Mad Brit Diary

Spoiled Arsenal and Manchester United players made fools of themselves.

(Friday, September 26, 2003) -- When will these spoiled millionaire soccer players wake up and start acting like, well, soccer players?

The Mad Brit has had enough. Switch on the Women's World Cup going on in America at any moment and you don't see the girls beating each other up, constantly swearing in each other faces, or at the ref, and acting like kids on the field. Come on lads. Let's grow up.

Back in England, the best two teams in the league are lowering the standards. The dignified game in England is going downhill quick. It's anarchy if we don't stop the madness. The fans pay hard-earned money and have to watch a butch of spoiled brats push each other around over a silly penalty kick like kindergarten kids in a sandpit.

Yes folks, I'm talking about the Arsenal vs. Manchester United fracas . I'm not sure how many Mad Brits were involved, as Arsenal is mostly a French club these days, but one of the culprits was clearly Martin Keown who screamed into Ruud van Nistelrooy's face after the star striker missed the crucial penalty -- his third miss of the season -- in the dying seconds of the scoreless tie at Old Trafford.

Keown also hit the Dutchman on the back of his neck. Lauren then shoved the Dutchman in the back. Amazingly, van Nistelrooy kept his cool and even United midfielder Roy Keane, who has a nasty reputation for putting players out of action, attempted to be peacemaker as the game turned into a circus. A group of other Arsenal players scorned and buffeted the Dutch ace.

They are all in trouble with the Football Association, including a couple of United players. But Arsenal looked really bad. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger accused van Nistelrooy of "cheating" to get Patrick Vieira sent off. Let's face it, van Nistelrooy didn't fall to the ground and make a meal out of Vieira's tackle like Argentina Diego Simeone did at the 1998 World Cup, which led to David Beckham's red card.

Vieira got his walking papers for swinging a kick at van Nistelrooy. He was the third Arsenal player to be sent off in the last three games against the Red Devils. It was Vieira's eighth red card, the most of any player since the English Premier League started.

Maybe the Gunners were just upset after the 3-0 home whacking they received from Inter Milan earlier in the Champions League earlier in the week. Pent up anger, you might say, but this sordid pettiness must end. Sunday's incident was reminiscent of the Gunners' win against United in 1990. Over 20 players were involved in a brawl back then and the league took one point away from United and two from Arsenal. Arsenal even fined four of its players and coach George Graham two weeks.

Wenger failed to control and clamp down on his players. Wenger is a professor of the game, with skill and wisdom. He appears charming and intelligent enough on camera, but he has to get his boys under control. In Wenger's seven years in England, the Gunners have earned 52 red cards.

Does Arsenal reflect Wenger's character or are we reading too much into this? Is there a win-at-all-cost mentality about this genius? In the last few seasons Arsenal has become known as a dirty team. That maybe unfair, but there are facts. And has Wenger taken to task his players? Arsenal and the Manchester United players who were involved in the scenes at Old Trafford must pay the collective responsibility for their actions.

World Cup hero Landon Donovan scored his first career hat trick in Major League Soccer and the San Jose Earthquakes' first ever in a 4-1 decision over the Kansas City Wizards Saturday. Donovan now has 10 goals on the season, his best record ever in MLS. Donovan got his record as the Wizards welcomed a franchise record 30,308 fans to Arrowhead Stadium.

England star David Beckham seems to be settling down quite well at Spanish giant Real Madrid since his $40 million summer move from Manchester United. Beckham scored on his trademark free kick last weekend as Madrid downed Malaga 3-1. It was also Beckham's 100th career goal.

Rich Perry writes: "As a pretty much impartial American, I watched the Man. U.-Arsenal match today, just hoping to see a good game. As I do with most overbearing monopolies, I've disliked Man. U. for almost as long as I've followed the English game. That feeling has diminished somewhat since Tim Howard joined, since I obviously want to see him do well, but I still can't get all that upset seeing them lose. And I've been rooting for Arsenal the past few years, just wanting to see someone beside Man. U. win. But after watching the end of today's match, I don't think I can ever root for Arsenal again.

"Diving and just general over exuberant histrionics at the slightest bump are something that greatly annoys me, just as it greatly annoys most everybody, but I do not think van Nistlerooy engaged in either practice. He did not fall down and roll around, he did not grab his leg, or his face, or any other part of his body as if to say that he'd been struck. He just flinched, as any human would when another creature aims a kick at him, and then he looked at the referee to see if the petulant kick had been spotted, as all soccer players do in such a situation. What Vieira did was completely wrong, and it was deserving of a yellow card. To blame Ruud for what happened is just childish. That Vieira had already gotten booked was also his fault, and perhaps he should have been thinking about trying to control his childish outbursts after his name had been written down the first time.

To then see three players come up and bump van Nistlerooy from behind after the whistle, well, I lost any sense of respect or default affection I might have held for them. They will never be the lesser of two evils. They're just a bunch of immature, undisciplined crybabies who look to blame others for their own failings. I really hope the Football Association disciplines all of the players who lashed out at van Nistlerooy after the game ended, and that they go after the team as well. I was, and am still, just plain disgusted.

Heard a rumor, have a gripe or a tip? Feeling lonely? E-mail the Mad Brit at themadbrit3@aol.com.