Emotional Wenger sad for Ramsey

28 February 2010 10:58
The 19-year-old Wales midfielder was taken to hospital with a badly broken leg after a red-carded tackle from new England squad member Ryan Shawcross.[LNB]Arsenal's success lifted them to within three points of Premier League leaders Chelsea but it was the Ramsey incident that was uppermost in Wenger's thoughts at the Britannia Stadium.[LNB]The injury had echoes of previous bad injuries suffered by fellow Gunners players Eduardo and Abou Diaby in previous seasons.[LNB]Wenger said: "I didn't see many bad tackles in the game but this one was horrendous.[LNB]"To lose a player of that quality at 19 years of age when he is just starting his career is just horrendous. It is difficult to accept.[LNB]"It is the third player we have lost on tackles that are not acceptable - (Abou) Diaby, Eduardo and Ramsey today.[LNB]"I am just shocked because that is not football for me. It is not what I like in the game.[LNB]"If you have to live with that, I refuse to do that.[LNB]"For a boy at 19 years old to be kicked out of a game like that, it is beyond words. I cannot even enjoy the win tonight.[LNB]"The players are shocked, it is a bad fracture. He will be transferred to London tonight to see if he needs emergency surgery but he will be out for a long time."[LNB]Wenger went on to claim his side are often singled out for unfairly rough treatment by opponents.[LNB]The Frenchman added: "All the questions I get in press conferences about how we don't fancy the physical side of it, that's the result.[LNB]"I'm not very happy with the tackle. We know what we are expecting, a battle everywhere, but we have now lost three players to horrendous tackles and I refuse to believe it's always coincidence.[LNB]"I don't believe it when you are hit as many times as we are. I just believe in what I see and when you see a player getting injured like that, it's not acceptable.[LNB]"Commitment is right, but that is not right."[LNB]Shawcross, who in a surprising twist was later named in the England squad for the first time, left the field in tears after being shown a straight red card.[LNB]But Wenger added: "Spare me the articles about how nice Shawcross is - it happened with Eduardo."[LNB]Wenger branded the three-match ban Shawcross will now face as "just ridiculous" and when asked if the Football Association should take action to eradicate bad tackles, he said: "Of course."[LNB]Stoke boss Tony Pulis admitted Shawcross' challenge had to be punished with a red card but defended the character of his player.[LNB]The incident occurred in the 65th minute after 22-year-old Shawcross took a heavy touch and then stretched for the ball.[LNB]Pulis said: "It is a bad challenge but I know Shawcross, I signed him as a 19-year-old.[LNB]"He has got no bad blood in him whatsoever and there is no way in a million years he would ever go out to hurt anybody. I really mean that.[LNB]"Everyone else at this football club sends their condolences on the incident, we wish him well for a speedy recovery and as a fellow Welshman I am devastated.[LNB]"But Ryan has come off the pitch broken-hearted, met his mum straightaway and gone straight home.[LNB]"For me the game is insignificant, the incident has really spoiled it."[LNB]When told about Wenger's remarks, Pulis said: "He's can't comment on my players. He doesn't know what my players are made of or are about."[LNB]The game was level at 1-1 when the incident occurred after Nicklas Bendtner had cancelled out Danny Pugh's opener.[LNB]The Gunners showed some resolve to finish strongly and went ahead with a Cesc Fabregas penalty after Pugh handled.[LNB]Even though that officially occurred in the last minute, there were still seven minutes of injury for Arsenal to make the game safe through Thomas Vermaelen.[LNB]Wenger said: "I'm proud of our game because it was an unbelievable battle from the first minute. We needed to be tough and resilient to win."[LNB]On the title race, he added: "We were in it before the game. We mathematically could get closer to Chelsea today because they dropped points.[LNB]"It strengthens our belief and determination but I have said many times we will fight until the last game of the season."[LNB][LNB]

Source: Team_Talk