Wenger fear for youngsters

Eduardo surgeon expects Ramsey to make a full recovery

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 1st March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Wenger fear for youngsters

Ramsey: Horror injury

You never know what kind of consequences this will have on his physical side of the game and his psychological side of the game. It's just scandalous.

Arsene Wenger on Aaron Ramsey
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger hopes the horrific injury suffered by Aaron Ramsey will not weigh on the mind of his players.

Ramsey suffered a badly broken leg against Stoke on Saturday, following a full-blooded challenge from Ryan Shawcross.

At just 19 years old his career now hangs in the balance, although medical experts are confident he will make a full recovery.

The injury has, however, left Wenger fuming, with the Gunners chief of the opinion that his young side are singled out for rough treatment.

Abou Diaby and Eduardo have both suffered as a result of crunching challenges in the past and Wenger feels more needs to be done to help protect his technically-gifted stars.

"In midfield against Stoke we had Ramsey, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Eboue, with an average age of 21," said the Frenchman.

"Up front we have Nicklas Bendtner, who is 20. What these guys do, at that age, is absolutely remarkable, to handle the game like they did.

"But of course, if you destroy them, they might not be football players. What is most terrible for me is Ramsey starts his career with a double operation.

"You never know what kind of consequences this will have on his physical side of the game and his psychological side of the game. It's just scandalous."

Intensive rehab

Meanwhile, the surgeon who helped Eduardo recover from a similar injury two years ago is confident Ramsey will be back to full health inside nine months.

"I expect it is déjà vu for Arsenal's staff and will bring back memories for them. If you look at the pictures it is similar to where Eduardo was holding his leg," Khalid Baloch, the consultant trauma surgeon at Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham, told the Daily Mirror.

"The Arsenal physios and doctors have seen this before though and it will be fresh in their minds.

"I expect eventually Ramsey will have the same type of intensive rehab and play again. Arsenal's physios did a great job with Eduardo.

He added: "There were some similarities with Eduardo and a leg break is usually six to nine months out.

"The mechanism of the injury is obviously similar with two players getting involved in a tackle and one player's foot hits the other's leg.

"Whenever any break has a significant bend in it, as his did, there is a possibility for a compound fracture but it is hard to tell if that happened to Ramsey as well."

Comments (30)

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Bryan James (Arsenal fan) says...

Funny how Ricardo Fuller comes out and says "We will kick Arsenal" and then this is the result and somehow Wenger is a ''disgrace''? Has anyone for one second considered that Wenger has seen 2 of his players have their legs snapped and foot hanging off their leg leaving otherplayers in tears.. Does he not have the right to be emotional about that after the game? Oh poor Shawcross, broke Jeffers ankle and he ''wasn't that kind of player'' broke Ramseys Leg and ''not that kind of player''. Then he gets picked for england.. Any coincidence we haven't won a major honour as a country in 44 years? make a tackle like that in the champions league or world cup and see what happens to you. Stoke have SAID we will kick arsenal, why is everyone surprised when this happens?

Posted 14:47 1st March 2010

Gary Kidd (Arsenal fan) says...

If anyone thinks that Shawcross was making a fair tackle, then they need their eyes tested. He went in with his foot nearly 10 inches off the ground. That is a sign he was trying to commit a foul. Any player in football knows that when you tackle with your foot off the ground, it can cause serious damage. That is why he was crying after the tackle because he knew exactly what he was doing and realised after event. The punishment should fit the crime and Shawcross should be banned for six months. Maybe others will think twice about making tackles like that in future.

Posted 14:23 1st March 2010

Jan M (Chelsea fan) says...

I can see the tackle was reckless rather than a deliberate attempt to hurt Ramsay however, you have to really question the ability and judgment of player who makes two bone-breaking tackles in three years. We've all played football and been in a 50-50 situation and, while committing to get in there, taken a reasonable guess as to whether or not we actually will get the ball. Shawcross has to have known Ramsey's quicker than him, so to go in with that force was plain stupid. And this man deserves an England call up?! what a fantastic representative for English football. Shawcross has no place in the Premier League

Posted 14:22 1st March 2010

Rhys . (Liverpool fan) says...

This is becoming ridiculous... yes teams think that arsenal players cant handle the tougher challenges but for heavens sake do you really need to go in sooo hard to break the players leg... it does not take a 'normal' challenge to do so much damage... just look at how many serious injuries players like viera, roy keane, mascherano, scholes have done (when not intentional as is the case with keane). its pathetics how these players get away so lightly.. shawcross will be back in 3 weeks whereas ramsey (like eduardo) may never be the player he was/could have been!!

Posted 14:21 1st March 2010

Karl Tarrat (Manchester United fan) says...

