FA & Media A Disgrace For Sanctioning Systematic Violence Against Arsenal As Association Football
By
Arsenal midfielder, Aaron Ramsey
Aaron Ramsey didn’t suffer an accident last evening at the Britannia stadium. He was the victim of the consequences of a dangerous delusion, unrestrained by the deterrent of severe penalty, that’s abroad in English football.
The young Welsh rising star wasn’t the first to suffer, neither will he be the last – unless the authorities stand up to common sense and show that they’re not straw men.
That delusion is the celebration of the “physical nature” of the English game by the media. The portrayal of this physicality is presented as representative of the spirit and endeavour of noble, brave, poorer underdogs against their monetarily and technically richer cousins.
Any complaints by the victims, moreover, is put down to cowardice with the usual lines about “lacking stomach for a scrap” & “being soft” doing their tired lines.
Couple these misguided notions with the lack of severe penalties for transgressions, and thuggery disguised as application is the natural consequence. Several teams have resorted to this license to do anything and everything to salvage games.
The evidence couldn’t be clearer: Three players in 5 seasons having their legs smashed to pulp; and quotations from the revolting Ricardo Fuller:
The Britannia, it’s like a fortress, and if we do play to our strengths I don’t think Arsenal can deal with the aggressive play.
It’s been proved in the past that Chelsea and Bolton have roughed them up and tried to bully them.
We can also be rough and aggressive when we need to, but we have quality too, and so we can mix it up.
When such premeditated intent isn’t restrained by fear of punishment, the victim should consider himself lucky to escape only with a broken leg.
This is the equivalent of handing out clubs to the poorer and allowing them a free for all, under reassurance of light punishment, against the richer to equalize wealth distribution for the underdogs.
it is absolute nonsense; it is dangerous; and it has to stop now.
The English FA isn’t famous for competence, but it is time they show they are at least capable of decency. They have to initiate efforts to invoke punishments that are proportional to the offence in question.
There are “red card” offences, and there are “RED CARD” offences. We all know the difference, and it is time they’re treated differently too.
Coming to the game itself, Arsenal did wonderfully to take three points in the aftermath of such a dispiriting event. It was a clear statement that we’ve evolved from our capitulation after the freakishly similar incident at St. Andrews almost 2 years to the day.
The performance by the Gunners sent a message about our determination to keep this title chase up in the face of anything thrown at us. Wonderful!
We pared away 11 points to Chelsea earlier this season, and we’ve now wiped off 6 out of a deficit of 9 in less than 3 weeks. It says quite a bit about the team’s character, maturity and resolve.
However, each of the remaining 10 games on this home stretch is equally important, and I hope we keep relentlessly to the chase.
Stoke’s first goal was Déjà Vu. If the team had worked on it in training, there certainly wasn’t evidence at crunch time. The fact that few teams have worked out how to deal with Stoke’s ’throwball’ is small comfort.
We are chasing the title, not the other teams, but we’re done with Stoke for this season, and it’s time to look ahead.
Just last week, I made a reference to us lacking a player, such as Wayne Rooney, who single handedly carries United’s fortunes on his shoulders. My reference was to the number of goals he’d scored, apart from his presence and performance, enabling United to get away lightly for their mistakes and bad fortune.
Fabregas yesterday reminded me that we have just such a player in attitude and influence. Young as he is, he’s shaping up to be a fine captain, and I hope we keep this team together for at least a few more years enabling this project to come to fruition.
Special mentions to Eboue and Vermaelen for their endeavour too.
Looking ahead, we need Bendtner – who scored a fine headed goal- Eduardo, Vela and Walcott to find their feet quickly. We need all of them in reasonable form to handle the coming stretch of games better.
Make no mistake about it: The title race is wide open. With a bit of luck, and sustained effort, this could still be the year we end that infamous “title drought”. A season that sees our boys veritably become men.
To add onto Saloner’s thoughts above, it’s time to stop pussy-footing around this issue and call a spade a spade.
Once is a misfortune, twice a coincidence, but 3rd time around for such a horrific injury is just bang out of order.
The FA are a disgrace for not addressing the real issue here – and that is the acceptance by the establishment that the only way to ’deal with Arsenal is to kick them off the field.
