Am I going against the grain by saying this? – I don’t give a toss how bad Ryan Shawcross feels. “But he’s not that type of player” bleat Tony Pulis, Rory Delap, Match of the Day and Sky pundits. Try telling that to Aaron Ramsey, he’d want to kick you to death with his only working leg. Well, I would if I was in that position.
A precociously talented 19 year old, Britain’s best young talent in my book, has no certainty as to whether he will be able to return to the game, his leg snapped like a twig thats just been stepped on. All I seem to hear is sympathy for the aggressive oaf who has inflicted an absolutely horrific injury on Ramsey, an oaf whom has also broken the ankle of Francis Jeffers in the past. (surprise surprise, the same things were said about his character then). Remember that horrific tackle he made on Emmanuel Adebayor when he was miles off the pitch at the Brittania? Un-needed, reckless. He put Adebayor out the game for a month. He was lauded for not accepting reputations, so why should we accept the reputation of a savage leg breaker.
“But he is innocent!!!” – no he is not. He was out of control, much the same as that if you were speeding home from work, lost control of your car and ploughed into a child, injuring them or worse – you are out of control and its your fault. No excuses. You could be Saint Nick for all anyone cares, you are responsible.
So Ryan Shawcross is responsible for Aaron Ramsey’s injury – and should be punished as such.
Do I think he meant it? Of course not, I’m fed up of hearing about his innocence, “he’s not that type of player” (though Adebayor, Jeffers and Ramsey might beg to differ). – Shut up. Just shut the hell up. Its not a Roy Keane scenario. He didn’t intend to bust his leg nearly beyond all repair but he intended to let Ramsey know he was there shall we say, it wasn’t ever intended as a cuddly challenge. I and the country do not need informing as to this guys innocence, his statement did that. If he can’t tackle safely he should be made to learn it in order to continue his career.
This is just the latest incident though:
Dan Smith on Abou Diaby…. (’06)
I think this one was intentional, Dan Smith got peeved and decided to take it out on Abou Diaby in the last minute of a game where Sunderland were 3 goals down. A broken and dislocated ankle later, Diaby returned but has struggled with constant niggling injuries since.
Martin Taylor on Eduardo da Silva…. (’08)
Intended as a softener, you all know the damage. Compound fracture of the leg and an open dislocation of the ankle, the bone poking out his sock. Disgusting injury, which was of course unintended. But the tackle was a result of the “lets rough ‘em up” style that people go on about. Is breaking someones leg roughing them up? Eduardo took a year out of the game but still seems slightly apprehensive of some tackles. I don’t blame him.
Ryan Shawcross on Aaron Ramsey…. (’10)
You know what happened…
I’m fed up of the innocent parade, the pathetic excuses and the tossers saying Arsene Wenger’s comments were out of order after the game. Alan Green said he should pick his words more carefully after a game. Oh really Alan? He’s just witnessed the third compound fracture in a little under four years, I think hes entitled to say what he thinks… if you want him to be more considered in his opinion don’t send a journalist to bait and pounce on any anger he is feeling after one of his youngsters legs has been bent beyond all recognition. Its people like HIM who portray Arsenal as a team that needs to be kicked to be beat that have caused these injuries.
The punishment:
A three game ban. THREE games. Thats what? A week or just over out of the game. Aaron Ramsey will be lucky to have anything under 50 times that amount of time. Alex Song got booked and will miss two games. It wasn’t even a foul, he was the one fouled! Remember Jereme Aliadiere brushing Javier Mascherano’s face the same day as the Eduardo injury and he was banned for what..three or four games? Martin Taylor got 3 games.
FINALLY it seems some members of the more respected press are starting to agree with us, Patrick Barklay (Times) was terrific on the Sunday Supplement - as has Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail, not quite to the same extent but people value his opinion on the game and he is one of the journalists I admire. Talksport, The Mirror (publishing Lipton and Stan Collymore’s opinions… I’d rather bathe in acid than listen to them), and Eurosport (Paul Parker…you astound me. Idiot.) *Not linking to the articles. Not going anywhere near them ever again. They have all published utter trash, what are their opinions worth? They can hardly string a sentence together, I don’t have to read what they have to say.
