EPL:You must go down, Jarvis - Gary Neville
Ham winger Matt Jarvis was wrong to stay on
his feet after being clipped by defender
Bacary Sagna just 16 minutes into Arsenal's
3-1 victory at the Emirates on Tuesday.
With the scores tied at 0-0 Jarvis nipped the
ball past the Frenchman in the penalty box but
managed to regain his balance rather than fall
to the ground.
No penalty was given by referee Kevin Friend
and while Neville admits Jarvis should be
commended for his honesty, 'he did his club
no favours'.
"He should go down," said the former England
defender. "You can either be an angel and do
what Matt Jarvis did and you can get a pat on
the back off his nan when he goes home or he
can win his team a penalty.
"A professional in the game will say 'you've
got to go down'. The referee won't give it if
you don't go down. It's a foul.
"I suppose in some ways people can say 'it's
disappointing to hear you say that, Gary' -
well, be disappointed because ultimately
that's the game.
"Sagna comes in, misses the ball, takes him
knee high and for some reason Jarvis wants
to try and stay on his feet. Well alright, he's
done well in terms of honesty.
"If Kevin Friend gives the penalty it would
have been the perfect scenario for football
because the best scenario would be if refs
gives penalties where a player doesn't have to
go to ground but they never do."
Arsenal survived that scare but fell behind
when Jarvis nodded home from close range
five minutes from half-time to give the visitors
a deserved advantage.
But two goals from Lukas Podolski and one
from Olivier Giroud earned the Gunners their
first league win in six games and Neville is
convinced they are in the driving seat for a
Champions League spot.
Everton, currently fifth, can leapfrog Arsenal
by claiming a point against Crystal Palace on
Wednesday, and Neville believes their tougher
run-in - which includes games against
Manchester United and Manchester City -
could cost them fourth place.
Arsene Wenger's side take on Hull and Everton
face United at Goodison Park on Super
Sunday, before Arsenal play Newcastle at the
Emirates and Everton travel to Southampton.
Roberto Martinez's men then entertain City at
home a day before Arsenal face West Brom,
while on the final day of the season, the
Londoners travel to Norwich and Everton go to
Hull.
And Neville claims securing Champions
League football and beating Hull City in the FA
Cup final on May 17 would represent "a great
season" for Arsenal.
"Wenger has to say ([Arsenal can win) both
and he'll think both," said Neville, who won the
Premier League eight times with Manchester
United.
"I think, to be fair, the reason people have
been hard on Arsenal in the last few weeks is
probably because we expected them to do
better from the position they were in two or
three months ago when they were talking
about the title.
"I think, to be fair, that if they got fourth and
won the FA Cup it would be a great season for
them. They haven't been at their best (against
West Ham) but they are playing against teams
that even if they aren't at their best, they can
win.
"Everton have won a couple of games in the
last few weeks, against Sunderland away and
Fulham where they haven't been at their best.
I think that there are games that they've got -
Southampton away, City and United where
they are going to have to be at their absolute
best to get full points.
"I don't think Everton will get full points out of
those games, that's why I still think Arsenal
will get fourth. We'll see. But that's where I
think Arsenal still have the edge over Everton.
"I thought Arsenal were lethargic in the first
half but every time Cazorla got the ball he had
an urgency about him, looked to inject some
pace into the game and was really busy, as he
usually is.
"He was the best player - not necessarily in
the second half, because Arsenal did quite
well in the second half - but in the first half
when they were struggling a little bit, he was
the one who showed up, who wanted the ball,
looked like he was trying to do something."
Podolski wrapped things up with his second
13 minutes from time after Olivier Giroud had
put Arsenal ahead with a neat close-range
finish and Neville said the striker, who has
scored 46 goals in 112 games for Germany,
looked far more comfortable playing up front.
"He had a whinge after the game at the
weekend [against Wigan], saying that he's
being used too sparingly and he wasn't happy
being substituted," he reflected.
"But he doesn't do enough. He plays within
himself. Every time you watch him play it
looks as though he can do more. It might be a
confidence thing - we might be being a little
bit harsh on him - because as soon as he
scored his second goal, he started to actually
run around and make some quick runs in
behind.
"He went up front as well and you wonder if he
actually wants to play up front and he's
actually a bit annoyed at being stuck out on
the left wing - whether that's something that
is griping him a little bit; that maybe he thinks
that all the talk of Arsenal not having a striker
- and he's got a great goal-scoring record for
his country - that he deserves that chance up
front. He has never been given that shot."
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