The papers and news wires today are littered with supportive reactions by apologists and sympathizers of Ryan Shawcross with the predictable ”He would never go out to harm a fly” or ”he’s just not that sort of bloke”.
The apologists are quick to cite the lack of intent or malice as if they were qualified to get into Shawcross’s head and determine the veracity of any attempt at malice.
Referees have by their inaction encouraged systematic fouling of Arsenal players as if in agreement with the misguided mantra bandied about that Arsenal are ’soft brittle foreigners’ who can’t stand the heat in the EPL.
The Arsenal team and supporters are seen as whingers who just wine and moan rather than get stuck in it.
The media hacks and pundits continue to act like irresponsible and reckless cheer leaders, goading Arsenal for supposedly being too weak – and encouraging other teams to ’kick’ Arsenal off the park.
For too long, this nonsense of physicality and the much publicized ’grit and steel’ has been used as an excuse to justify what less technically gifted players are resorting to for the simple reason that they can’t cope with Arsenal’s technically superior players.
In the real world outside football, the actions and in-actions of the football establishment, the media hacks and pundits, as well as dodgy teams who use physicality to justify their thuggery would qualify as crimes punishable within the criminal justice system.
The fact that opposing team players are allowed to preach in the media of their intent to get aggressive and physical towards Arsenal is a crime of conspiracy to commit actual and grievous bodily harm.
The fact that Arsenal players’ careers are subsequently endangered because of the recklessness of players like Dan Smith, Martin Taylor and Ryan Shawcross – makes it a crime of violence based on depraved indifference.
All these players and teams that they played for systematically adopted a strategy of fouling Arsenal players as a means to stopping the Gunners from playing. For this reason, they are actually culpable through depraved indifference.
Intent doesn’t come into it. There is always going to be the risk that they will cause serious and perhaps career threatening injuries because of their actions – whether the intent was to injure them or not.
And as for those suggesting that the problem is that Arsenal players ala Eduardo, Ramsey and Diaby are too quick for their opponents and that’s why the tackle (referred to as clumsy) happens – they seriously need a good hiding.
It’s like suggesting that it’s OK to rape a girl because she looks beautiful or she was wearing a short skirt.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund
The apologists are out in full droves already. Some even comparing the tackle as similar to the one that Gallas made on Mark Davies. That a 19 year old has suffered a horrific injury and might not be able to play again doesnt even cross their mind.
I have no doubt that whilst Shawcross might not have a malicious intent, he wouldnt have dared go into a full challenge like this had there been greater clamp down from the authorities. Do you expect a toothless association to learn from this ?
It would be interesting to see the media reaction given that the injured party is a British player although not an English one. I have no doubt that we would receive a bit more sympathy than we did when Eduardo was hurt. Ironically, that would actually confirm the xenophobic attitude displayed in Little Britain.
Gents,
Spot on. This all happens at the end of a week when a premiership club has gone into administration. At the same time Arsenal has proven to be run as a paragon of fiscal virtue yet little of the financial results is reported in the press. Premiership clubs have enjoyed an unprecedented financial boom over the last decade yet how many of them have spent any money in improving their football? Clubs like Blackburn, Bolton, Birmingham and Stoke seem to have spent all the money in developing the purely physical approach and little or noithing on the technical. What do these clubs add to the England team? Yet Arsenal are pilloried for technical play and yet are producing some of the best English talent in the land. They’re all so quick to bitch and whine about not getting the decisions against “the big clubs” but they do nothing about becoming a big club – investing in a technical training programme and a decent scouting network which looks for qualities oither than freakish height and weight or abiloity to throw a ball a long way. It’s not so much the lack of talent that these clubs produce which needs to be questioned. It’s the poverty of ambition.
Darius and Saloner;
What frustrates me the most is the fact that our 3 players who almost got murdered on the field were all up-and-coming and rising stars who suddenly had to put their careers on halt because of someone’s misjudged mind.
It’s the way these teams and players play. They know the only way to break us is to break us literally.
