Anderson Luis De Abreu Oliveira. He rolls around on the ground longer than it takes to say his full name. It wasn’t just against Arsenal, but he did the same in the Aston Villa game which saw Reo-Coker booked and eventually sent off. I don’t like it, most Manchester United fans won’t like it, and it will give opposition fans another excuse to spout vitriol against Manchester United.
As for the card waving, he needs to cut it out as well. If for no other reason, that it is actually a bookable offence and a combative central midfielder doesn’t need another reason to pick up a booking. I know people are saying that he doesn’t know English and that was the reason for the gesture, but he shouldn’t be asking the ref at all. Steven Gerrard was rightly villified for getting an Everton player sent off recently, so this isn’t a foreign player thing either.
United have lost most of their most hated players over recent seasons; Keane and Van Nistelrooy most obviously. Ronaldo was hated for his perceived diving but I think he won a lot of fans over last season with his brilliant performances. I hope that Anderson will eventually do the same.
I wonder where he has learnt to do this? Porto is probably the obvious answer. That UEFA cup final against Celtic (with a certain Jose Mourhino as manager) lives long in my memory. I can’t imagine what a typical Portuguese league game is like but English supports have a tradition of disliking rolling around as if shot and play acting. I’m not saying that only foreigners did this or it was imported by foreign players such as Anders Limpar; I’m told that Frannie Lee wasn’t averse to winning the odd penalty or three. But it still isn’t liked.
Let’s hope that Anderson stops it before he becomes unfairly cast as a diver like Ronaldo was. Let us not forget that Anderson was actually fouled by Fabregas, and winning the freekick should have been sufficient.
Meanwhile, Fergie has been at United for an incredible 21 years and whilst he is an amazing and brilliant manager, he still hasn’t found his charm when talking about referees. I think he was totally wrong about Howard Webb. I did think Webb was too whistle happy during the Arsenal game and it stopped the flow of the game, but he was equally wrong against both United and Arsenal. And he shouldn’t be mouthing off about ticket prices and “United FC”. It was that sort of thing that meant FC United fans did bugger off and and are doing very well. Fergie might change his tune in a few years if the prices continue to go up and Old Trafford is only half full and there is no money for transfers.
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Good post with many good and accurate comment. Keep it up.
Yep, couldn’t have put it better myself. I think the Arsenal game was a bit too big for Anderson, although he actually played very well. He lost his rag when he got booked and it seemed to put him in a dark place for the rest of the first half. The other United players were telling him to calm down. Eboue diving around and the abuse from the Arsenal fans behind the bench seemed to send Fergie a bit wobbly as well and there’s no excuse for him. His criticism of the ref was largely out of place, but I guess he chose to do that to try to have the last word after Gallas’ goal – which really was the last word.
Yes, I was disappointed by the response from United, as if the late Gallas goal really annoyed them and the let it show in public. Should have maintained a calm public face as if it wasn’t going to get to them, this challenge from Arsenal.
Have you heard this moan from Wenger now. Apparently he takes more abuse from United fans at Old Trafford than he heard Fergie and the lads on the bench get the other week. It’s an interesting one because I know the chant he’s referring to and it’s not particularly pleasant. Is it more excusable because its coming from a chorus of 25,000 voices rather than individual abuse ? Could be worse. I think it warrants action from United to warn the fans against singing it next time, or else we will look like hypocrites no ?
I have heard the claim about the chanting. To be fair it is not just United, but other clubs as well, including Spurs. If true, it is a very nasty thing and I certainly don’t condone it and I doubt the club would either. It is probably worse than one or two people shouting things.
However, it is very hard for a club to stop 25,000 fans chanting a particular song, whereas specific threats from one or two fans that are easy to locate on CCTV is easy for a club to stop by banning the fans or ejecting them from the ground when they do it.