Is England Biased Against Arsenal?

As I sat through the day thinking about that tackle, a few thoughts crossed my mind. The summary of those thoughts is that there is an inherent bias against Arsenal, especially in the English media.

First, it was the third Arsenal man to be nearly decapacitated by the opposition - all in the name of roughing up Arsenal. Teams and managers like Tony Pulis openly state that they will "hurt" Arsenal, but such talk, instead of being criticised, is actually upheld as a valid tactic.

Second, the man at the centre of the tackle is supposedly an "honest" player. This was stated by the "expert" Scott Minto in the post-game chat on the Football Channel, who further goes on to state without even batting an eyelid that it was a "good tackle". Seriously Mr Minto - Ramsey's fledgling career is at risk of being ended and you call it a "good tackle"?

This thought process exemplified by the likes of Scott Minto is really the problem of English football, where it is considered OK to use any means to stop the opposition (read Arsenal) from playing football.

The referees don't see such tackles often enough to punish them. Egged on by vociferous crowds baying for blood, they more often than not condone this behaviour.

Another example of media bias is what would have happened if Song or Gallas would have done a similar tackle. I can tell you there would have been no end to it in the English press. Some of the so-called experts and pundits would have ensured this stays on top for months on end, called for significant bans to the player and so on and so forth. However, in this case, they are all focussed on the fact that Shawcross had tears in his eyes, what a decent fellow he is to be crying and him being a lad who unfortunately got in a bad tackle. Not a single word on the fact that Arsenal are always at the receiving end. Actually, they would say that it is another proof that Arsenal don't like the physical edge. Ridiculous.

Now, mistimed tackles will happen, but the worry is that no one is concerned that a young man's budding football career may be cruelly cut short because it OK to "be physical" against Arsenal.