A measured piece on the Arsenal thing.

The unspoken conspiracy against Arsenal

Ars?ne Wenger says he doesn't believe in coincidence. Three horrifically broken legs in the space of four years would be enough to make most managers suspect something might be a little off. Wenger is right: there is a conspiracy against his team. But it's not overt nor clearly articulated; it comes from a cultural enmity rather than a personal one. Ever since a nationwide TV audience witnessed Wolves beat Honved on a pitch watered into a swamp by Stan Cullis in 1954 ? through Charles Hughes ("we have nothing to learn from Brazil"), Terry Butcher with blood on his shirt and England's Brave John Terry ? there has been a powerful lobby in English football following the premise that aggression and physical power can overcome superior technique. Wenger's Arsenal play in a way that is unusual even at the top level: no other Premier League team keeps the ball so jealously in midfield areas. All three catastrophic injuries have happened at away grounds ? Sunderland, Birmingham and now Stoke ? against teams with no recent history of playing in Europe, against, say, the ball-hogs of the Portuguese league. Arsenal are the only team they meet who keep the ball like this. Everyone who visits Premier League grounds will know the biggest cheer of the day is often for a heavy, disruptive tackle after a period of patient possession by the away team. The tackle by Ryan Shawcross wasn't high or carried out with studs showing, but it was excessively forceful, a statement-tackle, intended to assert his own - legitimate - physical power and his team's style of play. This kind of challenge happens to Arsenal far more often than other teams. They suffer more injuries as a result. It's a culture clash. Shawcross is also, in a far more minor way, a victim here, as is Tony Pulis as a coach from the same culture that teaches that the best way to combat superior ball retention is a traditional test of mettle.

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Spot on I think.

Posted By: jafski, Mar 1, 15:10:25