If you don't think Ryan Shawcross is "that kind of player," you're wrong. So fuck off.
If you think Ramsey is somehow at fault for his own injury, you're wrong and stupid. So fuck off.
If you think this is "just part of the game," and shouldn't be disciplined, you're wrong. So fuck off.
Finally, if you feel any sympathy for Ryan Shawcross for the terrible ordeal he's been through, just fuck off.
Still here? Good.
We all know what happened. Ryan Shawcross made a bad touch on the ball, and in a desperate attempt to keep Aaron Ramsey from winning it, made wild challenge for the ball. When you watch the replay, there are only two possible outcomes: 1) Ramsey is able to leap up and merely be "taken out" by the careering leg and foot of Shawcross, or 2) Shawcross breaks Ramsey's leg. That's all. Obviously, the latter occurred, and Aaron Ramsey is seriously injured. While Arsene confirms it is not career-threatening, he will miss an extended period out of the game while he recovers. I would speculate 9-12 months, and although I'm not a doctor, I do have a PhD in Phunkology.
So Arsenal will be missing an extremely talented young player who had broken into the first team at age 19 and was playing brilliantly. Lost in the Stoke match due to the injury and the aftermath was the quality of Ramsey's play. He was superb in midfield, using his touch and pace very well, and showing that not only is he physically gifted, he has a wonderful footballing brain and a great deal of courage. He'll need that courage to get through this ordeal.
Ryan Shawcross, on the other hand, has now broken two players' legs by the age of 22, and was called up to the England squad for his troubles. But the press, along with his manager, the unctuous Tony Pulis, have managed to portray him as the real victim in all this. The poor boy will miss three whole matches! With pay. And is unhurt. But vicious foreigner Arsene Wenger, who obviously doesn't understand how football is played, made him feel bad. Wenger is continually called out for not apologizing for calling Shawcross horrendous and insulting the sweet, sensitive English boy. Which makes no sense, As AW only called the tackle horrendous (which it was). But still, it's "let's heap shame on Arsene Wenger." Bollocks to that. Arsene has forgotten more about football than Tony Pulis will ever know, and as for Ryan Shawcross, he has been rewarded for his history of violent behavior. I'll provide a few examples.
1) He was a violent player while on loan at Antwerp:
2)He broke Francis Jeffers' leg.
3) He attempted to break Adebayor's ankles from behind when Stoke hosted Arsenal last season, while Ade was out of bounds, as was the ball (see video here).
4) He broke Aaron Ramsey's leg:
None of those videos are easy to watch, least of all the last. But together they illustrate that Ryan Shawcross, while perhaps not intending to injure anyone, plays with a disregard that makes him just as dangerous as the type of sociopath who would intend to injure. So in these cases, the intent is irrelevant. Indeed, as he has already declared he will not change the way he plays, he's proven he's a big body with nothing upstairs controlling it, and that's just dangerous. Even Blaster had a Master.
And the sad thing is that as soon as Ramsey's injury occurred, we knew that the reaction would be anti-Arsenal, or at least pro-Shawcross. Arsene knew as much when he said "Spare me how nice he [Shawcross] is." Because the same thing happened when Martin Taylor broke Eduardo's leg, and the same thing happened when Danny Smith broke Diaby's ankle. Every pundit went out of their way to shout about how nice each one is, and how they aren't "that type of player," just as it has happened this time. They may all be very nice boys. But their personalities don't matter.
The point that must be made overall is that the prevailing attitude in England encourages and rewards reckless challenges as "physical play." At least when English players do it. Largely, this boils down to money. Smaller clubs make less money and therefore cannot sign players of the technical ability of a club like Arsenal. Obviously, they will make more money if they can remain in the top flight, so if they can't beat Arsenal playing football, they must adopt other methods to compete. These methods were put forth several years ago by then-Bolton manager, Sam Allardyce who famously espoused the belief that "Arsenal don't like it up 'em." Ingenious. As though the Gunners are odd for not enjoying a good 90 minutes of kicking and fouling. But Allardyce's Bolton had a bit of success for a few seasons against Arsenal by employing the damnable tactics of dirty play, and since the referees never did anything to the likes of El Hadj-Douche or Kevin "Master of Elbow-Throwing" Davies, other teams without the skill to beat Arsenal at football began playing the same way.
And Arsenal and Wenger are accused of whining when they argue that they are unfairly targeted for rough play, though the preview of nearly every Arsenal match against a smaller (typically northern) club includes a bit from a player or manager saying they intend to do just that. The referees continue to turn a blind eye, the fouls become more obvious and reckless, and the end result is what happened to Diaby, Eduardo and Ramsey. Three players, three broken legs, all in the span of under 4 years. I would ask when there has been enough, but I already know it's not now; less than a week after Ramsey's injury, Burnley (another small, less technical northern club) promised not to hold back and play just as "physically" against us on Saturday.
The conclusion I've reached is that we just can't reason with these people, the ones who defend the Shawcrosses of the world because their team needs to play this way to beat us, because we're mostly foreign, because he's English, or just because they want to be cunts (mission accomplished). Like you can't negotiate with terrorists. We have to fight. And I don't know about you lot, but I've got a bellyful of anger directed at the rest of the league and every pundit who defends thuggery for any reason. I encourage you all to keep your anger, own it, don't let it go. We've never had more reason to go out and win every match, our players know it and we know it. If you love the Arsenal, show it. Sing your heart out, chant for the boys, get behind them and support every single one of them, no matter what your opinion of them has been. They wear the shirt and honor the crest. We must do the same.
Burnley on Saturday at the Grove. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Arsenal 'til i die.