The injury sustained by Aaron Ramsey is without doubt a horrific one, but this is not the first time and it won't be the last time a player will suffer a broken leg on the football pitch. As for Arsene Wenger calling it 'scandalous' and calling for better protection for his players is an outrage in itself, football is still a contact sport and when you have two players commited to a tackle you will at some point have a collision that results in bad injury, no player in the world can time their tackles perfectly every time, while there is no place in the game for deliberate leg breaking tackles we have to keep things in perspective, Ryan Shawcross was distraught and Wengers comments are only going to make him feel worse. I hope Aaron Ramsey recovers fully and quickly and Ryan Shawcross can move forward too.

Posted 14:15 1st March 2010

Henry Smythe (Reading fan) says...

I'm sick of hearing that Ryan Shawcross "isn't that type of player". The thing is, he IS that type of player. Ramsey is the second player whose leg he has broken (the first was Francis Jeffers). If you have a look at his foul on Adebayor a while ago (search online) you'll be amazed that Adebayor was only out for 3 weeks - it was clearly aimed to hurt. The likes of Pulis and Allardyce can take a large chunk of the responsibility; if teams were instructed to actually play football then these incidents wouldn't ruin our game. Perhaps if skill were taught in place of thuggery then watching England wouldn't be so tiresome.

Posted 14:14 1st March 2010

Martin Walsh (Arsenal fan) says...

I think we can all agree Shawcross did not mean to hurt Ramsey, but everybody seems to forget the word reckless when tackles such as these are discussed. Patrick Barclay on Sky Sports used the word wild to describe the tackle,which is my view. I did not think it was a 50/50 ball,more 60/40 in Ramsey's favour.

Posted 14:14 1st March 2010

Liam Sizer (Millwall fan) says...

I'm glad to see that so many football fans recognise that Shawcross tackled Ramsey with the intention of getting the ball and nothing more. Arsene Wenger's mouth gets into overdrive whilst his brain is in neutral all too often. Whenever it is an Arsenal player who commits a nasty tackle Wenger always says "I didn't see it". Whilst feeling very sorry for Aaron Ramsey I have to say that there was no way Ryan Shawcross should have been sent off. This was a 50/50 ball that both players went for wholeheartedly. If you watch the clip carefully you can see that Shawcross was slightly impeded as he went for the ball and this caused him to be slightly, very slightly, late.The tackle wasn't two-footed with studs up, it wasn't unlike many tackles seen in almost every game played each week. Peter Walton should think hard about his decision to send Shawcross off. By doing so he is indicating that he thinks it was deliberately reckless. To say that originally he wasn't going to send off the player but when he saw how serious the injury was he had to send him off is ludicrous. Referees are conned right, left and centre by diving and players feigning injury so I'm not in the least surprised by the basis for Walton's decision. Aaron Ramsey will, I hope, make a full recovery. Ryan Shawcross will take some time to recover emotionally from what happened. I hope that Wenger will have the humility to apologise to him once he has watched the clip more closely, but I won't hold my breath.

Posted 14:12 1st March 2010

Andrew Woodhouse (Leeds United fan) says...

Having not seen a proper angle of the incident, it seems to me that yet again, the red card has come out becauser of the injury and not the tackle itself. I bet if Ramsey didn't get injured then there might not even have been a booking for Shawcross. It wasn't a horrible tackle by any means, as someone said above, Ryan's studs weren't showing at all. Wenger needs to actually watch the incident before making any comments, because even though emotions are running high, this is again bordering on slander against the Stoke player. On a weekend when we also had Rafa Benitez mocking another team's style of play (when his team team are extremely dull to watch themselves), football and the people in it need to take a good look at themselves and realise how petty they are becoming. By the way I wish Aaron Ramsey a speedy recovery.

Posted 14:05 1st March 2010

Matthew Beeson (Arsenal fan) says...

Firstly my best wishes to an absolutely fantastic talent in Aaron Ramsey. We wish you a very speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming you back into the team as soon as possible. As for Ryan Shawcross, I completely agree, he had abolutely no intention of hurting Aaron and he was clearly distraught. However, there is absolutely no place in football for tackles such that he demonstrated on Saturday and the punishment for such tackles should be much firmer. Aaron can't kick a ball for 9 months and Ryan Shawcross gets called up to the national side for the first time! One final point, Ryan Sahwcross is a classic example of an English player lacking technical ability - as demonstrated by his ridiculous and outrageous tackle. The FA need to look at this. Arsene has developed a style of play far greater than anything else in Europe I know, but his modle needs to be adopted more often by coaches across the country if we are to be successful as a nation. Who wants kickers and trowers in your team like Stoke? No-one except those crazy Stoke fans.

Posted 14:00 1st March 2010

John Odonnell (Manchester United fan) says...

Tony Adams, Steve Bould, Martin Keown, Partick Vieria, Emmanuel Petit, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon, Glberto Silva are some of the players that were the backbone of past Arsenal sides which won trophies, they played the game hard but fair. So I am sick of hearing Wenger's double standards over the years. Perhaps if he had this type of player in their side they might win something!

Posted 13:56 1st March 2010

James Gatz (West Ham United fan) says...

