Arsenal three to take blame

Arsenal may well accept immediate punishment for three of their players who were charged following the illtempered clash against Manchester United.

The Football Association yesterday threw the book at the Gunners by charging six players with various offences that could lead to lengthy bans. The club were also charged for failing to control their players and Arsene Wenger has been written to for an explanation of his comments that Ruud van Nistelrooy had cheated to get Patrick Vieira sent off.

The club appeared to begin this process of admitting guilt when they criticised their players' behaviour.

A statement said: "The Arsenal board is taking this matter seriously and intends to meet in the near future to further discuss the events of last Sunday. At this juncture, we do not have the video evidence supplied to the Football Association and are not going to jump to any premature conclusions. The club demands high standards both on and off the field and the board believes these were not met last Sunday. Arsene Wenger has already addressed the players on this issue."

Arsenal have a reputation for making full use of the appeal procedure to delay the process and ensure suspensions are served at their convenience so that key players are free for vital matches.

But they know if they ask for six personal hearings then the FA could be tempted to hand out the maximum sentences permitted.

This is why they look set not to contest the charges against Ashley Cole, Jens Lehmann and Patrick Vieira - but include in their written defence mitigating circumstances in the hope they could still be overturned.

The trio have been charged with the lesser offence of improper conduct - Cole for his confrontation with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lehmann for disputing decisions with the referee Steve Bennett and Vieira for refusing to leave the field straight away when he had been sent off. Martin Keown, Ray Parlour and Lauren have all been hit with violent conduct charges. Arsenal's strategy is likely to be to ask for personal hearings for those three and, if necessary, appeal against punishment if they feel it is too severe.