Martin O'Neill did not like everything he saw and heard at Villa Park.
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Arsenal
Martin O'Neill reacted furiously to Arsène Wenger's suggestion that Aston Villa play a long-ball game. O'Neill accused the Arsenal manager of an "appalling insult" at the end of an evening that saw Arsenal's Thomas Vermaelen suffer a suspected broken leg and Eduardo da Silva limp off with a hamstring injury.
Wenger said that the match, a goalless draw, represented two points dropped for Arsenal, who are waiting for X-ray results to establish the extent of Vermaelen's injury before Sunday's match at home to Manchester United. But the Villa match and the injuries were overshadowed by the feud that developed afterwards, following the Frenchman's derogatory comments about Villa's style of play.
"I believe we dropped two points because we had clear chances," said Wenger. "But on the other hand it was a very difficult game because they stopped us from playing when we had the ball and when they had the ball they played a very long-ball game and closed us down. It was difficult for us. We couldn't find our passing game. We know what you get when you come here and we were not disappointed. It's a very efficient English game with long balls and very physical."
O'Neill, who was involved in a touchline argument with Wenger here last year, was incensed. He said: "If that's what he saw tonight, that is a ridiculous statement … He's made a few ridiculous statements in his time here and that's probably as good as any. That's only an annoyance at the end of it all. Anybody who saw the game wouldn't take that viewpoint. Ashley Young didn't have time to play long balls when he was taking that left-back [Gaël Clichy] to the cleaners. It's an appalling insult."
Wenger will no doubt be more concerned about his injury situation. Eduardo limped off in the second half and will play no part against United. Vermaelen, who was able to walk off – how he sustained the injury was unclear but it may have been in a tackle on Emile Heskey that earned him a yellow card – could face an extended spell out of action. That raises the possibility of Sol Campbell starting on Sunday.
"With Vermaelen we don't know," said Wenger. "He has to have an X-ray. He's on crutches. It's the fibula. Is it just a nerve or is the bone broken? We have to check that in the morning. Eduardo is a hamstring strain. For Sunday he will be out."
The Arsenal manager said he would think carefully about playing Campbell, who replaced Vermaelen, against United. "Sol has not played for six months and in three days he has two big games, so I will have to see how he recovers," he said.