As everyone said, 3 times in 5 years is, pardon my language, no fucking coincidence. It’s not a conspiracy written up against Arsenal but it’s the systematic way of constant bullying against us since Pires’ days. WHILE NO SINGLE AUTHORITY DID ANYTHING FUCKING THING ABOUT IT TO STOP.
But what character did our team showed last night…..it was ALMOST like Birmingham 3 years ago. It turned out to be the exact opposite.
Arsenal FC is on a revival to win this title for every players, every fans, every staff who stick to the team every single seconds no matter how bad things got. Last night was one of the lowest in terms of injury, but when we believe, when we put in faith, when we fight, we can prove everyone wrong and stop all the bullshit once and for all.
These players are winners.
you are so so deluded and have obviously caught a dose of wenger’s paranoia. this was clearly an accident with no malice whatsoever. no authority would be able to prevent such freak injuries.
are you saying that there are no tough challenges abroad? i don’t recall arsenal fans complaining about the strength (and often dirty play) of Adams, Bould, Keown, etc.
i am neutral here and have no beef with any one. i also think this will galvanise you and you will win the title. but please wake up & get a life!
lets just play all the games on fm that would be better sht happens
Oh shutup you paranoid prick
Thank you. This is an excellent article that sums up the situation up very, very well. There is inherent cultural bias against Arsenal which has existed since the arrival of Arsene Wenger.
The problem with the mantra of getting stuck into Arsenal is thus – what happens if they don’t wilt? You get stuck in harder which results in broken bones. These is not the rantings of a lunatic, these are facts.
For Shawcross to break into floods of tears shows just what a low character he is. He set out to show the fancy Dans just what a tough guy he was, and he did. Until he was faced with the consequence of his actions – at which point he started to cry… whilst his victim lies on the grass with his leg (& possibly, his career) shattered. Poor Ryan walks off blubbering to applause of the Stoke crowd, and the sympathy of our nation’s media.
Meanwhile, Tony Pullis is interviewed & spits venom over Wenger’s reaction… what a cunt.
someone should draw up a petition to the FA. i believe you Are The One to write it.
Why don’t arsenal just withdraw from the premier league? That will do everyone a favour lol
if you don’t like physical contact then why don’t you give up and start a netball team instead. then again, Wenger would still moan if the opposition girls team look at them the wrong way. complete pr*cks!
To all of those ‘accident’ and ‘these things happen’ deluded idiots. Shawcross went in to show Ramsey who was tougher – this is evidenced by the picture immediately after the tackle where he is smiling (I kid you not, look at it on the BBC website). When, however, the brainless idiot realised that he had broken Aaron’s leg, then it was ‘not malicious’ and he cried his eyes out. Of course, he could never harm a fly, he was just doing what Bolton and Chelsea do – because as our lovely xenophobic media says: it’s all about the result. Arsenal are a soft team, break them physically and you win the game. Not trying to incite anything, but do you think that if Wayne Rooney had received treatment like this from an opposition team then the world would still be labelled as this wonderful place where people ‘don’t harm flies’?
Good article. Last night the elevation of Shawcross to something between a Saint and a Mummy’s Boy had already began and I expect it to be in full swing by this evening with Talk Sport leading the way, fully supported by Sky. I just heard David O’Leary commenting that the referees have the balance right. I totally disagree. We have been kicked from pillar to post this year. What Shawcross did yesterday was reckless. The fact as to whether there was malice or not is something nobody, including me, knows and is only a red herring spouted by the Shawcross apologists and others, like Andy Gray, who are protective of the game that earns them so much money. They don’t want to say that there is something sick at the heart of the English game. But if you behave in a reckless way you must expect and accept the consequences. Remember what happened to Adebayor last year at Stoke? He was put out of the game for weeks by a sickening tackle to his ankle when he wasn’t even on the field but picking the ball up for a throw-in. Who did it? I’ll give you one guess. The media’s view, fully endorsed by Fuller apparently, is that Arsenal can’t handle the physical side of the game. This, translated, means kick them because the referees in England will let you get away with murder. And it’s not only PL teams who employ this. Ask Kieran Gibbs. Pullis’ interview on MOTD was a total disgrace for a man dubbed an “assassin” for his own filthy play by Jamie Redknapp, who played with him at Portsmouth.
