• What They Said

Wenger not worried about Van Persie future

ESPN staff
October 16, 2011
Robin van Persie scored twice for Arsenal against Sunderland © Getty Images
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is not worried about Robin van Persie's commitment to the cause following the Dutch striker's match-winning brace against Sunderland.

Van Persie scored either side of a Sebastian Larsson free-kick to hand Arsenal a much-needed victory, and Wenger commented: "The ideal situation is that he extends his contract and if he doesn't you have to respect that. What is important is he plays how he plays. We are all eager to see special football players and he is a special football player.

"For me commitment is [giving your best] as long as you are at the club, not how long you are at the club. If you give absolutely 100 per cent until the last day of your contract, that is what I call commitment.

"For me it is not commitment to have a long contract. He knows that we are ready to talk about it (a new contract), but the most important thing is what you do on the pitch and how much you are committed to the cause as long as you are at the club.

"Robin was exceptional. When you analyse the game you see just how important he is. The first chance was created by the play of the team and, with the second chance, he made the difference with his skill.''

Black Cats boss Steve Bruce, who is under pressure with his side sitting just outside the relegation zone, felt Lee Cattermole's miss was key to the outcome of the match: "It was an awful start but Larsson got us back in the game with a wonder goal,'' Bruce said. "The big turning point for me was Lee's miss just before half-time. It's a great save, but I would be disappointed if I had missed from that range.''

Rafael van der Vaart opened the scoring for Tottenham © Getty Images
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Newcastle boss Alan Pardew called on owner Mike Ashley's critics to give him some respect after watching his side maintain their unbeaten start to the season with a 2-2 draw against Tottenham: "I am hoping the owner is starting to get a little bit more respect. I don't think we are ever going to win everybody over for Mike and Derek [Llambias] and maybe even myself, but at least you can logically look at it and say we are in a much better position than most Premier League clubs in terms of our financial position.

"We deserved something today and it was important for the stadium and the fans because they could have gone away and thought, 'Well, perhaps we are a bit short'. We ain't short. Maybe we might surprise everybody and maybe we might surprise ourselves.''

For Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, there was disappointment that his side had not managed to hang onto their lead in a whirlwind finish: "When you are 2-1 up with minutes to go, you are looking to win the game, for sure, so it becomes disappointing. Last year, we came here and we were losing with a couple of minutes to go and we grabbed an equaliser, so you are delighted."

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy criticised the behaviour of West Brom midfielder Paul Scharner after his side were beaten 2-0 by West Brom. McCarthy claimed his players were upset because they felt Scharner had lifted his match shirt and displayed the contents of a T-shirt towards some of them during the latter stages of the match.

Wolves substitute Stephen Hunt appeared to be angered by Scharner's actions and was involved in an exchange with the Austrian. But Scharner defended his actions, insisting the T-shirt only contained a club logo and the words 'West Bromwich Albion', and was aimed at the Baggies supporters.

Peter Odemwingie killed the game off for West Brom © PA Photos
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McCarthy said: "Scharner had something on his T-shirt and showed it to the lads over the other side [of the pitch]. There is no need for it and maybe that upset the lads. You can lose but you don't need your nose rubbing in it. If there were words said [between the players], it would have been because of that. He lifted up his shirt, there is no need for it."

Scharner is adamant his actions were not meant to anger the Wolves players. "My kids gave me the T-shirt. They stuck a club logo on it and I was just showing it to the fans. That's all."

Goalscorer Peter Odemwingie put a difficult week behind him, after Nigeria failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup, and Albion boss Roy Hodgson said: "It will give Peter a big lift. He was terrific when he came on. I was preparing for the game with Somen [Tchoyi] because I didn't think Peter was going to be fully fit and that turned out to be the right decision.

"He's a very good player and it's important for him to realise we are all behind him and it is not on his shoulders [to score all the goals]. We have Shane Long now, Somen, Chris Brunt, good players to keep us going and provide the ammunition."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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