Now, I'm well aware of the main difference between Spain and Arsenal - that being major trophies in recent years - but look at the way they spoke about Holland last night. To a man, led by Count Hansen, they slammed the Dutch for their approach to the game. Brutal. Violent. Sickening. Anti-football. Words I heard last night. And when referring to van Bommel and de Jong they're right. The former got away with a horrible potential leg-breaker on Iniesta which should have been a red card and de Jong's flying karate kick into the chest of Xabi Alonso was more assault than tackle. He should have been off as well.

So Hansen and his pals roundly condemn challenges like that. Which is the right thing to do for the game of football. Yet why is it that there's a tolerance of that kind of football when they analyse Arsenal games? We hear them say stuff like 'If you let Arsenal play they'll kill you with their passing. You have to get stuck in. Let them know you're there. It's a physical game. It's the only way you can play them', whenever we're facing a Bolton or Blackburn or a Stoke.

Where's their interest in protecting the aesthetics of the game then? They are, to a man, the greatest pack of hypocrites in football. If it's not ok to kick Spain then it's not ok to kick Arsenal ... or anyone else. They'll call van Bommel a thug, which he is, but it's easy to do that when it's not an Englishman or fellow Brit doing the clogging (no pun intended) or leg snapping.