People may disagree with some of the things I have said and I would like those people to explain where they take up issue with me, I won’t stoop down to insults (unless your a right prat), but I appreciate different points of view. Its an issue thats enraged me as an Arsenal and football fan and a player of the game, why should we put up with these tackles? Why should someone so young and talented have their entire career at risk laying in a hospital bed as we speak with more metal in his leg than one of those motorway barriers?
But heres one thing, Ive had my say, now lets go win this bloody league.
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I think that Shawcross is malicious and aggressive in his football. The evidence that you provided points to the same conclusion. It takes a certain type of player to break other players’ legs and he has a long rap sheet. We must find a way of getting these types of players to stop by ensuring that there are stif sanctions. A three match ban is apparently not enough.
Thank God u never checked steve howard at the sun..that wenger got it wrong in what he said after a game..a young lad with enemourse talent is lying in hospital and some stupid pundits like howard are getting paid to write bollocks!
I do not wish to look at The Sun, its only use is for wiping the crap off your arse crack
I completely agree with what your saying, but I want to point out that when the shoes on the other foot how the media jump on our players. For instance when Gallas tackled a Bolton player that lead to our second goal in the home game, he got the ball, but people like Coyle and all the papers branded him a thug. Id also like to point out that Adebayor could have easily broken Cesc Fabregas leg with a similar challenge in the game against city earlier in the season, but because there was no damage it barely got noticed, do we really need injuries like this for people to even notice how people bully us. The ban should match the injury in terms of length, the fact he gets honoured with an England call up is a bloody disgrace, the fact is most of these pundits probably don’t know about Shawcross ankle breaker on Jeffers cuz it did not happen in the premier league, and the ignorance in beleif that the physicality of the premier league is what makes it better, and that teams like Arsenal are soft, makes incidents and behaviour like this acceptable. Good on you, if only the general media looked back at evidence that shows this is not an isolated incident.
BRILLIANT piece. this is exactly what i wanted to say if i were literate enough. great work
Thanks Tone, really appreciated.
did you say Alan Green? A lot of people in England seem to think AW knows and says too much, which he does and I don’t have problem with it. I saw a video today on how Wenger reacted to Alan Pardew’s shoving him after Harewood scored a goal in the last minute during the match we lost away at Upton Park in Henry’s last season… and there was a comment made by one of the guest presenters saying Pardew shouldn’t be blamed as he had just won against Arsenal! (…and therefore had the right to go meet AW pointing to his face and shoving his arm) how despicable!
SAF gets away with the vilest criticisms of others for doing nothing, absolutely nothing! I guess opponents have to come on the pitch with knives to slay our players’ necks before AW will have a right to voice out. This is an outrage, a scandal.
Just take a look at these snapping legs, they’re crying for justice. I should commend you though, Goonblogger, for the pictures.
A spectacular rant, well not exactly a rant.
I disagree on some points raised. I’m sorry but its how I feel. I cannot stress too much how depressed I was at seeing Ramsey injured. I saw Eduardo injured live on tv and couldnt bare to see the motd highlights because I knew what was coming. As I say I stress that the tackle was bad, the outcome horrifying and the guilt so easily visible. But this guilt should not be taken at face value.
Emotively speaking all such leg breaks are shockers plain and simple. There is nothing good about looking at them – they’re horrific to look at and can be used to vindicate the opinion that there was terrible intention in the tackle.
Intention is difficult to know. I’m playing devil’s advocate here and I expect arguments against this point in some manner. Despite what might be told to the players before the game (to rough up a skilful and slight team) the game is played with split second reactions which are natural rather than thought through planning in a given situation such as tackling. As such the key to being a really decent player/defender is improvisation. Get it slightly wrong in a 50/50 situation and the ball will be missed and the player taken down. Foul, penalty whatever. In this case and in many others injury, sometimes horrific, ensues.
