Wenger - Don't condemn candid Van Persie
Arsène Wenger has defended Robin van Persie following his candid comments about 'exaggerating' to win free-kicks and penalties.
The Dutchman made his opposition to 'diving' patently clear when he spoke to the media last week but went on to argue that players were within their rights to demonstrate to referees when they were genuinely fouled on the football pitch.
Van Persie admitted that he had exaggerated fouls to ensure justice was done on the field of play but his honesty was misread as cynicism in some quarters. Wenger sought to put the record straight when the issue cropped up again at his pre-match press conference on Monday.
"I did not understand what some people made of that," said Wenger. "Sometimes when a striker is fouled, he wants to make sure the referee sees that, which is what basically Robin was talking about. He wanted to show there is a difference between what people call diving and being fouled.
"In fact, the television showed a great example of it when at Manchester United a penalty was not given when [Patrice] Evra fouled Van Persie 100 per cent. He had to go down, but when you go down, you make sure the referee notices you have been fouled."
English football has a long-standing reputation for tolerating 'hard but fair' tackling - certainly more than the other leading European leagues - but Wenger believes that the balance is being redressed on the continent.
"There is a trend all over Europe to give less fouls and less penalties than before," he said.
"In Italy there was a stage when they gave a penalty every time somebody collapsed. Now, I think they have rectified that well, they let the flow of the game go and it is very important because when you do not have that, the games are not interesting.
"The referees have a big responsibility because they are always on the fringe of letting the game go, or not letting it go too far. If they do not let the game go, the game becomes boring."
Quelle: arsenal.com