There was no malice in the tackle at all and just an unfotunate event of which we wish Aaaron a speedy recovery. Arsenal players have had their moments too and are are constant moaners always running to the referee to try and get someone booked or sent off. At Hull City an Arsenal wonder boy clearly stamped on one of our midfield players and the got away with it . Fabregas spat at our assistant manager and got away with it and so on and so on.
Premiership baby’s need to grow up or clear off back abroad and practice the diving techniques or stay here and play football like the real English men do,.
I don,t think the ref was even going to book Shawcross until he saw the extent of the injury which sort off sums things up.
I am glad you mentioned Eboue I thought he was great yesterday, but I was thinking how much more effective we would be if our full backs could cross a ball.
Lets break both Chrisb and matt’s legs.
ha ha jon. now let’s anylise this further – wenger has said for time that there is a conspiracy against his team but it is HE (yes HE) that continues to buy midgets. therefore but putting midgets up against tough tackling defenders (remember Bould & Keown?) then it is Wenger that is risking his players against injury. So therefore Wenger is at fault for Ramsey’s injury. Right, let’s start up a campaign against Wenger and his systemic disregard for his players wellbeing. kn*bs!
It’s spelt ‘analyse’, you twat!
of course jon. I would expect you to know how to spell a word with ‘anal’ in it. maybe you should change the music you run out to by something by the Pussycat Dolls. (jon, please feel free to correct any spelling) kn*b!
Tubs… As a Hull fan I expect you are basically a bit thick.
Malice is not even the issue here. The question is on the whole planet how many other football teams have had 3 leg breaks in 3 years from “clumbsy” challenges. If you don’t know how to challenge for a football properly then you shouldn’t be on the pitch. Take an analagous situation, in the army if you behave irresponsibly with your weapon then you are kicked out – it doesn’t matter if you mean it or not -there is zero tolerance.
I hope an example is made of Shawcross by the disciplin panel. I hope he gets a massive ban. And I hoe referees are on his case from now.
I would expect the same if one of our players did that sick challenge.
Tubbs, your comment just about sums up the xenophobic mentality that is the anti-football mindset that Wenger refers to. Perhaps you should stick to beating your wife. ‘real English men’…? you are a joke mate.
Stoke aren’t good enough to know better, however the referee just allowed them to throw themselves around the park at arsenal players all game. Then something like this happens. Guilty in every way. The fact they brag about kicking arsenal out of a game is one thing, the ref allowing teams to do it is another.
great result but another long term injury is what iam gutted about, speedy recovery ramsey ,to break a leg like that you have to go in really hard so the intent was there dont care about what other fans think, i would pay money to watch Arsenal play not teams like stoke bolton etc .were goin to win the league. Arsenal 4life .
Bravo, matt. It was so clever of you finding the word anal in ‘analyse’. Actually, I prefer Lady Gaga.
this is the reason why will not win the world cup because you can’t kick the shit out of people with better ref’s. pulis/ mcleish/ kevin bal are from 30 years ago.
and the tosser saying about adams/bould/ keown i don’t recall them breaking legs they where pro’s
matt you c–nt do you remember viera / manny p/ giles g these guys could look after themselves but our refs are the worst in europe not a clue
ok jon, let call peace. i do feel for Ramsey….I just wish it was Eboue! One less cheating diving c*nt out of the game the better!
steve, i do remember them but also the likes of Bould & Keown – dirty c*nts but you all loved them! and don’t say that had no intent in their tackiling. double standards methinks!
Sighting Bould, Adams and Keown is ridiculous as an excuse for Shawcross, Smith and Taylor. They were hard and occasionally dirty but never smashed someone’s leg in half. Its also odd that you are claiming that others dirty play should be excused because of the illegal play of others. This is moronic!
Any real football fan should want to see fast flowing football, free from late and dangerous challenges and this kind of attitude is stopping that from happening. I am not saying stop tackles but all 3 Arsenal players who have suffered these awful injuries have been in the middle-thrid of the park, there is no need for wreckless vicious/hard (depending on your point of view) challenges, there is no imminent threat to the goal. Therefore a crackdown is required to make players think before they act or this will continue. To end, imagine if it was your team it happened to and tell me that you wouldn’t be furious and asking these questions. Its easy to make comments from the neutral side of the fence.
ok, i’ll see how you react the next time one of your palyers makes a bad tackle.
