How Arsenal's Ruud feud kicked off

13 April 2012

There was a feeling of "about time too" among the Arsenal players yesterday when news filtered through that the Football Association had charged Ruud van Nistelrooy for his challenge - both late and high - on Ashley Cole in Sunday's acrimonious clash.

Put it this way: the Manchester United striker is unlikely to have to sift through a stack of mail featuring supportive letters carrying a Highbury postmark in the coming days. Malcolm Glazer would be more welcome in the United megastore than Van Nistelrooy would be in Islington. The Dutchman has evaded censure for too long as far as the Arsenal men are concerned.

Traditionally, games between Arsenal and Manchester United have rarely been for the fainthearted. There have been hate figures for the Arsenal fans in years gone by - Eric Cantona and Roy Keane spring to mind. But behind that abuse was a grudging respect. Van Nistelrooy, however, has added a new dimension. He is loathed by the players.

The common link between the onfield and off-field problems in the last two meetings between the teams at Old Trafford has been Van Nistelrooy. It takes a lot to make Arsene Wenger drop his professorial guard but Van Nistelrooy managed to provoke him into a verbal spat on Sunday.

The year before, Van Nistelrooy was the victim in the ugly and unsavoury scenes that followed the goalless draw. Others were dragged into the fray - as they were on Sunday. But at the heart of the trouble, once again, was Van Nistelrooy.

So why him? Why does he make so many Arsenal players bristle at the mere mention of his name?

As a striker of genuine quality, he is respected not only at Arsenal but by players up and down the Premiership. That aspect of his nature has not been in question. "Oh yes, he can play, no doubt about that," said one player. "But it is the other side of him that upsets people." And particularly at Arsenal, it would seem.

"Goes down like a pack of cards at the slightest touch," I was told. To be fair, the same accusation has been levelled on more than one occasion at Robert Pires.

"True - but he [Van Nistelrooy] leaves his foot in a minute after he looks like he had been shot," came the response. "He goes out to win free-kicks and he does it well. You have to give him that."

But his reputation is said to have prompted Sir Alex Ferguson to suggest he stays on his feet more often because United are not getting the number of penalties they deserve - except, of course, when Mike Riley is the match official.

"I would say he was sly at the way he goes about things, sneaky if you like," said another player. "And he hurts people." All the accusations come from those with Highbury loyalties and it does seem that Van Nistelrooy provokes in them a unique reaction.

The bad feeling stems from what Arsenal believed was a forearm smash into Cameroon right-back Lauren in a Premiership game at Old Trafford two years ago. No action was taken by the referee.

When the teams next met in 2002 there was more trouble when Van Nistelrooy stepped backwards on to the foot of Martin Keown. The defender winced in pain and pushed the Dutchman, who fell down theatrically. This led to Keown being charged with violent conduct.

Two months later the teams met again in the FA Cup in a game that became infamous for the post-match clash between David Beckham and Ferguson.

The game had been heated, not least because Van Nistelrooy went unpunished for heavy tackles on Lauren and Keown within minutes of each other.

Last year's encounter at Old Trafford was even more eventful. First, Arsenal were convinced that Van Nistelrooy's exaggerated reaction to a retaliatory kick by Patrick Vieira was responsible for their captain's dismissal. Vieira was furious, as were his team-mates.

In the last minute, United were awarded a penalty, Van Nistelrooy took it and missed. Cue mayhem as he was jostled and abused by a posse of Arsenal men. Suspensions and fines followed within weeks and after the game there was another confrontation between Van Nistelrooy and Vieira in the players' tunnel.

And so to last Sunday, when it was Wenger's turn to snap. Although Arsenal's manager seldom loses his cool, he made his feelings known about the challenge on Cole. Players from both sides joined in, a member of the back-room staff at Arsenal received a bloody nose in the fracas and Ferguson was hit by a sandwich.

He would have suffered worse during his formative years in the tough Glasgow district of Govan, but he was more than a little peeved all the same.

The air is as thick as a pea-souper with counter-accusations. And now Van Nistelrooy has been charged by the FA with serious foul play.

Hostilities will be resumed at Highbury on Tuesday 1 February. As Thierry Henry once advised ahead of a return grudge match against Panathinaikos in the Champions League: "Be there." The same message could be appropriate again.

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