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Arsene Wenger’s blind spot has become legion in footballing circles. “Doing a Wenger” has become synonymous with pretending not to see something that implicates one of your players.

That’s all well and good to a degree - it’s the footballing equivalent of pleading the fifth - but there comes a point you’d have to assume that your audience are imbeciles if they’re going to buy it. And as Wenger’s audience are also the people who pour their money into the sport - and therefore his club - he’s insulting his customers. And that’s just not cool.

Wenger on Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo:

“The tackle was horrendous and unforgivable.”

He did retract the statement that contained that comment, but presumably he would still stand by that part of it. “On reflection, I feel that my comments about Martin Taylor were excessive”, he later said, but nothing along the lines of “the tackle wasn’t that bad after all”.

So after Abou Diaby’s red card against Bolton (video), which to my mind was right up there with Martin Taylor’s leg-breaker, we get

“I was not upset with the sending off but I felt it was more of a protective tackle. But he was too high so I don’t complain. Just before that I thought it was a foul on him.”

You’re probably familiar with the concept of parallel universes. The theory says that there are an infinite number of them, but for the sake of time and bandwidth, there’s only two of them that I want you to try and imagine.

In another universe, Eduardo is still skipping about on the football pitch and no-one has spent any more time thinking about Martin Taylor than they did last season, which is not very much. However, Bolton’s Gretar Steinsson is in hospital with a compound fracture of his shin, thanks to Abou Diaby’s lunge. It could easily have happened.

What would Wenger have said then?

“I was not upset with the sending off but I felt it was more of a protective tackle. But he was too high so I don’t complain. Just before that I thought it was a foul on him.”

Let’s dance on to another parallel universe. This one is even more uncomfortable for Mr Wenger. In this universe, there have been two broken legs in the Premier League this season - one a piece for Eduardo and Steinsson.

What would Wenger have said then?

“I was not upset with the sending off but I felt it was more of a protective tackle. But he was too high so I don’t complain. Just before that I thought it was a foul on him.”

I don’t think Wenger’s blind spot is his inability to notice things that happen on a football pitch - his job title will tell you that cannot be true. His blind spot is that he can’t tell when he’s sounding ridiculous and treating those that pay his wages like morons.