I’m looking at it objectively whereas you are involved so are understandably defensive. a bit like Chelsea fans defending Terry (for what?) and booing Bridge. Herd mentality.
It is this namby pamby attitude as well as the general greed in football, FIFA, etc that is making me fall out of love with football.
RIP Football!
p.s. although I hope not, I genuinely think this will galvanise you and you will win the league. then you can claim that good has overcome evil!
I believe this is an excellent article and very much reflects my own personal feelings about the Ramsey injury. I also note that the educated people that have written have expressed similar sentiments.
We are all football supporters, and it is in no one’s interest that we see such horific injuries during a football match. Whilst Shawcross may not have had malicious intent, the tackle was still reckless. It is also of no coincidence that the three Arsenal players that have had their legs broken, one Welsh, one Croatian and one French player, have all had their legs broken by English players! It is also clear that the referees allow some very mindless tackles to go unpunished. this would not have happened on the Continent; where the referees have a duty of care to protect players. After all it is their livelihood.
the media, particularly Sky News must accept full responsibility for this situation, because the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United play good football, the so called lesser teams are encouraged to get up and at them, and more or less kick them off the park! Once a nasty incident of this nature takes place, the media go into overdrive, saying : there is no malicious intent, he’s a nice guy, and would not hurt a fly!! Which is absolutely ridiculous, as we all know the tackle was reckless. Only Shawcroft himself will know if there was any malicious intent.
Whilst I am living in Jordan, I am from the East End of London and played all my football over Hackney Marshes, no way would any people tolerate such poor sportsmanship and bad behaviour and the possibility of the individual walking off would be very much open to doubt. I now believe the FA must get serious if we are to stop this reckless behaviour, and it is clear that the English game is suffering and most of the English players lack any sort of tecnique.
can you imagine for the World Cup if we did not have an Italian manager, and someone like Sam Allydice was managing the team? The mind boggles!!!
for all supporters it is about time we took a stand and stood up for sportsmanship. I am sure in the long term we would have a better team.
To Matt
You are a disgusting little smear on the face of humanity. It is people like you that make me dispair of the human race. First you make idiot comments and hide behind the “I’m neutral” flag. Then the horrible green festering bile begins to trickle from you as you snarl and snap at counter comments that expose you for what you are. The article is spot on, three leg breaks by three English players of three teams who set out to stop Arsenal playing thier game by ‘getting in their faces’ or other metaphors for kicking them off the pitch, is not paranoia. And you think Arsenal leaving the Prem would “do us all a favour” – you are a twat – Arsenal have made the Prem what it is today. Arsene has brought class and global recognition to the Prem, without him or Arsenal the Prem would be nothing. That’s why the likes of you are on our sites. So Matt do us all a favour and get the f*ck off Arsenal sites
I’m sorry to see that the idiots have found your site, Darius. Up until now, when the trolls and fools that blight ACLF got too much to stand, I could come here for some calm.
I.m afraid that the more popular your blog becomes, and it will, deservedly, then the more dross you will attract.
A shame.
Your usual high standard post. Thanks.
Amazing but typical. Gallas fouls someone who suffers no damage and its replayed and replayed and we are made out to be a horrific club. Shawcross breaks one of our players’ leg and it’s all “ah poor Shawcross it’s not his fault.”
Arsenal fans the world over are incensed about this. It is not about a conspiracy- there is not one, but it is about the sanctioning of over-physical reckless play in the English game- no other footballing nation in the world would try to justify the Shawcross tackle as being legitimate- if it was players would have to play in protective suits to stop their legs being smashed.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the victim in this case is Ryan Shawcross- so vehement have been the media to spring to the young Englishmans defence. The victim is Aaron Ramsey who will be in rehab long after it has faded from the memory of most people commenting on this site. The losers are Arsenal Football Club and their fans and Wales – not the supporters of Hull City or other Arsenal haters
Consolsbob.
It was only going to be a matter of time before they found a new place to troll.
