I don’t believe that Shawcross did a great deal wrong, though. One mistake that many people are making is to look at the incident as some sort of connected extension to the other, similar, injuries sustained by Arsenal in recent years. Neither Shawcross nor Stoke were involved in any of those incidents, and the only way to look at this one is to look at the incident itself. In my opinion, both Shawcross and Ramsey go in very fast and very hard for a 50/50 ball. Ramsey’s injury seems to have resulted from combination of timing (Ramsey reached the ball a fraction of a second before Shawcross), positioning (the way Ramsey’s foot was planted in the ground, and also seemed to be slightly twisted, meant that it couldn’t bend to absorb any of the impact) and the size and weight difference between the two players (Shawcross is 6’5″, and solidly built).

I’ve seen some talk of “unbroadcast footage” (see Mick Dennis in the Express and various other whisperings on the net) that shows Ramsey’s leg buckling before the impact. I’ll believe that if and when I see it, but like I say, the unfortunate position of Ramsey’s foot certainly seems to have exacerbated the injury. I’d go as far as to say that if Shawcross had planted his foot like that, he would be the one being stretchered off the pitch. Whether or not this unbroadcast footage exists (and whether or not it shows what’s been claimed), Shawcross is guilty of nothing more than committing fully to getting a 50/50 ball. He didn’t go in two-footed, his foot was acceptably low, and he went laces rather than studs first. The incident happened at such speed that there’s absolutely no chance he could have pulled out or prevented the collision once he’d committed to getting the ball (and he seems to have committed to it before Ramsey did, at a point where Shawcross was closer to the ball, which emphasises the speed at which Ramsey was moving).

Looked at in isolation, Ramsey’s injury is a terrible accident. Ramsey’s as committed to reaching the ball as Shawcross is, and the fact that it results in a horrible injury is unfortunate. By all means discuss what you perceive to be excessive force used against Arsenal, but please do not hold Ramsey’s injury as an example of such force, because it simply isn’t one.

Incidentally, there’s an article on the Guardian website that might interest you with regards to Stoke being excessively physical or dirty against Arsenal. The section that interests me, if true, is this:
‘After all, the latest Opta statistics reveal that Stoke City, generally no shrinking violets when games turn a little physical, have committed fewer fouls against Arsenal than any other Premier League team in recent seasons.’
Link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2010/mar/02/roughing-up-arsenal-plan

As for Fabregas, I disagree (when do football fans not?!)with your glowing praise. I’m actually quite shocked that you praise him for the fact he “brought down one of the Stoke players from behind”. It was actually quite a bad foul in my opinion – certainly deserving of a talking-to by the referee, and easily a yellow card when combined with several other dangerous tackles he made throughout the match.
Here’s a picture of the tackle you praise him for: http://i46.tinypic.com/2vjc5ch.jpg
And on a related note, here’s a slightly high, studs-up challenge on Whitehead, that also went unpunished:
http://i46.tinypic.com/240wso6.jpg

I’m not saying that Fabregas is a dirty player, or that Arsenal deliberately fouled Stoke (I’m not into conspiracy theories), but it’s erroneous for (some, but not all) people connected with Arsenal to imply that Arsenal are completely innocent victims who never commit potentially dangerous fouls. In my opinion, Fabregas’ fouls yesterday owed a lot to poor refereeing. If the referee had spoken to him early on – say, after he clattered Shawcross from behind early in the game – then he probably would have been less eager to commit the other fouls.

I see that you, like so very many Arsenal supporters reporting on this match, have failed to mention the way that some Arsenal players reacted after Ramsey’s injury. It’s perfectly understandable to be shocked and upset, but the way that players such as Campbell and your ‘inspirational’ Fabregas shouted and crowded around the referee, the linesman, the Stoke players and a visibly distraught Ryan Shawcross struck me as ridiculous, especially in that they obstructed the referee’s access to Ramsey.

I see that you’ve failed to mention the fact that, from Ramsey going down to being stretchered off, the one person on the pitch who stayed with him the whole time – talking to him, comforting him, supporting his head, stopping him from looking at the injury – was Stoke’s Glenn Whelan. If you want to see an example of “cool, composed…and inspirational” in Saturday’s match, look at Whelan.
Link: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23811008-glenn-whelan-how-i-tried-to-help-stricken-aaron-ramsey.do

Whelan deserves an absolutely enormous ‘thank you’ from everyone at Arsenal Football Club, and whilst I’m sure Ramsey will be in touch to express his gratitude, his actions will probably go unacknowledged by the club and Wenger, because they don’t fit the accepted idea that Stoke players are cruel, heartless thugs who’d knock their grandmothers over to get a point against Arsenal.

Anyway, I’ve ranted quite enough – this could almost be an article in itself, rather than a comment.
Congratulations on a deserved win on Saturday – whilst I disagree with your completely shining assessment of Fabregas, I do think it’s admirable the way the team went on to win the game. I know I made a point of talking about various fouls in the game, but on Saturday Arsenal were the most physical they’ve ever been against Stoke, and for the most part looked enormously better for it (I’m not sure Wenger will want to hear that, but it’s true).

Most of all though, I’d like to wish Ramsey a full and smooth recovery. He’s a very promising player and I can’t wait to see him play again.

1. Cesc Fabregas showed real leadership on the pitch. Arsenal haven’t had much of that since Vieira left, and the contrast with Gallas two years ago was immense. His second half performance was magnificent, and for the umpteenth time this season he was the player who made the difference. If we lose him in the summer, at least we’ll be able to look back with pleasure on watching the development of the player who I think is the finest of his type ever to play in our league.

2. Peter Walton is very lucky that the result went the way it did, after a very weak display of refereeing. The penalty he gave was far less clear cut than the two that he failed to give. There is no doubt whatsoever that he would have given free kicks elsewhere on the pitch for the blatant fouls on Ramsey and Bendtner. Failing to give penalties was just feeble. If I hear another manager moaning about penalty decisions favouring the big clubs, I may commit murder. And now Arsenal will lose Song for two games because Walton gave him a yellow card for something that wasn’t even a foul. At least he got the red card right. Yes, the challenge was more reckless than malicious – he was off balance and moving at speed – but there was really no other way of dealing with the situation than to get Shawcross off the pitch. For those in the mailbox who take issue with Wenger’s reaction, I’d have more sympathy with your point of view if Stoke players hadn’t publicly stated their intention to rough Arsenal up. You can’t have it both ways.

3. Arsenal have coped incredibly well with a large number of injuries this season – their squad is evidently far stronger than most people seem to think, and arguably deeper than Chelsea’s and United’s. Even where Arsenal are weak – in goal – Fabianski may be less of a joke as a stand-in than Hilario. Or rather as a “stand-up” as the commentator so amusingly put it on Wednesday. And it’s good to have Bendtner back – his height is very useful at both ends of the pitch.

http://www.twitvid.com/3BCE0 -Here’s how shawcross kicked
adebayor out with a late late blasphemous
tackle.

- The game had a perfect example of how well the FA and the refs are policing football. Shawcross ends someone’s career (This isn’t an overstatement. Eduardo came back eventually but he will never be the player he was) and will get a 3 game ban. Alex Song had his arm pulled by Delap in a shoulder to shoulder challenge and will get a 2 game ban with no opportunity to appeal an obviously wrong decision. Sounds fair to me.

- Cesc Fabregas is a f**king hero. If JT wants to see how a real captain should behave, just have a look at Cesc.

- Last time this happened Arsenal went to pieces. This time it looks like it will galvanise the team. I never really had any realistic hope of us winning the league this year, but now I’m beginning to think it just might be possible. Assuming we have 11 players to put on the pitch.