The sad REALITY of this sorry Arsenal affair
A huge amount has been written and commented on Aaron Ramsey’s horrific leg break last weekend that I am sure many are already muttering ‘here we go again’, but I ask you all to hear me out. I for one cannot believe the lack of sympathy afforded to the young Welshman, who is actually the only victim of this piece.
Before I go on, I think it is worth pointing out that I am a City supporter therefore I haven’t any great love for Arsenal, but this isn’t a matter of rivalry but more of the disgust at the way that a young gifted footballer has been merely brushed to one side, why the media inexplicably throw their weight of support behind the guilty party and then start pointing the finger at Arsene Wenger and the club’s supporters for an overreaction in the stands of the Britannia on Saturday. Any set of supporters would have reacted the same in that situation, and I dread to think how I would have behaved if the injury happened to one of our own young starlets like Ireland. It appears that showing a certain degree of remorse on the pitch is enough to get you off the hook in the eyes of the media, while the man on the pitch with his lower leg at a right angle was just a victim of his own quick feet. Don’t get me wrong I am not someone who advocates that tackling should be outlawed, just those potential leg breaking ones that have no place in the game.
That is the one factor that has annoyed me greatly in this whole episode is that this challenge was just part of the game. That line is always a good way of sweeping something under the carpet, but the fact is that those tackles are not, otherwise we would see a dozen of these injuries over a course of the season. As Wenger pointed out there is an art of tackling and unfortunately there are some who are worse painters than others.
The media however taken a different view and chosen to spend the whole time getting opposing managers to condemn Wenger’s reaction to the injury, sticking up for the offender (nothing to do with his recent England call), even attempting to gloss over it by suggesting that Arsenal have been guilty of heavy challenges of their own. That might be true, but I don’t seem to remember many leg breaks of such severity as to the ones inflicted on Eduardo and Ramsey. I’m not suggesting teams intentionally go out to hurt Arsenal, but you can guarantee there is instruction to rough them up a little to unsettle them.
As I say it is Ramsey I feel sorry for the most in this. No doubt he has been lying back in hospital attempting to recover from his operation and witnessing the media pouring scorn over his manager’s reaction, witnessing managers like Fergie sticking up for Shawcross, the player himself claiming he won’t change his ways or tackling style, condemnation of the Arsenal supporters for showing obvious emotion at seeing one of their young prospects being laid out, while being a mere afterthought in the eyes of the Press who are determined to deflect all attention for him, his wellbeing and long term future, instead by looking to vilify Arsenal and Wenger for daring to suggest that they have been the victim of foul play. Ramsey is the one that has suffered the most in this episode and he should have been the sole focus of their reporting. The reality is that Ramsey has become a mere pawn in what has been a clear agenda against Arsenal for daring to suggest that these injuries have become somewhat coincidental against their football club. From an outsider looking in it appears they have a point; however I suppose it doesn’t give the media the kind of story that they crave.
Written By Dan Levin
Football News 24/7
Interesting, well balanced piece. Its nice to see a fan of another club wading through the mire of media rubbish and coming to well thought out and sensible conclusions.
On a slightly separate note, big respect to Craig Bellamy for his performances on and off the pitch this season. When you beat us 4-2 he was the first on the scene to try and calm the Ade incident down, and his recent comments on Terry were brilliant. I think hes grossly misunderstood in some quarters.. he has a childlike love for the game and hates losing. I’d have him at Arsenal anyday.
Best of luck for the rest of the season.
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Fair play to you, Dan Levin, a man who sees (and tells) it as it is. The disregard for Ramsey has been truly baffling. He only gets a mention along the lines of “First off, get well soon Ramsey… now about Shawcross and Wenger”.
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brilliant article, sums up my feelings on the shambles.
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Nice piece.
Wenger has become an easy target for the red tops as he will always answer a question put to him and being French seems to justify their opinions.
If the manager was SAF or the player injuried was Rooney, there would be a different campaign and agenda by the media.
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Sad but so true, I’m afraid!
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Thank you sir…
Finally some sane words……
Hope we start to hear more of them.
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great article ,,, some one with some sense ! its frustrating at times the way the media go on ,, if shawcroosss stabbed ramsey they would still be defending him if he showed some remorse ! agreed on bellamy ! i found myself watchin the youtube clips of his interviews loads after his one about teerrry:L:L wat a hero:L
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FINALLY!!!!! Someone who see’s the true victim!
THANK YOU!!!!!
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EXACTLY !!! there is a clear agenda against Wenger & Arsenal. Think it stems from envy, personally.
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You sum up what’s wrong with the game very succinctly: “the one factor that has annoyed me greatly in this whole episode is that this challenge was just part of the game.”
All those who came out for Shawcross endorsed the injury. Not one urged anything be done to prevent it. And it is not surprising, because the easiest thing that could have been done was two years ago to tell Shawcross after he broke Franny Jeffers leg that he wouldn’t be allowed to do it again and get off scot free. But to say that would admit that he did something wrong — he was reckless and negligent and possibly more.
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