Apparently, Wenger is now to blame for signing little brittle foreigners who can’t hack the ‘ard English game.
Shawcross is so hard he gets driven home in tears by his mother.
The media coverage of this incident is so predictable and sickening. The hacks and pundits and producers of these programmes don’t even recognize that they are the actual problem here.
Who cares if there was intent?
It was stupid, reckless, and uneccessary.
Did you see his follow through? Please provide some logic as to why he needed to follow through like that?
A bit of sense and technique could have prevented this. Of course, sense and technique go out the window when we talk about “committment”, “grit” and “Arsenal”
Matt, it’s funny that you’re calling a truce and how you’re so defensive all of a sudden. You’re just like those thugs, breaking someone’s leg and saying that it was all an accident. Next time, if you’re not prepared for some dissing, think before you post your insensitive comments.
My Dear Darius, It seem to me that the congratulation I had wanted to give you will have to be put on hold for the moment. I know you’ll ask why. It is clearly apparent that your blogsite has lost its virginity. That’s why I was going to congratulate you. But along with that has gone its innocence. That’s why I have to put the congrats on hold. The popularity has heralded with it an unusual amount of dross. Yet, you deserve the popularity.
One thing it has not lost though is it high quality. You deserve kudos for that.
Great article Darius,it truly is sad when u have cavemen buffoons like matt the twat not being able to see the bigger picture.Matt this is not only about the injury to young ramsey but this idiot ideology that has been instilled by our “compassionate” and “impartial” media.”GET STUCKIN!!!” and “GIVE IT TO EM” is the exact school of thought that leads to the horrific injury young ramsey NEEDLESSLY suffered yesterday.Ask ur self how may more young men are going to suffer before we all muster the courage to stand up against all that is so obviously rotten in our game?
AndyE sums it up perfectly……
“Who cares if there was intent?
It was stupid, reckless, and uneccessary.”
That’s the fucking bottom line. Try having 3 first team players getting their legs broken in pieces in 5 years then you will know why are we “moaning”.
But of course when Gallas mistimed one tackle Arsenal is the worst cheaters in the whole fucking universe.
Shut the fuck up and fuck off…..
http://www.stonecoldarsenal.com/2010/02/fa-media-disgrace-for-sanction-violence-arsenal-association-football/#comments
go see it again.
I will fight head to toe with ANYONE who say this is a non-malicious tackle, I’ll fucking fight it until he shut the fuck up.
I’m so angry because this shit keeps happening to us.
Arseblogger very well reflects my emotions in today’s post.
I’ll quote him here:
May 1st 2006 – Abou Diaby has his ankle fractured and dislocated by a challenge from Dan Smith.
Feb 23rd 2008 – Eduardo has his left fibula fractured and sustains an open dislocation of his ankle joint after Martin Taylor’s tackle.
Feb 27th 2010 – Aaron Ramsey has his fibula and tibia broken, his leg left hanging in the air, by Ryan Shawcross.
These last lines sum up of how to be a gooner:
I know people all have their opinions of this team, the players, the managers and everything else but if last night didn’t make you proud to be an Arsenal fan then there’s something wrong with you. My spine is tingling even thinking about it.
I think that sometimes we lose sight of why and how we support our football club, and while you’d never want to be reminded because of what happened to Aaron Ramsey last night did just that. Our reaction, our desire, our spirit, our togetherness, it was the Arsenal.
I love the Arsenal.
Stoke are entitled to play how they like provided it is within the rules & disciplined.
For the 1st 20 minutes their physical approach was fair & effective. Clichy, Campbell & Almunia in particular were terrific in holding up under the pressure. We the fought back, so that from the period shortly before Bentner’s brilliantly taken goal, it was Stoke that tired more & more to eventually lose their discipline.
It was lack of discipline fitness & technique that has cost one of the best young talents a great deal of pain & a long time on the sidelines.
Pullis should be charged with failing to control & prepare his players properly.
The away support was superb. A privilege to be with them & this Arsenal team.
Glad to see your blog progressing Darius. I agree with Cbob. Quantity unfortunately does not equate with quality as YW has found out.
