Carnage of Chelsea vs. Arsenal Revealed Premier League's Uncivilised Nature

It has become a familiar story. A big Premier League match takes place, containing much of interest and significance—in this case, to summarise, the stark superiority of a potentially great Chelsea team over Arsenal—and yet is discussed in terms of disciplinary and behavioural issues, as if it had been a playground fight.

If we’re honest, we find it compelling, but it’s infantile, and one day it will become boring. And, anyway, for those of us who truly love football, it’s not what the game should so recurrently be about.

And the list of those to blame for the bad stuff at the Bridge is a lengthy and complex one, starting with Arsene Wenger, who can be as bad a loser as he likes but must be taught to keep his hands to himself. Journalist Gabriele Marcotti shared a tweet showcasing the confrontation between Wenger and Jose Mourinho:

To see such a respected figure in the game do something as undignified as shove Mourinho (his own touchline behaviour to be forever associated with a poke in the eye of Tito Vilanova, now a late and lamented rival in Spain) was disturbing. So, though, was the way Martin Atkinson refereed the match with a leniency that amounted, in several cases, to contempt for the laws he was responsible for enforcing.

For me, this was the worst of it: confirmation that those who rule the Premier League, on and off the field, have for too long been content to live on the edge of anarchy.

Atkinson would not have been put in charge of this match if his style of officiating had been out of fashion. And one day it could lead to serious injury if the message gets over that tackles as reckless as those of Gary Cahill and Danny Welbeck are worth only a yellow card.

Danny Welbeck! Yes, one of football’s more wholesome characters—one whom you would have thought more likely to follow the tradition of Gary Lineker rather than Vinnie Jones—ended up going in with both feet on Cesc Fabregas. That’s how badly the atmosphere of the afternoon was allowed to deteriorate. A fan, Jay, provided a look at the encounter:

Even the least malicious of the fouls that should have led to red cards for three Arsenal players—Laurent Koscielny, Calum Chambers and Welbeck—and Chelsea’s Cahill was destructive in that Koscielny’s foul deprived both Chelsea fans and the wider audience of what would probably have been a life-enhancing memory.

If Eden Hazard had been allowed to round off a slalom worthy of Diego Maradona by putting the ball past Wojciech Szczesny, we would have been able to savour a goal almost comparable with Argentina’s second against England in 1986.

That’s why referees are told to treat what Koscielny did as serious foul play. But our officials know better; they operate "game management’" and like to keep all 22 players on the pitch.

How Atkinson allowed Wenger to stay on its fringes after his incursion into Mourinho’s technical area with handbag swinging is a matter the ref and his fourth official, Jon Moss, might care to explain to Pardew. Football Tweets highlighted Hazard's run:

The Newcastle manager was suspended for seven matches and fined £60,000 last season. While his offence was the rather more serious one of head-butting, however gently, the Hull player David Meyler, what Wenger did must surely be worth a couple of matches out of sight.

He joked about it afterward, but the Football Association surely has a duty, with children among the watching millions, to wipe the smile off his face.

Arsenal fans certainly won’t have had a jolly trip home from London SW6 after seeing their team outclassed, even if the gap was a lot less than during a 6-0 thrashing at Chelsea last season. Almost everything I’ve seen of Chelsea since they acquired Diego Costa and Fabregas during the summer has convinced me that they are 12-18 points better than every other team in the League except Manchester City.

Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

That obviously includes Arsenal, who must decide whether they can afford to carry a passenger, however distinguished Mesut Ozil may be. The contrast between Ozil’s workrate and that of Hazard was almost staggering as the recollection that the elegant Germany starred in a Real Madrid title triumph under Mourinho.

But the Premier League and La Liga are very different environments, and Ozil simply has to adjust or be discarded.

Amid yesterday’s carnage, however, he might have been permitted a nostalgic look back at the Clasico—at least in that, some of the turbulence is punished by a red card. Even here, an occasional gesture toward civilisation would be in order.

Patrick Barclay is an award-winning football journalist and best-selling author, whose portfolio includes biographies on Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Herbert Chapman.

Follow @paddybarclay