Stoke’s magnificent unbeaten run came to a shocking end as we were beaten 3-1 at the Britannia following a game blighted by a horrible injury to Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey.

This piece will not follow the normal format so there won’t be any player ratings, I would however like to discuss the main talking point which was the tackle that ended Ramsey’s season and the subsequent witch hunt against Ryan Shawcross who, in my opinion, was as innocent as Ramsey in the whole affair. The referee himself admitting that the tackle was not worthy of a red card and that it was the injury that prompted the sending off.

Ryan Shawcross ©Getty Images

Since Wenger came to this country he has turned Arsenal into a carpet footballing side admired by many across the globe. His side playing arguably the best football in the country and Wenger himself is very much of the philosophy that THIS is how football should be played and any detractors, especially successful ones, are often derided by the outspoken Frenchman.

What Wenger won’t readily admit, however, is that his only tangible success in this country with Arsenal was when he had players such as Adams, Winterburn, Vieira and Petit in his side, players who were committed and full blooded purveyors of the English game, players who helped earn Arsenal the honour of being one of the dirtiest teams in the country, a team collecting no less than 73 red cards between 1996 and 2008. That committed English core of a team is now reduced to a team of foreign players ironically killing the fabric and integrity of the English game far quicker than any style of football ever could.

This game saw a physical contest as you would expect and some dodgy Arsenal defending as you would expect. It saw two teams of players who were largely committed, it also saw a number of cynical fouls, largely by the Arsenal players but this is not what people will be talking about. What people are talking about is the tragic moment that Shawcross and Ramsey went in for a 50/50 tackle and Ramsey’s leg was broken in two places.

I have watched the incident over and over, studied the timeline of still photographs and like 99% of people who have come out publically, believe it to be a 50/50 challenge where one player came out worse than the other, there was no malice or intent by the ‘accused’ Shawcross yet Mr Wenger in this incident that he DID ‘see’ would have us believe that Shawcross, under the instruction of his manager, planned an horrific assault with calculation and efficiency.

Mr Wenger would be wrong. No doubt he would have also not seen Bendtner pull Shawcross back by the shirt, seconds before, an action adding to the defender mistiming his challenge by a split second.

Every single ex professional that has commented on the challenge that I have seen on TV, heard on the radio and read in the newspapers since have said that it was a tragic ACCIDENT, every single one, apart from Mr Wenger. Even Lee Dixon, said it was little more than an accident, this a player who has captained Wenger’s beloved Arsenal, a player part of a successful Arsenal team, still with links to his old club.

Despite every other person ‘seeing’ this, Mr Wenger still fails to, he wrongly lays the blame at the feet of Shawcross and the English game, speaking of previous similar injuries in the same sentence as if Stoke City were involved in all three. People are used to Wenger’s random attacks, normally after a loss or an injury and this was no different, but this time it was a player from MY club, a player who was clearly distraught at what had happened, a player that had to be driven home by his parents, yet a player so well respected by all others in the game that merely an hour later had been called up to the full England squad.

Wenger does not acknowledge Shawcross’ character, nor the fact that in previous meetings it has been Arsenal players red carded for violent conduct, nor that after the incident it was Stoke players who were caring for the injured Ramsey whilst his own colleagues were looking away or chasing after the referee demanding a red card. That says more about their own characters than that of the Stoke team.

The way the Arsenal players acted immediately after the incident was disgraceful and I hope Ramsey when all is said and done will himself recognise the fact that it was the opposition that kept him from looking at his injury, the opposition that kept his head straight and cleared his airways, but that doesn’t fit as nicely into Wenger’s agenda so will no doubt be overlooked like the many other incidents that he manages NOT to see.

Ryan Shawcross should hold his head high over the whole affair and Stoke City rightly take the moral high ground over all that has happened in the aftermath, perhaps if Wenger had the decency to look back over the last few years of mediocrity, he would realise it is exactly characters like Shawcross his team so desperately needs.

His words, whilst naturally frustrated, were disrespectful to Ryan, who will also carry the burden of this tackle for the rest of his career. Hopefully the young England player will ignore the Frenchman and understand that these things happen in football, and be happy in the fact that the more experienced and professional Capello is comfortable in his assessment that he is one of a handful of the best centre-backs this country can offer .

As for Wenger, well he should perhaps look to his opposite number for how to react to such an accident; Rory Delap, 10 mins into his home debut for Stoke went for a 50/50 ball and broke his leg in two places keeping him out for 9 months, and what was Pulis’ response?

“Two people have just gone in for a challenge. Elliott is a seasoned pro and would know Rory, so I’m sure the last thing he would want to do is break his leg.”

Such professionalism and level headedness seems missing with Wenger and whilst it seems he struggles with the English footballing culture, he seems to have bought into the blame game so prevalent in the rest of society today.