Instead of celebrating a win over Bolton, Arsenal fans instead find themselves wondering when is the kicking going to stop. We have often felt that teams are sent out to deliberately “stop Arsenal playing”.

Many people think that it is a legitimate tactic against teams that are technically better, and while it may work some of the time, it’s rather more of an embarrassment to English football. It certainly does nothing to improve the standard of defending when the default position is to stop the man instead of winning the ball.

The following is a former premier league footballer expressing his and his managers’ idea of the game. Take a listen…

This surmises why, instead of castigating Karl Henry when he repeatedly assaulted Joey Barton, the MOTD cast was openly enjoying Henry’s performance. Partly because it shows how they expect the game to be played and partly because the victim was Joey Barton.

If Henry had got the card(s) he deserved maybe he’d not be around to break Zamora’s leg. At the very least he’d think about how he approached tackling in the next game. Then again Cattermole of Sunderland proved that brandishing cards does not necessarily affect a players mindset.

It’s not just the players though. If savage is to be believed then culpability lies with the managers whose tactic against better teams is to instruct their charges to stop the other team in any way they can. What do we expect when you send out players with that mindset?

There will always be injuries in the game, but when players believe that it is acceptable to go in hard, trip people over if they past you, or jump with a leading elbow it increases the risk to fellow professionals, it’s unnecessary and it doesn’t help you win games.

The caller on that clip pointed out that Switzerland, though technically inferior to Spain, played a hard defensive game without resorting to underhand tactics and came out victors. I didn’t see Hercules resorting to cynical football when they beat Barcelona last weekend, nor did Cessena over Milan.

Sky would like us to think that the Premier League is the greatest league in the world, but I know many people outside of England who won’t watch the Premier League because it’s too dirty. These people would rather watch La Liga the Fußball-Bundesliga or Serie A.

Sending your team out to stop the opposition from playing is simply a pre-requisite to injuries, and until the FA, Premier League, Referees, and the media does something about it players and fans we will all suffer the consequences.