Arsenal (h) Sat 27th February - Never really at the races.

Beauty and the beast. Skill versus strength. Continental flair against dogged determination. Over the course of two seasons and five meetings between the two clubs, the matches between Arsenal and Stoke have come to epitomise the contrasting styles of football on offer in today's Premier League. Arsene Wenger has built up a young and hungry side that plays the beautiful game "the right way", and is a joy to watch to the neutral observer. On the other hand, Tony Pulis has built up a solid and determined squad that plays a version of the beautiful game "his way", which can barely be stomached by neutral observers....and for that matter a fair number of Stoke fans too.

I have never had very strong feelings either way towards the Gunners. I'm not old enough to remember the FA and League cup semi-final controversies from the 70's that have forever turned many older Stoke fans against the side. Just mentioning the words 'Arsenal' and 'semi-final' to my dad is enough to prompt Vietnam Vet style reactions as he winces and yells "you weren't there son, you don't know what it was like, you don't know what we went through".

I also only patchily remember the era of 'boring, boring Arsenal' under George Graham. For most of my adult life thus far, the Gunners have been under the tutelage of Mr Wenger and have played some breath-taking football that it's hard not to be impressed by. The likes of Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Ljungberg and more recently Van Persie and Fabregas, have provided some of the most impressive and memorable goals in Premier League history.

Set against the mass corporate juggernaut of Man United, the billionaire's play thing of Chelsea, and, well, Liverpool, they come across as the more sensible and likable of the big four. It has to be said however, that this accolade has been achieved despite the best efforts of their long serving manager Arsene Wenger. Few managers can match the Frenchmen in his ability to frustrate and annoy with his one sided view of the game.

How could he never seen Patrick Viera foul someone? Every week on Match of the Day when Patrick had emasculated yet another opposition midfielder i'd watch convinced that this was the time Arsene would have to admit his team was capable of foul play. Just once. I was sure he'd slip up once and admit it. Alas, it was not to be, the wily Frenchman was so persistent we all stopped caring and grudgingly accepted his unflinching stubbornness. You won that round Arsene.

Since Stoke's arrival in the big time, we have, perhaps inevitably, encountered the wrath of Mr Wenger on several occasions. After a bruising encounter at the Britannia last season, Wenger called the Stoke team 'cowards' due to their penchant for heavy tackling, and even went as far as to suggest we went out of our way to deliberately injure his players : (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article5081556.ece) Sound familiar?

Then, earlier on this season, in what was clearly a thinly veiled critique of our style of play, he was quoted as suggesting the long throw should be banned as it is against the idyllic view of footballing purity that he believes in. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1238500/Arsenal-boss-Arsene-Wenger-wants-scrap-throw-ins.html)

Then of course, there was his take on the unfortunate events that occurred during this Saturday's encounter at the Britannia.

Before I get too into this topic, I think it's only fair to mention that before the game, Wenger did actually offer Stoke a rare compliment of sorts. He conceded that we have progressed from last season and now fully capable of combining our usual direct game with passing and movement. (Why Mr. Wenger, stop, you flatter us too much. We'll be attempting the counter attack or the short corner next!)

And so to the cause of Mr Wenger and Arsenal's ire, THAT tackle by Ryan Shawcross on Aaron Ramsey.

My humble opinion is thus; it was a slightly mistimed tackle, that was not overly aggressive and certainly wasn't in any way malicious. The vast majority of the media and general football watching public seem agreed on this, with the only slight point of contention being whether it was a red card offence or not. It certainly wasn't an excessively aggressive tackle and it should be noted that Ryan's studs were down and he went in one footed.

It was slightly late, due to Ramsey nicking the ball off Ryan's toe at the last minute, but the ball was there for Ryan to go for, and he had every right to try and win it. The more I've seen the incident, the more undecided I become. It probably isn't a straight red offence, but I can understand why Ryan was sent off. The referee didn't feel he had a choice due to the horrific injury Ramsey suffered, and it was this injury that swayed him (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/8541466.stm).

While this would seem to be the pertinent debate, Arsene wasted no time in wading straight in after the game and describing the tackle as "unacceptable", adding that it was "ridiculous" that Shawcross would only be suspended for only three matches : (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/feb/27/arsene-wenger-ryan-shawcross). It was his opinion that once again Stoke had deliberately set out to injure his side and Ryan's crime was one so terrible that a lengthy ban was the necessary punishment.

In the heat of the moment, this could almost be understood. He was upset and angry that one of his hottest prospects was facing a lengthy lay off from such a dreadful injury. A man with the media savvy and wealth of experience that Arsene has however, should not really be making such wild and unfounded accusations. Giving him the benefit of the doubt however, lets say he was upset and speaking in an emotional state. Allowing the dust to settle, maybe he'd see he was perhaps a little over zealous and shouldn't have said what he did.

Alas, it hasn't proven the case. Arsene has stood by his guns (pardon the pun), and is maintaining his hard line stance. Now we all know how frustrating Wenger can be, but when it's against your club, it tends to rub you up the wrong way that little bit more.

It's worth noting however that even my Arsenal supporting housemate who normally gives Arsene a run for his money in the astonishingly biased viewpoint stakes, has agreed that the challenge was not malicious and merely mistimed. Anyone who knows my housemate will know how big a deal this is. I've seen him on a regular basis flatly deny clear Arsenal infractions and yet somehow see heinous crimes committed by the opposition that everyone else in the room, and of course the biased commentators, did not see. Even he agrees that Ryan did not set out to injure Aaron Ramsey Arsene. Even he.

Such is the stubborn nature of Mr Wenger however. He does not like Stoke's style of play, he does not like any physicality in the modern game, and everyone is out to hurt his starlets. This is what he believes and nobody is going to change that. He is an infuriating man who makes it harder and harder for me to enjoy the brilliant football his team can produce.

Providing we stay in this league for the foreseeable future, as I truly believe we will, then I can see games between our two clubs maintaining a bit of tension and bite for a few seasons yet

The game as a whole takes a backseat once such a horrific injury occurs. It really is a sad sight to see and I know all Stoke fans wish Aaron Ramsey a speedy recovery. This weekend there will have been much worse tackles committed that will have led to no such injury. Liam Ridgewell's for Birmingham on James McCarthy and Michael Ballack's on Carlos Tevez, were both arguably worse challenges, in that they were cynical and showed no obvious attempt to play the ball. Yet due to circumstance, the victim in those two incidents didn't suffer a horrific injury. It really was an unfortunate incident that nine times out of ten would not have had the outcome it did. Get well soon Aaron Ramsey.

To be honest, the game taking a backseat is probably for the best in this instance. Stoke were never really in it, and despite taking an early lead, were struggling to contain Arsenal from the off. Today Arsenal stood up to Stoke's aerial dominance and despite needing two late goals, never looked in danger of losing the game.

I still maintain that I'd rather the Gunners won the league than any of the other 'big 4'. I want to enjoy their flowing football and see them triumph over United or Chelski, but Christ on a bike if Arsene doesn't make it hard for me to do so at times.