Sometimes a story comes along that’s so incredible, so mind numbingly insane that it demands instant comment and today’s quote from Burnley’s boss Brian Laws about how they are going to kick Arsenal off the pitch on Saturday is one of those stories.
Saturday was already going to be a very emotionally charged event. Arsenal’s players have recently come out saying that they are going try to win the league for Aaron after his season was cut short by Ryan Shawcross’ vicious assault. Eboue was the most recent player to publicly state that Arsenal are going to try to beat Burnley for Aaron.
Couple that locker room emotion with the fan tribute to Aaron that is set to be unveiled and Saturday at the Emirates and that stadium could be a real powder keg. It would take a someone absolutely disconnected from reality to be so oblivious to how emotional Arsenal and her supporters are at this moment that they would make a public pronouncement that they are not only going to kick Arsenal in their next match, but that they are going to mistime tackles. That is exactly what Brian “Thicker Than Pig Shit” Laws and his defender Leon Cort did today.
Cort gets stuck in first by saying that Burnley are not going to pull any punches and we should expect plenty of mistimed tackles.
We are going to go there and still throw tackles in because it is a physical game and we are fighting for our lives. I don’t believe anyone goes there to kick them. People know that when they play against Arsenal they have to get in their faces and stop them from playing. Maybe Arsene’s done it for a psychological advantage. Quite a lot of his players are small and move the ball a lot quicker so there are going to be a lot of mis-timed tackles.
What’s fascinating (and what Laws repeats later) is that Cort is admitting that not only are Burnley going to throw a bunch of nasty challenges around, they are going to go in late. Moreover, since Burnley is incapable of playing football this is the only tactic they are capable of employing. And then… he says that it’s not deliberate?
Brian TTPS Laws repeats this odd line of reasoning
We can’t play their system so we have to level it up somehow and that is by working harder than them… People talk about ‘getting in their faces’ and if that is what it takes then that is what we will have to do… I don’t believe any team targets Arsenal. I think he (Wenger) has been hard done-by in losing three players to broken legs in a relatively short space of time. I think he is more angry about that than anything else but I don’t think he can accuse anyone of doing it deliberately.
So, just to re-cap: Burnley have admitted that they are going to kick Arsenal, that they are going to be going in late to challenges, that this is the only way they can play, and that somehow this is not a deliberate targeting of Arsenal.
Ladies and Gentlemen, irony just assploded.
I’m really looking forward to Wenger’s reaction to this crap in his presser. Last week I wrote an article describing which teams I thought would deploy the kick Arsenal tactic and I deliberately left Burnley off the list because in my experience they play open, attacking football, and while they have been strong they have been fair. It seems since Owen Coyle left that they have decided to abandon that tactic are are publicly admitting that they are going to employ agrarian tactics on Saturday in order to “get something from the match.”
The thing is, much like the Stoke match, they will find that kicking Arsenal will not get them anything from the match. Arsenal are just all around too damn good now to be intimidated by a pack of dirty cheats. So, Burnley might as well play open, attacking football, because if they come to kick Arsenal off the pitch they won’t get any more points on the table and another young Arsenal player could be left with a limb hanging.
Hopefully the FA has seen this latest comment and is instructing the referee to make sure that any harsh tackles are dealt with harshly. Otherwise, an already emotional day could turn from hope to tragedy very quickly.
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I wouldnt castigate him for being honest. He’s got to instruct his team to tackle.
Its up to referees to control the game better
March 4th, 2010 at 10:20 am
@crouchendgooner, We are not talking about ‘football’ here. We are talking about a blood sport which until now has only seen our blood on the ground.
Fucking moronic cuntbuckets.
The only reaction I expect from Arsenal will be for them to plough 15 goals past them. I’m so sick of the phrase “in their faces” – I hope we destroy them and send them back down to the Championship…tossingwankbiscuiteaters…
To me the last paragraph sums up the whole situation. Teams may get in our faces and they may dive in ‘excessively’, but we have referees to protect us and play the game according to the letter of the law. Not!
Here’s an analogy. If you are new to keeping fit your bench mark will start low and build over time. If you are experienced at keeping fit your benchmark will be higher and the amount of exercise you have to do to reach the higher levels will be less, although not necessarily easier. Work the same process on tackling. If from the word go you are already going in harder than usual there is only one outcome – someone getting hurt, and that is what is happening to too many of our players. Players have the mental approach to tackle harder and it progresses through the game. This is not physically tough football, this is kick boxing.
I have nothing against the physical game, I grew up with it, but I am against players, managers and the media actually suggesting it is alright to up the levels of aggression just because they are playing THE Arsenal.
Hope the Burnley team coach crashes on the way down to london!