In all and in my opinion, intention is unclear.
So what does this mean? Well if we’re considering what actions should be taken to punish a horrific leg breaking tackle then this point is important to the issue. You give the example of death by dangerous driving. The amount of room for error with driving is huge. Everyone can be a safe driver (if they follow the speed limits etc.) but it takes someone who intently transgresses boundaries put in place before him and poor assessment of road conditions that they get into this zone of potentially lethal driving. If we take football there is a fine line so easily transgressed between right and wrong. If there wasn’t such a fine line then we would not have a great disparity, which there is, between the real world class players and those of Shawcrosses standards (yes I know he has been added to the England squad but that does not mean he is a world class player). Since this fine line between success and failure is so thin – the death by dangerous driving and the punsihment for it is INCOMPARABLE (thats for stressing the point rather than shouting it I would put it in bold otherwise).
For these reasons that both intention is problematic and that there is only a small margin of error I argue that Shawcross or Taylor are not guilty of any malevolent action intended to cause grevious harm against Ramsey or Eduardo.
This argues my point about innocence and culpability. BUT this is not to say that punishments for any tackles that cause this like Ramseys/Eduardos/Diabys is correct in terms of length and purpose.
I believe that what is more enforceable is not a 3 game suspension but a self induced suspension which manifests the guilt of the aggressor to mature them as well as make them an exemplar for others. What I am saying is that players who commit such horrendous tackles should take a period of absence owing to their emotional reaction to their actions. If Shawcross was so upset as he allegedly and visibly was then the three game suspension should be insufficient.
So what I’m proposing is that there should be an ethos to break down the belief that a suspension (of any kind) is enough to balance or repay an incident. A voluntary leave should be there to break this cycle of thinking and make people mature as players and make others understand the risks of playing the game.
As the tackle and intention should not wholly be taken at face value, as bloggers and journo’s are happy at doing alike on both sides of this debate, there needs to be a greater consideration of these two things as well as the purpose of suspension.
Do not take things at face value.
Sorry for the length of the post and I hope I’ve communicated clearly my thoughts on the matter which I am sure will be recieved with angst by some. Nevertheless the points I raise are ones which anyone reading this cannot refute or deny.
Magic I must admit, I hadn’t thought of it from that angle and your comments are remarkably calm headed and well put.
I think the proposal for the ‘self suspension’ as it were is great, but I can’t see it ever working because it could be seen as a self admission of guilt, which players rarely have. Regret of causing damage, of course, but guilt of intentionally doing it, not at all.
I think a break from the game (decided by a panel)to improve tackling technique could be viably but then..who are the judges?
Its very tricky. A case springs to mind of that Swiss striker getting very badly injured in a French league game and they were banned for a long time. Maybe that could act as a deterrent?
Its a very puzzling topic. It was emotional seeing Ramsey in that state, hes a month younger than myself and Ive smashed a bone playing football but still not to that extent. I know the effect it can have.
I guess Shawcross does have a bit of form and at 22 years of age hes seriously injured 2 players and had countless other aggressive moments. I think he may need to consider his approach? He needs to change something somehow. I appreciate 22 is still a very young age.
Im rambling now, I do get your point though and thanks for taking the time to write it out, must have taken some time!
I appreciate your comments which I will address perhaps in greater detail at a more holy hour. I speak my mind freely on a subject which is, and I think I speak for all regardless of which team anyone supports, very moving. It is indeed a puzzling malady of which there is no easy or complete cure. The balance of crime and punishment in such matters is a complex issue. It is sure to generate many different opinions – not all wrong but different in emphasis and blame.
I regard your blog in the highest regard and you’re my first port of call when it comes to info and analysis on arsenal matters. I appreciate your input greatly and I can only offer such small morsels of my opinion on a single issue which you address consistently throughout the season exceedingly well. The time to write out the above is complimentary to your efforts.