ARSENE WENGER is still angry with Martin Taylor for the tackle that nearly ended Eduardo da Silva’s career more than two years ago at Birmingham City. The Arsenal manager has also admitted that his Brazil-born Croat is “still not completely back” to the force he had been before that game.
Arsenal travel to St Andrew’s today for the first time since Taylor, who now plays for Watford, broke Eduardo’s leg. The match finished 2-2 and was widely perceived to have ended their title challenge that season.
Watford train next-door to Arsenal’s London Colney site in Hertfordshire but Wenger has never seen Taylor since. And, though the manager retracted his call for Taylor to be banned for life, which he had made in the aftermath of the game, Wenger has still not forgiven him.
Wenger was terse when asked if his feelings towards Taylor had changed. “No,” he said. Had they mellowed with time? “No. It is best not to speak about that any more. The best way to help Eduardo is not to speak about what happened there. For him, he has a good opportunity on Saturday to show that he has got over that.”
Statistics confirm Wenger’s assertion that the 27-year-old has not yet fully recovered. Before the Taylor tackle, Eduardo had scored 12 times. Subsequently ruled out for nearly a year, he managed three last term before requiring a further operation.
This season he has managed seven goals in 29 Arsenal appearances, and is not a regular starter.
Wenger said: “I believe he is still on his way back, and still not completely back to where he was before, but the signs are positive that he is getting better. I knew it would take him a long time.
“Mentally he is convinced he is over it. I felt for a while that he had not completely found his sharpness, but in training over the last two or three weeks he has shown he’s getting it back. But it took him a long time. Saturday is an opportunity for him to get over it completely.”
Wenger has his own memories of that game two years ago. He said: “It was a dark day, but not the darkest. We did not lose the championship that day because we still drew the game, but it created unrest. We lost the title later when we were held to a draw at home by Middlesbrough because that proved decisive.”
Alex McLeish, meanwhile, has called on referee Howard Webb to be strong in the face of Wenger’s “mind games” today.
“Every manager has got their different psychology and mind games they play,” said the Birmingham manager.
“I certainly know that there is definitely a tactical reason behind (Wenger’s comments about referees). They (officials) have to be strong at Premier League level.”
