• Arsenal manager says Villa play 'long-ball'
game
• Vermaelen and Da Silva set to miss United match
Martin O'Neill did not like everything he saw and
heard at Villa Park.
Aston Villa 0 - 0
Arsenal
Martin O'Neill
reacted furiously to Arsène
Wenger's suggestion that
Aston Villa
play a long-ball game. O'Neill accused the
Arsenal
manager of an "appalling insult" at the end of an evening
that saw Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen suffer a suspected broken leg
and Eduardo da Silva limp off with a hamstring injury.
Wenger said that the match, a goalless draw, represented two
points dropped for Arsenal, who are waiting for X-ray results to
establish the extent of Vermaelen's injury before Sunday's match at
home to Manchester United. But the Villa match and the injuries
were overshadowed by the feud that developed afterwards, following
the Frenchman's derogatory comments about Villa's style of
play.
"I believe we dropped two points because we had clear chances,"
said Wenger. "But on the other hand it was a very difficult game
because they stopped us from playing when we had the ball and when
they had the ball they played a very long-ball game and closed us
down. It was difficult for us. We couldn't find our passing game.
We know what you get when you come here and we were not
disappointed. It's a very efficient English game with long balls
and very physical."
O'Neill, who was involved in a touchline argument with Wenger
here last year, was incensed. He said: "If that's what he saw
tonight, that is a ridiculous statement … He's made a few
ridiculous statements in his time here and that's probably as good
as any. That's only an annoyance at the end of it all. Anybody who
saw the game wouldn't take that viewpoint. Ashley Young didn't have
time to play long balls when he was taking that left-back
[Gaël Clichy] to the cleaners. It's an appalling insult."
Wenger will no doubt be more concerned about his injury
situation. Eduardo limped off in the second half and will play no
part against United. Vermaelen, who was able to walk off – how he
sustained the injury was unclear but it may have been in a tackle
on Emile Heskey that earned him a yellow card – could face an
extended spell out of action. That raises the possibility of Sol
Campbell starting on Sunday.
"With Vermaelen we don't know," said Wenger. "He has to have an
X-ray. He's on crutches. It's the fibula. Is it just a nerve or is
the bone broken? We have to check that in the morning. Eduardo is a
hamstring strain. For Sunday he will be out."
The Arsenal manager said he would think carefully about playing
Campbell, who replaced Vermaelen, against United. "Sol has not
played for six months and in three days he has two big games, so I
will have to see how he recovers," he said.
