Aaron Ramsey, Ryan Shawcross, a Broken Leg: Blame Arsene Wenger!

Handshakes that didn't happen aside, two things from this weekends Premier League action have been unavoidable. First is the challenge that left Aaron Ramsey with a badly broken leg. The second, and almost worse thing, is Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger complaining about the challenge that left Ramsey with a badly broken leg. But perhaps rather than whine, Wenger could look a little closer to home for the real culprit here, himself.

This is not the first incident of its kind, indeed two members of the current Arsenal squad have previously suffered similarly bad injuries—Abou Diaby in 2006 and Eduardo in 2008. Never one to let a badly timed tackle be just that, Wenger more than hinted at a conspiracy to disrupt his team through premeditated violence. "I do not believe in coincidences," he said darkly.

Stoke are not the first team to play in a physical, aggressive manner against Arsenal. Manchester United, Chelsea, Blackburn Rovers, and the Bolton Wanderers have all enjoyed success against Wenger's men when employing this brand of football. The general consensus is "they don't like the rough stuff".

But what of my original point? How can this be Arsene Wenger's fault? He is, after all, the ultimate football purist, dedicated to individual and collective technical quality. He is a manager of the most entertaining, beautiful to watch footballing side in the country. His team are, as we are so often told, the neutrals favourite.

But before becoming the great purveyor of the beautiful game, thrilling us with his youthful band of mercurial midgets, Wenger managed a different team. This side blended the hard, strong, powerful Tony Adams, Steve Bould, and Nigel Winterburn with the even harder, stronger, and dirtier Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira, and Emmanuel Petit. Also part of that team were the arrogant, spikey, and occasionally nasty Denis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars, and eventually Thierry Henry.

With this strong, powerful and violent side, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger won the double twice, and a number of other major trophies along the way. While the stylish brand of football played by those teams is unquestionable, neither is their disciplinary record, receiving 73 red cards between 1996 and 2006.

In order to compete with the sheer physicality of this triumphant Arsenal, the rest of the Premier League followed Wenger's lead. They got tougher, the players got bigger, it was no longer enough to be a footballer, the teams needed athletes, powerful men, able to live with Arsenal's new dominance.

Then, almost overnight, Wenger changed tack. Out went these giants, replaced instead by the diminutive, creative, skillful players Arsenal are loaded with today. Fabregas, Arshavin, Rosicky, and Ramsey. Teams who once struggled to match up with a Wenger team physically now had the edge, perhaps their only advantage against more skillful, quicker opposition.

So next time Arsene Wenger is upset his players are being overpowered, remember Vieira, Keown, and Winterburn. No conspiracy, nothing so deep or meaningful, just a case of good, old fashioned follow the leader. Wenger is lauded, and rightly so, for completely altering the course of English football, for being a pioneer, an innovative manager who made the league what it is today. Perhaps you truly do reap what you sow?