Arsenal captain calls for change

Fabregas pleads for a review of the rules as depleted Gunners head to Hull

Published: 11 March 2010
by RICHARD OSLEY

ARSENAL will try and follow up their 5-0 rout of Porto by keeping their domestic title ambitions alive on Saturday with a victory at Hull City. 

They travel to the KC Stadium with a depleted midfield, a problem that Cesc Fabregas traces back to Aaron Ramsey’s horror injury at Stoke City.

The Gunners’ captain, who himself is only “50-50” for the Hull game after pulling a hamstring against Burnley, is angry that Alex Song picked up a similar suspension to that handed out to Ryan Shawcross, whose crunching challenge ended Ramsey’s season. 

Abou Diaby and Samir Nasri now have to hold the fort at Hull with manager Arsene Wenger hoping  they will not be exhausted following their efforts in the demolition of Porto.

“I don’t understand the rules for suspensions,” said Fabregas. “Alex is missing two games for getting ten yellow cards for pulling a shirt, conceding a strategic free-kick.”

The Spaniard added that the ban did not make sense in contrast to the three match suspension being served by Shawcross.

“For me personally, they need to change the rule. They need to look at it case by case. You can pull a shirt of someone who is through on goal and get the same ban as someone who breaks someone’s leg. 

“It doesn’t make sense,” Fabregas added. 

“Everyone thinks we’re playing Arsenal, we have to go in hard against them and I have no problems with the contact game. 

“If opponents think that’s the best way to beat us, no problem. 

“But when you put your foot half a metre on someone’s leg, that’s not right. It’s not the first time this season we have seen challenges like this, but until someone breaks their leg, nobody speaks about it. 

“It’s happened to me twice and I was lucky I didn’t get badly injured.”