Esteemed French football correspondent Philippe Auclair has slammed the state of punditry in the English game as the fallout surrounding Ryan Shawcross’ tackle on Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey continues apace.
The young Arsenal midfielder looks likely to be sidelined for upwards of nine months following his double leg break but despite the horrific injury, attention has shifted focus towards intense scrutiny of Arsene Wenger’s post-match comments and a defence of Stoke’s Shawcross.
Numerous ex-professionals including the likes of Stan Collymore, Lou Macari and Alan Hansen have gone on the record with their view on events at the Britannia Stadium last Saturday with controversial and consciously provocative outpourings riling supporters of both the Gunners and Potters.
Speaking to respected Arsenal blog www.arseblog.com, France Football contributor Auclair made clear that the present state of affairs in the English media needed urgent attention.,
“I could understand, at a pinch that people reacted after what Wenger said following Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo when he said ‘he should never play football again.’ It was said in the heat of the moment and he apologised later.
“However I was struck not only by how measured he was [after the Stoke game] but also so how shaken and ashen faced he was. He couldn’t bring himself to talk about the game, despite the fantastic result.
“I think he showed remarkable composure after the match, he didn’t criticise Shawcross. He actually stressed that Stoke had until then been playing hard physical football, but fairly.
Reflecting on the subsequent scorn poured on the French tactician’s post-match analysis, Auclair continued:
“I couldn’t believe the way people reacted to that. What did people expect him to say ‘oh it was just bad luck, good luck to the boy he didn’t mean it?’ is that what they were expecting?
“I just could not understand the backlash against Wenger and why In a matter of hours the focused was turned from one victim to a supposed victim. Very little was made of how Aaron Ramsey’s career could have been derailed at the very start and that instead we were asked to feel for the perpetrator of the tackle.
“The media reaction has been astounding, astonishing, but very interesting at the same time.
“The people who have asked Wenger to apologise highlighted two things for me. First this is what you get when your country’s reporting and punditry is left to former players. In Britain almost every analyst is a former player - it’s as though ‘if you were a horse you could be a jockey.’
Ruminating on the continental attitude to detailed post-match investigation and informed debate, Auclair was keen to point out where British media personalities differentiated from their peers across the Channel.
“In France the level of analysis is slightly better. It is certainly much better in Italy if you listen to the commentaries on channels like RAI. The level is very high because it’s not just former players but journalists, people who write about the game and understand it deeply.
“What you have instead is a career in the media which is just an easy way for old players to earn a crust. They have totally sewn up the punditry but also the presentation which is the case for the likes of Stan Collymore and even Gary Lineker.
“In another country the role would be given to somebody who is outside of the game and does not have a vested interest like so many people have. That avoids bias because it is very obvious that there is a bias towards certain clubs in England, particularly towards Manchester United and Liverpool because of the presence of so many of their ex-players in the media.
“It is about time that people who know what they are talking about are brought back, people who can articulate themselves and are not giving the opinion of a man at a bar.
“If you see the difference in the tone taken by a number of the best writers in England, the difference is marked. Two of the best Patrick Barclay and Martin Samuel were spot on in what they said and wrote, unfortunately their opinion and analysis has been totally silenced by the shrillness of the chorus of ex-players who understand little of the modern game.
“Many of them retired a long time ago, I include in that people like Alan Hansen; he never played the game at the pace of the modern game. You have a deficit of knowledge and understanding which is mixed with prejudice and dare I say it xenophobia, you have a mixture which is quite poisonous.
“I watched a number of games in the past few days and the noise coming from the press box is very different to what is on the airwaves. We have been absolutely deafened by a chorus of indignation against this foreigner who has dared to say that the English game is too physical.”