Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas was 'horrible' and we had meetings about Chelsea striker dark arts
Troy Deeney has rubbished suggestions that Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are masters of the "dark arts."
The Gunners have been criticised in some quarters for time wasting during last weekend's 2-2 draw at title rivals Manchester City. Arteta's team played the second half at the Etihad with 10 men and were close to getting a famous win before John Stones' late equaliser.
Arsenal have emerged as City's closest title rivals in recent years with Arteta building a formidable team who have been able to keep pace with Pep Guardiola's champions.
But writing in his column for the Sun, Deeney does not believe that Arsenal's tactics can be compared to the 'dark arts' he has seen when he played. The former Watford striker references Cesc Fabregas, John Obi Mikel and Diego Costa as players who were difficult to play against.
"Arsenal are the masters of the 'dark arts'? Give me a break. I've been around and seen teams act way worse in the Prem. None of this is new. Alan Pardew's Newcastle were great at it," he said.
"Cesc Fabregas was a horrible b*****d. John Obi Mikel used to foul you, help you up and step on your calf as he did it. At Watford we had meetings about Chelsea's Diego Costa who was so nasty we tried to be really nice to him on the pitch to try and get him on side.
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"And I will never forget wiping out Martin Skrtel early doors in 2015 and hearing the noise he made when I hit him. I thought: 'I've got you'. We ended up beating Liverpool 3-0. It is not 'dark arts'. It is just trying to wind people up to gain an advantage.
"All Arsenal did against Manchester City was manage the clock, trying to give their players a break and they did it really well. It was basically a pre-season drill. When you go to Old Trafford, when you go to Anfield, anywhere you go, you would try to dampen the crowd, wouldn't you?
"Yes they shut up shop, but don’t most teams at the Etihad? Does that make them all dirty and masters of the 'dark arts'? Just because Man City want you to come out and play, does that mean everyone needs to fall in line?"