into the wounds of a fairly ridiculous arsenal performance.
Yes the game might have been a nightmare for arsenal but lets not make it the only point to judge this young potentially title winning side.
Maybe there is a need to retract some of my comments,afterall that seems to be trend these days.

[Timothy Tanner]

Ali, why does one article criticizing our embarrassing performance make Mr Samuel anti Arsenal or anti Arsene? Remember when Morgon punched Van Persie last season and Mr Samuel sprung to our defence when others laughed at Arsene's complaint? I have found Mr Samuel to be unbiased towards us over the two years or so I have read his articles, I may not always agree with him but have never had cause to think he hates Arsenal or our manager, unlike some journalists.

Yes we have played amazing football, yes our players are cheap though Man U have also played good football and their buys are hardly nothing players but our performance against Man U was horrendous in many many ways, including attitude.

Nani showed respect, he gave a brilliant performance and tried to get past Hoyte and Flamini by unconventional methods. England has suffered by it's love of cloggers and passion, playing on big pitches, a rather poor national youth policy not encouraging technique or tricks at a young age. The only lack of respect was by our players to Nani's health and career by their fouling.

England does have a respect problem, we fail to respect teams like Switzerland (this one I do feel Mr Samuel was guilty of recently) who are quite good but we fail to recognise and think we are better then we are in comparison. We fail to respect our managers, fail to respect feelings of others sometimes in crowd chants and sometimes, we fail to respect the skill players.

Incidentally, what was your view on Henry's humiliating Danny Mills repeatedly Ali?

[ali]

Martin Sameul, you are really harsh on Arsenal, you seem like the lad who sees Wenger as the anti-english type and seem to take your steam out this way..to slate them. They have been playing by far the best football this season with good young players not 30m good for nothing players.Its a shame your attitude towards them.You should not slate any team on personal grounds.
The Nani issue is just to show some respect towards your opposition.It shows your arrogance towards progressive nature of football.I know displaying your skills is never an objection on my behalf but you should respect the game you play.I think thats the attitide which leads to downfall of english football.You should know better!

[maccer]

I thought nani did very little considering he was running backwards into space. I dunno what the fuss is about.

[Timothy Tanner]

I did read the whole article but honestly that passage and the shame of Arsenal did suggest that your criticism of half team not playing was based on Arsenal. I apologise for failing to understand you. I do agree that Arsenal were shocking and, with a few exceptions, embarrassed themselves, the club and the fans.

The fully injured or the half fit ones? Sagna is expected to return, which surprises me but only two or three of the half fit ones will get promoted from bench I think and none of the utterly ruled out. Would promote all the outfield bench myself but I doubt Big Phil is going to start.