To paraphrase Johnny Burnette: This train will keep rollin’ all night long. Until we get to Man City with whatever ‘survivors’ that are left standing, we will not be stopped. We will be like a terminator, we will keep going dragging our mangled and twisted limbs to the bitter end. I think the EPL is about to see a different Arsenal who will not be taking prisoners. Referees, referees, we don’t need no stinkin’ referees.
Isn’t amazing that we’ve not herd peep out of Uefa on Wenger’s criticism of Martin Hansson? I had truly hoped that Uefa would try to sanction Wenger for his comments and they’ve run and hid from us. They must be praying that Porto eliminate our little irritation.
The key for Burnley will be the play of Denilson.
We need to win by 4 goals to take over 1st on goal diff.
Did anyone see how DeJong brought his newly learn ‘EPL skills’ to the Holland-USA friendly as he breaks Stuart Holden’s fibula in an over the top tackle.
I too am confused about the Arsenal financial report. The worse thing for Arsenal is not sell all its property. They apparently have sold an amazing amount given the economic climate. Some need to count ‘noses’ to see if all that property has indeed been sold and not rely on ‘he said and she said’.
According to Cort, “We are going to go there and still THROW TACKLES IN because it is A PHYSICAL GAME and we are FIGHTING FOR OUR LIVES.” No suprises at all when the media felt more sympathy for Shawcross(the serial legbreaker) than for Aaron.
When the most ‘respected SAF called Shawcross to encourage him and forgot that it was he who actually broke Aaron’s leg.Then came Rooney, ‘the in-form goalscoring thug’/'bull-in-the-china-shop’ of English football,saying that Shawcross isn’t a lad like that. Not a single mention of Aaron or his situation.Its like the injury will ensure that we don’t catch up with Man United on the table!Its like there is a secret snickering behind the scenes like,’Ah, ah, ah…now another injury for Arsene and his boys…no chance he’s gonna catch up with us now…!
Well, no problems Rooney, but I can assure you that there is a leg breaker waiting for you in one of those remaining 10 games. And if you make it to the World Cup, you may not make it back in one piece! What goes round comes round, eventually.
The lack of sympathy for the lad with the broken leg means this is not the last leg Shawcross and his other cult of leg breakers are going to go in for.Next up will be Rooney, Rio, Carrick, Lampard, John Terry, Gerard,etc. And it will be a season long one!How’s that for retributions and just desserts?!
Then for the nutcase called Cort. Please stop bringing disgrace to the beautiful game. Football is not just a physical game played with brute force, it is eqaully a game for intelligent planning and craftmanship…sorry you didnt get that…I forgot you are not from teh Arsenal Academy..you started it on th estreets!
And you said you are fighting for you LIVES so you need to tackle hard? And you have lost 13 out of 14 away games and are in the relegation zone? Does that not tell you that you cant defend or win matches even if your lives depended on it?
Didn’t you just come from the Championship last season? Well, bro, that’s where you’re headed hard-tackling or not.Due to your low footballing brain, you and your rugby-styled team mates will return to where you belong!Soon others are going to come at you same way you have done to others!
Pls be at the Emirates early for the due drubbing on Saturday!
I am thinking of forwarding those comments on to the Premier League and ask for their response.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:29 am
@Will,
Forward those comments if you like, there’s nothing malicious in those quotes whatsoever. You lot are just seeing what you want to see.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Troll alert!
Old habits are hard to shed…..it’s the ENGLISH way ….. English players answer to the tactically superior footballer ! Hack em ! Always has been and Always will be ! Nothing New !
You hope we crash on the way down to London? Soft southern poofs, Don’t forget to wear your shin pads
March 4th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
@claet, “Come get some”.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:35 pm
and you should save yours. i reckon you wont have much money left after relegation so you might have to watch your money very carefully
What a spiteful and ill-informed piece of sensationalist garbage. You should get a job at the Mail mate.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:07 pm
@CBB, Tim was just using quotes from your team’s representatives. Any hoo, we know where your team will be come May 11 and we won’t have to read any further comments from you until your next promotion
March 4th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
@ctpa,
Yes and putting his own wildly distorted spin on it. All our guys are saying is that we can’t afford to pull out of any challenges out of sympathy over the the Ramsey affair because we’ll get annihilated (we probably will anyway). If the Arsenal fans could pull their heads out of their own arses they’d know that we aren’t a dirty team and are not just another set of northern cloggers. But hey whatever suits your own world view and victim complex.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Since Owen Coyle left, Burnley have clearly changed their approach to the game. I said as much in the article.
I watched your side early in the season with great hope that they would stay in the Premier League playing football the right way. Here’s what I wrote when Arsenal came to Turf Moor and barely managed a draw:
It’s not my fault that multiple Burnley sources have done a 180 and are now saying that they are going to kick Arsenal.
So, you can quote the fair play table and the fouls committed (more like fouls called) tally, but your manager and your defender are saying that they are going to go out and tackle hard and poorly.
