[Centraal] Arsenal topic #8: Weer tegen Ajax!

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Ref boss backs Arsenal goal claim

Referees' chief Keith Hackett has said that Robin van Persie's disallowed effort in Arsenal's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea should have stood as a goal.

He also revealed that Arsenal were so incensed by decisions during the game that they rang him for an explanation.

He told BBC Five Live: "Arsenal wanted to know if I had instructed officials to change their style of refereeing."

Referee Rob Styles disallowed a Robin van Persie goal as Thierry Henry was offside - although he was not 'active'.

And Hackett added: "When you examine the video many times you can see Henry is not active."

Hackett, who is head of the Professional Game Match Officials Board, added: "I think they were concerned about one or two liberal aspects of the game.

"But for the offside decision I was able to confirm this was not a correct decision by the assistant referee.

"Clearly we have a difficult law and interpretations of accuracy on this occasion; in a fraction of a second the assistant referee puts up his flag in the belief Henry becomes active from a passive position."

Hackett refused to blame Styles for the decision and also would not be drawn on comments from Arsene Wenger - after he appeared to question the impartiality of the officials.

"Rob Styles is a senior referee, a very competent official," said Hackett.

"We take on board the criticisms but, in that situation, the assistant got a very much better view and Rob is not going to wave the flag down.

"In the situation immediately after the match some managers cannot bite their lip.

"The challenge for me is to improve the standard of refereeing and we are doing that week in, week out.

"There are some positive comments from managers - and they come from Arsenal and, on a fairly regular basis, from Chelsea."

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Arsenal favourites to sign Zokora

St Etienne midfielder Didier Zokora has made Arsenal his likely destination if he leaves the French club next summer.

Zokora, 24, has been linked with moves to Manchester United and Chelsea too, but agent Franck Belhassen says the Gunners are at the front of the queue.

"Arsenal is our most important contact, they have followed Didier more than the rest," Belhassen told BBC Sport.

"He cannot leave in January due to the African Nations Cup with Ivory Coast. But next summer is an option for sure."

Zokora is a midfield enforcer in the Patrick Vieira mould and Belhassen believes he will be well-suited for the physical rigours of the Premiership.

"Didier is a very fine player and there is no question he has the skills to play in the English league," added Belhassen.

"More importantly, he wants to play in the Premiership and it is certainly his preferred destination, though we have good contacts with Real Madrid too.

"Manchester United have also followed him, but Chelsea cannot be considered as they just have too many players at the moment.

"We have an agreement from St Etienne that Didier can go to another club in the summer for a minimum fee of £10m, so we will wait and see.

"St Etienne is a good club and he is very happy there so it is no problem for him to stay at the moment."

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Op woensdag 21 december 2005 22:26 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:
DG: Ga je misschien naar Real - Arsenal? Ik ga denk ik wel.

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Op maandag 19 december 2005 01:38 schreef DutchGooner het volgende:
en de kaartjes voor Real uit zijn geregeld nu nog iemand zien mee te krijgen

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Op woensdag 21 december 2005 22:34 schreef jojomen4 het volgende:
Ik zit dan al in Spanje. Wordt mijn eerste pot van Real Wil best in de Arsenal hoek zitten maar wil niet doodgeslagen worden als ik juich bij de 4 Real goals.