By Myles Palmer
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Manchester United 1 Arsenal 1
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Silvestre 15, Henry 20
United win 4-3 on penalties
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JEFFERS will never be an Arsenal player.
And I promise this : Arsene will never buy another scouser.
Jeffers has had chances to prove himself.
But he is not an Arsenal player. Never has been and never will be.
Arsene doesn’t start Jeffers because he doesn’t trust him.
Today we saw why.
It’s 1-1 after 73 minutes and he is fouled by Phil Neville. They tangle, Neville holds Jeffers’s legs, falls – and Jeffers kicks him while he is on the ground-EVEN AS THE REF IS BETWEEN THEM
A very hot day? Yes.
Frustration?Yes.
BUT NEVILLE WAS WINDING HIM UP.
NEVILLE KNOWS FRANNY HAS A SHORT FUSE.
Typical Franny.
He is an incorrigible Muppet, a recidivist whose old club, Everton, are coming to Highbury on the first day.
Does he want to play against Everton?
Apparently not, from his idiotic over-reaction today.
A three match ban is less than he deserves.
If Jeffers had stayed on, Arsenal would have won in 90 minutes, I firmly believe.
They were outplaying Man United, even after Henry went off at half-time.
Arsenal should sell Jeffers for £2 million and buy Darius Vassell from Villa.
Vassell IS an Arsenal player: fast,two-footed,constructive, agile, modest,laidback.
A shame that Jeffers spoiled the day because Kolo Toure proved he can be an African Martin Keown.
Toure made Ruud van Nistelrooy invisible!
His partnership with Sol looked superb.
And Jens Lehmann did really well on two chances after 33 and 71.
On the first one, when Giggs hit the post, Lehmann got close enough to van Nistelrooy to put him off his header, which went just wide.
On the second he came off his line and got into Giggs’s face and forced him to lob past the post
Seaman would not have been in the face of both those players so quickly.
So it’s no contest: Lehmann is better than Seaman. If only Arsenal had signed him a year sooner.
In the penalty shoot-out Lehmann dived to his right and parried a decent van Nistelrooy effort.
Scholes, Edu and Rio scored the first three.
Then Gio was too casual, Tim Howard saving.
Then Lehmann saved from RVN
Wiltord, Solskjaer and Lauren made it 3-3.
Forlan made it 4-3.
And Howard saved the 10th pen by Pires.
Arsenal have 21 days to sell Jeffers before the deadline.
I had high hopes for this guy. His playing style was right. But his personality isn’t.
It’s very simple.
Francis Jeffers is not an Arsenal player.He never will be.He has not fitted in.He is a passenger.
So flog him and forget him !
August 10th 2003.