Well said diceman1984.One thing i am truly sure of is yesterday we had two roads to choose 1 that lead to a dead end and 2 that lead to another world yesterday we chose the latter one this choice personifies everything this team has been for the last few years.yesterday was a day when our boys stepped out of the protection of youth in to the harsh and very real world of manhood.this journey is just beginning on the back of yesterdays game i was\ emotionally overcome by how our lads got together at the end of the game. it is times like this i truly feel we have a great team in the making this day will galvanize us and only make us stronger not just as a team but also as gooners we are all in this together let us all now to the end of the season show our team like they showed us yesterday that anything is possible in the realm of footbal.get well soon ramsey. i love my Arsenal.
sorry for the spelling mistakes
Why has England not done well in the world cup since 1966?
How many English players are in the top 4 clubs?
Would the press react the same way if Rooney or Lampard suffer this kind of injury from a marginal player?
The British press glorifies the “physical game”. What has it got England in continental and world competitions?
Do you hear such statement like Fuller’s in Italy, Germany or Brazil?
For me these are pertinent questions to be asked.
How anyone can read Shawcross’ mind to know that evil was not intended is beyond me. You will cause severe injury 9 of 10 times with that kind of lunging tackle.
This the shame of English football.
I hope when the FA review the terrible injury to Ramsey which has now resulted in a broken leg, they would also take into account that Shawcross broke Francis Jeffers’ ankle in Oct 07 and as a result of his terrible tackle on Adibayor, Adibayor’s ankle injury resulted in him being out for four weeks. On both occasions Stoke defended Shawcross as a good honest boy and he meant no malice.
It is clear that Stoke are defending their own player primarily due to the fact that within their own training methods they are encouraging their players to be aggressive, and they also realize there could be some litigation on the way because of the Ramsay injury.
It was clear if you watch the Sky news pictures that the manager of Stoke was more interested in swearing at Fabergas than any concern for the injury to Ramsey. As I mentioned previously, the media have a lot to answer, as SKY news and Sport were more interested in whether Wayne Bridge should shake John Terry’s hand after he had sex with his partner. This really shows you what circus football has become.
I urge all football supporters to write to their clubs concerning the fact that there appears no sportsmanship in the wellfare of players. it’s alright to kick anyone off the park. I would also ask all Arsenal supporters to write to our club and the FA regarding Shawcroft’s previous terrible tackles.
As Arsene Wenger has said, something must be done to stop this fiasco. After all football is a great sport and not a soap opera! Please let’s get our game back as we knew it.
I completely agree with the posts above by Saloner & Darius, and a number of the comments too.
Quote from Darius:
“The media coverage of this incident is so predictable and sickening. The hacks and pundits and producers of these programmes don’t even recognize that they are the actual problem here”.
Ain’t that the truth! The iZombies simply don’t know – and I bet don’t care either -that they are indeed a substantial part of the problem(s) within English football.
Pure Quality post it on bleahcerreport
Hey Cashman
Typical London comment same as Venger ! Beat your wife up comment sums up you Londers in a nut shell ….100 % boring moaning gits. English Premier League yet your teams full of foreigners….tut tut. You eat tripe and talk it too
Win The League For Ramsey
Saloner and Darius,
I have not read the comments of other viewers above but I am going to say only one thing “most tackles, like the one Ryan Shawcross committed, in football are malicious and therefore intentional”. You may disagree, its my view. The only problem here is we cannot get a psychologist to go deep into the mind of perpetrators. If we could, the folly of such statements as “he had no intention to hurt …” would be exposed. The only reason one (a footballer) would use the tricks of “… they do not like it up them” is because it would cause so much pain on the opponent to the extent that they (opponent) would be afraid of coming across and attempt to go past the perpetrator again (cue Jose Antonio Reyes vs the Neville brothers back in 2004). It is used as a deterrent, a painful deterrent!! If your opponent is not going to be deterred, it would not be worth it? Now, tell me, is that not intentional? That means the perpetrator intentionally caused pain on the “opponent” who now has to think twice to go past the perpetrator. To me this “… no intention ..” thing is absolutely nonsense! Most footballers would not agree with my view, just ask Hansen and Shearer and even Arsenal players (they are not angels as everyone knows) or any