Deal with it.
I notice that Burnley have made less fouls than anyone in the PL, and have one of the fewest booking counts. At Turf Moor in the first game they hardly put a tackle in. I think Laws is just being asked leading questions by naughty journalists and he has to sound bullish or come across as naive. We’ll be fine. They’re not that sort of side.
March 4th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
@Steve Hodgson, Burnley weren’t a dirty side, looks like they have changed their mind under their new manager.
Good luck with that, it doesn’t seem to gather much in the way of success.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:25 pm
@Steve Hodgson, Burnley problems are that Coyle’s departure took the wind out of their sails. Coyle has gone to Bolton where he expected to take a pig’s ear and make it into a silk purse. Burnley’s other problem is that Brian Laws is a typical English retread who can’t hold Coyle’s jock strap.
Finally, someone with a bit of sense Steve! Talk about sensationalism! Those that have seen our games over the years will know we are not a dirty side. Grow Up!
March 4th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
@Burnley Mark, So playing the so called ‘committed’ English style of football can make one a dirty side. Nice to know.
Arsenal and her supporters? It’s a she? Never knew that.
No body is going to give us a hand out just because of last weekend’s events. Did we honestly expect anything else? We shouldn’t expect any team to hold back because that’s the only way they know how to play. Our best response would be to play our game and pass them to death. Make them chase the ball, tire them out, finish them off with a few good goals – and do it all the beautiful, arsenal way. We should be able to do this with ease. After all, they are fighting relegation and we are fighting to win the league.
Burnley do NOT play like that. Im a gooner and have watched them improve over the last 3 years.
No worries about dodgy tackles from them.
ALL we’re asking for is for referees to protect against excessive force. It’s a simple request and it’s about the referees doing their job as defined in the rules of the game.
If Burnley make a few mistimed tackles, that’s fine. It’s inevitable as Cort and Laws point out. But if there is excessive Shawcross level force in those mistimed tackles, then we have a problem and nothing has been learned from this whole thing.
Expect some reaction in the crowd if Burnley turn up to kick our players on Saturday. I think Arsenal fans are wound up like watch springs at the moment and have had enough of the baiting.
The ref shd reward any form of mistimed/misplaced tackle with a yellow/red card. Then half the battle is won. But you never know. Some refs are against AW winning anything so they will turn a turn a blind eye. It’s up to the FA to punish such refs where it hurts ie. delist them from future matches. I know its easier said than done but a start has to be made.
The FA shd clamp down on refs who are underperforming. Two footed lunges which missed their target shd be rewarded with a red card. How many times have we seen such lunges when players are shooting towards goal?Even if it results in a goal,the perpetrator shd be sacked from the field of play.
That’s why in the cl players do not take such risks. They know the consequences. I am afraid the refs in the epl take a more favourable view of view of such tackles believing to be a way of life..Franklt as AT said, such refs shd be sacked with immediate effect.
Roberto Martinez has class…
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=750960&sec=england&cc=5901
The author of this piece should really take another look at the comments he has quoted. Maybe it is the difference in American and British English, but when Leon Cort and Brian Laws say “Get in their faces and stop them playing”, they do not mean kick 10 barrels of shit out of them to delay the game and stop it flowing with nasty challenges. By “get in their faces” they mean not give the opposition player any space or time, by closing them down. by “stop them playing” is what this style of defending (closing down, etc.) will do if done properly.
Finally to the pathetic idiot that said he hoped that the Burnley coach crashes on the way down, you are a vile and disgusting tool. How you can want to see players involved in a road traffic accident, just because a member of your own team broke his leg through a mistimed challenge, by a player not even associated to Burnley FC is amazing. I just hope that your are just that dickhead that every club has.
March 5th, 2010 at 7:39 am
@Si the Claret, I was commenting specifically on Laws and Cort’s ill-timed and illogical comments.
And I’m pretty sure nothing is lost in translation, “get in their faces” is and has been code for “kick them all over the pitch” for several years now.
Irregardless, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
March 5th, 2010 at 7:58 am
““get in their faces” is and has been code for “kick them all over the pitch” for several years now.”
Maybe in your head, or in American sport, but most certainly not in English Football.
March 5th, 2010 at 8:29 am
@Si the Claret, or in the three broken legs in 4 years that Arsenal have suffered from the teams who say before the match that they are going to “get in the faces” of the Arsenal players.
Only a fool would think that a coincidence.
@Tim
“Get in their faces” does not mean “Kick them all over the pitch” and to think that a proffesional sportsman would make a statement meaning such, especially after Ramsay’s unfortunate injury being so recent, is extremely naive and illogical.
March 5th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Yes. It does. Those are interchangeable metaphors.
Also, to think that a professional sportsman is in any intelligent is ‘extremely’ optimistic.