I have said it many times before: the North London Derby is a game I love and hate in equal measure.
The excitement, the anticipation, the nervousness around the big fixture. Arsenal and Tottenham fans are brought up to hate the other - it's football at its tribal best.
But what we saw at the end of Sunday's clash between the two north London heavyweights was tribalism gone too far. There was very little love in what I saw on Sunday from a Tottenham perspective. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I hated almost every minute of it from when the whistle blew to start the game, to well after Craig Pawson ended proceedings. Spurs were awful in the first half and while they improved after the break - standard - what happened at the end of the game overshadowed everything.
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As the editor of a big football news site, covering the biggest clubs in London, I employ a good chunk of writers who support the enemy. For a number of years, it's fair to say I've had bragging rights over them. Not anymore.
Arsenal are the real deal and it is incredible to see just how far they have come under Mikel Arteta's tutelage. They are not faultless, no one is, and had Spurs taken their chances in the second half, things could have been very different. Although that would have been extremely harsh on a Gunners side who could and perhaps should have put my beloved Spurs to the sword in the first half.
I have also said on a number of occasions that I do not like the fact that I don't dislike enough of the Arsenal players. I should probably explain that. Being brought up to hate Arsenal, no matter what, you tend to dislike the players that don the red shirts - Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie, Wojciech Szczesny and the like have all ground my gears.
I quite like a number of the Gunners players in this era though. Bukayo Saka is an extremely likeable young man and an incredible player to boot. Ben White goes about his business with the minimum of fuss, Martin Odegaard lets his football speak for itself, while the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba are up-and-coming talents to enjoy and really have nothing against.
There's another one too - Aaron Ramsdale. And he is the crux of this piece.
Ramsdale is a fine keeper. The stories of being relegated twice in two years with different clubs are long forgotten. He has established himself as Arsenal's number one and will no doubt soon be England's number one too.
What I like about him is he plays the game with a smile on his face always. We are forever calling on footballers to show their more human side, to have a bit more personality about them. Ramsdale has that in spades.
Footballers get tonnes of abuse from the stands. Abuse they are expected to stand there and take without repercussion. Ramsdale gives it back. In the right way, I hasten to add.
He has been captured on numerous occasions enjoying life in front of home fans while at away matches with Arsenal, toying with the supporters, giving them stick himself and enjoying the banter. There is nothing wrong with it, why should he just accept it? He's having a bit of fun with it and it really is great to see.
On Sunday, he took his time over a long punt upfield in the 96th minute of the North London Derby, that Arsenal were winning 2-0. What's the problem? Then when the final whistle blew, he celebrated, stuck his tongue out to the Spurs supporters and clutched the Arsenal badge, kissing it. What's the problem?
Richarlison did not like it, fair enough, in the heat of the moment, that's fine, he tried to stop Ramsdale, but the Arsenal keeper simply responded to the vocal abuse he undoubtedly would have suffered throughout the clash in N17.
What happened thereafter, with a fan running down the South stand and jumping onto the advertising hoardings and kicking Ramsdale in the back as he went to pick up his water bottle and towel, was simply unacceptable.
Footballers have to deal with vocal abuse, they should never, ever have to deal with physical abuse. It is a game, a highly strung game, yes, but it's a game, a game we are extremely fortunate in this country to see some of the best in the world.
Tottenham condemned the behaviour and the fan will likely be banned from any more games at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and potentially beyond. The Premier League and FA followed suit.
We want players to be more personable, yet berate them when they show that side of themselves. Shout at him all you want, if you don't like it, but don't resort to violence. There is no need for it anywhere in this world, but particularly not in sport.
Some fans will disagree with me. they'll hate Ramsdale's antics. That's fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Everyone, however, is not entitled to violence.
So this is my apology, from my Spurs-supporting family, to Aaron Ramsdale. Don't change. Keep doing what you're doing and we'll dish out some verbals back at you next season when we get one over on you again, I hope.
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