one that has played football; but that is what would be going on in their minds when they are perpetrating such acts. Do not let them fool you! The first thing is “intention to cause pain”, the next is the extent / level of pain which is dependent on the severity of the injury. Severity of injury will, more often, depend on the amount of force used. Darius, I wrote in your blog last week, that most injuries that Arsenal suffer from opponents in games / matches are caused by malicious tackles from the opposition. These are the kind of tackles I was referring to. They are malicious because, the opponents go with the intention of causing pain. In many cases they are actually premeditated because these oppositions would discuss how to stop Arsenal in their dressing rooms, so do not tell me they did not intend to. If you tackled and took the ball with minimal or no pain, your opponent would not be afraid of you, and therefore will repeat their tricks or find a better trick against you and be able to go past you, and make a good pass or score a goal. This is the footballer’s mind set not only in England but elsewhere, particularly where there is light or no punishment for such acts. Last season, on the same Britannia stadium, Arsenal lost three players, two from serious injuries (Adebayor – by an off-the ball tackle by who else but the “… he is not that sort of …” Ryan Shawcross; and Walcot by a tackle from behind by Delap) and one van Persie for a red card. This time Arsenal has lost two, Ramsey (return date only God knows) as well as Song (for two matches) for something, in the first place was not even book-able, and even if it was, Stoke players (some of whom committed more serious offenses) could not be booked for. Shawcross got away with it last season (he nearly did it again, the referee was reluctant to even to caution him until he saw how serious was) the referee and every pundit and FA and almost every other premier and non-premier league fans applauded his acts. They are supporting him again. No surprise there. Unfortunately, this is not the first time he (Shawcross) has caused such serious injury. Like many gooners have suggested, I wish Arsenal could sue Shawcross and his club, and the referee or if it were possible, the FA for sanctioning the “bullying / kicking / up them” or whatever other name it is called” against Arsenal.
Brilliant comments Gennie, and I agree with every word that you’ve written.
@ Gennie, good comment but please use paragraphs !!!!!!
Having read eventually ( ! ) all the comment there isn’t much left to be said about the incident itself. To sum up where I stand on this is pretty much the anti-over physical and reckless approach to the game.
What occurs to me is that Shawcross is a defender by trade. As are Smith and Taylor too. Despite the limitations on their ability surely they must aspire to be the best and look at what that entails.
All players make bad tackles but defenders and midfielders are expected to be better in a tackle than a forward, however, an intelligent player will mitigate his challenge when it is a lost cause.
If his defensive heroes are Tony Adams or Steve Bould or Martin Keown for example – since these names have been cited here above – then, as said, none of those players potentially ended a career. Hard, borderline dirty and even cynical maybe they were but not malicious and dangerous. Of course, passion in the heat of the moment was and is a factor not to be overlooked when and how it affects our own and the players judgement. I don’t want passion to disappear.
Many might talk about Viera. Personally, I would cite Roy Keane on Alfie Inge Haaland. Never entirely proven as an intentionally malicious foul but the truth is out there somewhere and it very nearly appeared in Keane’s ghost written autobiography. Some might remember the court case at the time about that particular segmant in the book.
So, my point ? Well, aside from blaming the media culture for promoting and setting agendas, the managerial styles and ‘ thuggish tactics ‘ denials, the dressing up of physicality as the English game ? The Pulis’, the Alladyces ? The Browns ? The rest of their ilk ? My point is this, the English game they hold dear and cling onto is just that, a thing clung onto from the past.
Slowly but surely, we will eradicate this supposed British Bulldog mentality from our game or at least its negative aspects, without losing passion on a club level or patriotism at internaional level but channeling the talent into a better way forward. This means hoping that teams who want to play football stay in the Premiership avoid relegation e.g. Burnley, West Brom, Newcastle ( aside from Barton ) , Fulham on previous occasions Hull in their first six months in the Premiership and many more. While Bolton, Blackburn and the like can disappear back to the depths of the leagues and park football where that style may not belong but is best off for now.
. . . and breathe . . .
Great information I have Tweeted this, I will keep a eye on your other posts. Ohh what do you all think about the about the brazil flood this week?