In Arsenal's/Arsene's defence:
1) they've long been one of the most consistent observers of this pact, even when the opposition is abusing it (eg, Villareal on Tuesday - and remember the cup tie replay against Sheff Utd?).
2) Jol claimed he saw nothing, but there's clear footage of him standing right by the injured Arsenal players screaming "play play play!" at Carrick, who's paused to see if he should kick the ball out. This is a bit different from Wenger's usual tactic of saying he saw nothing to avoid being drawn into a slanging match - Jol's own actions were part of the controversy.
Still, it's a very grey area: you don't kick the ball out every time a player gets a slight niggle and it was hard to say how badly hurt the Arsenal players were (not very, as it turned out). Also, the injuries were caused by two Arsenal players running into each other; it's a bit tough to suggest Spurs should've given up a promising position because Arsenal were defending like the Keystone Cops.Statistics: Posted by Captain Howdy — Mon Apr 24, 2006 12:42 pm
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