Manchester City’s convincing victory over Cardiff City in the FA Cup and its aftermath go a long way to showing us just where England’s interpretation of the beautiful game currently stands and, in my eyes, it is not that pleasing.

Pep Guardiola is not the first coach to call for more protection for the players. Arsene Wenger has been banging that particular drum for a long time now and with due cause bearing in the career changing incidents that have occurred to some of his players in the past. And he has been right all along. Why did nobody want to listen?

Much of what used to define the English game – both in deed and attitude – is encapsulated by Joe Bennett’s crude assault on Leroy Sane and it is more luck that judgement that sees Leroy Sane facing time on the sidelines rather than a potential career threatening injury.

It reminded me of the Peter Kay commercial for John Smith’s beer where following a display of freestyle skills and keepie-uppies from other players, the comedian’s reaction to receiving the ball is to lump it out of the ground with an accompanying cry of “‘Ave it!!”

It also robbed the neutral of witnessing what was potentially one of the goals of the season and effectively changed the course of the game as Manchester City, with the game effectively won, concentrated in the second half on keeping possession and getting involved as little as possible.

It also told us much about the quality of refereeing in this country. Lee Mason clearly saw what happened although his decision to issue just a yellow card begs the question as to just what type of physical assault he would deem worthy of a straight red.

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His decision to issue just a yellow scuppered any chances of the FA taking any retrospective action against Bennett because any decision taken by the referee confirms he has seen the incident and it is considered dealt with. What it also did was give Bennett license to carry out a further assault and leave a ‘Welcome to English Football’ message on the 18-year-old Spanish substitute, Brahim Diaz, an action which saw him get a second yellow and his marching orders.

The shameful reaction of the Cardiff crowd who stood to applaud Bennett as he marched off is one of the most depressing things I have ever seen in football. Is that why you paid money to watch a game? Anything goes? I don’t expect boos from his own fans, but a silent departure would have been just enough. The clapping had not an ounce of awareness of what it was being endorsed.

But that is not English football anymore. It is just a part of it. One that does not want to die but one that I think we could do without. What followed was not pleasing either.

Neil Warnock’s reaction to Guardiola’s request for greater protection for the players – and, incidentally, ALL players, not just his and not just foreign – would have met with the approval of the mindless who had shortly before paid homage to Bennett.

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“He’s in England, isn’t he?” (Wrong actually – he was in Wales, but never mind). He went on, “What do you expect? I suppose when you’re like that you want everything to be nice and pretty but you don’t get that in England. You get different challenges, don’t you?

He stopped short of inquiring whether or not this City side could do it on a Tuesday night on a frozen pitch in Stoke but the inference was there and the only thing you sensed was missing was Corporal Jones proclaiming from the ranks, “They don’t like it up ’em, Captain Mainwaring.”

It was yet another inaccurate pop at the unfounded notion held by many in this country that foreign imports are little more than cheating, diving, airy-fairy, arty-farty, ball-juggling, prima donna, powder puffs, who don’t like it when the going starts to get tough and fall over at the merest hint of a challenge.

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