Considering that a broken leg is extremely uncommon in football and for one team to have suffered the last three incidents of a broken leg as a result of a bad tackle, surely tells you that something is wrong and that Wenger has a point. As mush as Wenger moans, you have to agree that he has point, theres no doubt Arsenal get the physical treatment, and sometimes when you go into a game with that mentality and that game plan, you can go over the top and seriously hurt another professional footballer. No one is saying the game shouldn't be physical but when a major part of your game plan is to unsettle a team with hard tackles this sort of thing happens and a promising young player faces a long stretch on the sides lines and an uphill battle to get back to the level he was.

Posted 13:40 1st March 2010

Mike Golding (Arsenal fan) says...

I dont believe the intent was to hurt Ramsay but drink drivers dont intend to have accidents but they are statistically more likely to, so if you are sent out to be very aggrssive against another team the likelyhood of these sorts of accidents are bound to be greater which is why they happen to teams like arsenal who are considered "Southern Softies"

Posted 13:38 1st March 2010

Steve Grace (Arsenal fan) says...

A lot of people are slating Wenger for what he has said, but i don't see why. Wenger speaks of the physical game against Arsenal, which really seems to be the way to beat us at the moment. So by all means be physical, but within reason, theres physical, and wreckless. Yes shawcross was going for the ball, but you have to read the play, shawcross dived in (for the ball) didnt read the play and provided one hell of a horror moment! If you want to play the physical game, you need to have complete control and awareness. As Fabregas said, there is a limit, and as Wenger said, its not coinsidence. It amazes me that people have all the respect in the world for stoke because Shawcross is a good guy and never meant to hurt ramsey, but all jump on the band wagon and slate Wenger for being frustrated at having the most promising young prospect in the team mamed by a lapse in concentration by yet another player playing the physical game against arsenal.

Posted 13:29 1st March 2010

Bob Ellis says...

Here we go again - our old friend Mr Wenger is at it again, shooting from the mouth with out engageing even first gear. Having seen pictures in the pressof the incident, it might be suggested that the poor lads ankle had folded under before the impact which made the injury so much worse. It was clear from Sawcross attitude that he had no intention of creating the sad situation which he found himself in, how often has a player walked off the field in tears nowing what had happend. So when Mr Wenger views the pictures and realises he has made a mistake perhaps he might apologise for the disgusting way he whinged on Saturday night. Then again - dont hold your breath.

Posted 13:29 1st March 2010

Kieran Bourne (Manchester United fan) says...

It's a shame to see a referee send a player off in this situation. Ramsey's snapped leg made the decision very easy for the referee; had he not have broken his leg i think Shawcross would have recieved a yellow. Just because Ramsey broke his leg doesn't mean Shawcross had to go. It was an honest challenge disciplined by a dishonest referee.

Posted 13:28 1st March 2010

Ryan James (Liverpool fan) says...

You can understand the comments with the emotion of the incident and seeing it happen several times in recent history, but I don't think the tackle was made with the intent to hurt Ramsey, yes it was hard and yes it was late, but the reaction from Shawcross was one of disbelief and complete and utter regret and remorse. Leg breaks happen, Liverpool ended up with 2 broken legs in one game, while the tackle on Carra from Lucas Neal was disgusting the terrible injury Cisse suffered was not a bad challenge, just a tangle of legs. I don't believe teams go out attempting to injure Arsenal players or any other proffesional. Teams cannot compete with Arsenal so of course they will get roughed up a bit, but the last thing any players from either side want to see is a fellow pro leaving in an amulance! Arsene is trying to protect his players, maybe trying to influence the ref in future games, but if he is suggesting intent and malice in this instance, he is completely wrong.

Posted 13:24 1st March 2010

Stuart Truscott (Manchester United fan) says...

For me Wenger has got it wrong again. I am surprised he saw the tackle as he normally misses any wrong doing by his players. " I couldn't see it from where I was" blah blah. Having played football for a number of years it is clear to me that young Shawcross had every intention of winning the ball. It's was not two footed of a high tackle. Ramsey was just that bit quicker and beat Shawcross to the ball. You could see Shawcross was distraught. I just hope that these two great young players bounce back and fulfil their potential

Posted 13:23 1st March 2010

Toby Wane (Arsenal fan) says...

I think Paul Corrigan's comments are remarkably uneducated and a little bit stupid. Were you to be in Wenger's shoes, your reaction would mirror his. In any case, All the best to Ramsey.

Posted 13:16 1st March 2010

Sufian Babri (Arsenal fan) says...

Rightly said, Mr. Wenger. It can leave bad effects on a player's mind but I'm very hopeful that Ramsey will be an Arsenal great. Even if the challenge was 50-50, Shawcross made a very dumb decision to try it that way. I doubt he has learned tackling from Roy Keane; maybe that is why SAF was trying to sign him. SHAME ON YOU SHAWCROSS!!!

Posted 13:13 1st March 2010
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