An eventful weekend in Europe have seen some horrific tackles and other highly debated situations. As Graham Poll writes in his excellent column, "There are plenty of 'those sort of players' around and a few have been involved in bad injuries already this season. None were sent off and if they are left unchecked, they could cause further serious problems."
The tackles by Karl Henry and Nigel de Jong were both awful, but so unsurprising. Henry has, after changing his playing style the last couple of seasons, been involved in some awful tackles. His trademark of going straight through the opposition players are extremely dangerous, and had he hit Jordi Gomez different, he'd definately have broken the Spanish midfielder's leg.
Nigel de Jong has always had a reputation of being a hard man, but had the spotlights on his playing style first after breaking Stuart Holden's leg in march, and then after the kung-fu tackle on Xabi Alonso in the World Cup final. His tackle on Ben Arfa lead to a leg-break, but he got away with it somehow. The FA now needs to step in and ban him for several games, and in my opinion that number should be no less than five matches.
Annan the pincher
Last nights "league final" between Rosenborg and Vålerenga in Norway, sparked angered discussions after the match. Especially one incident was debated. After 25 minutes, former Sunderland striker Rade Prica went down (fairly easily) inside the box, and the referee, Terje Hauge, gave his fourth penalty of the week. While Hauge was controlling the penalty spot, Prica started pushing VIF's right back Freddy dos Santos. Vålerenga's CB Andre Muri then pushes Prica away. Hauge then comes over to calm down the situation, and then ghanesian Anthony Annan pinches Muri "up the arse". Muri, in is post-match interview, ironically said "I got a finger both here and there".
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| Annan pinching Muri |
Annan, who had a good world cup and has been rumoured out of Tippeligaen, has a reputation for being a naughty player, and last night he got away with it again, albeit with a yellow card because of pushing. Hauge, totally out of control, then proceeded to give a yellow card to Freddy dos Santos. Dos Santos got his second yellow ten minutes later, who led to Rosenborg taking control, and winning the match 3-1.
The post-match interview was the key entertainment of the night. Both coaches, Martin Andresen and the legendary Nils-Arne Eggen starts arguing about Annan's pinching, with the latter defending his own player. For Norwegian readers, the interview can be seen here. It is quite surprising that coaches insists to defend their own players after such situations. Mick Mccarthy said that he felt it was a clear red card on Henry, but also that "it was a bit theatrical" referring to Gomez' fall. Brian Kidd, replacing Mancini in the interview, claimed that de Jong "is not that kind of player", and denied accusations of there being any malice in the tackle.
Until managers and coaches understands that condoning such incidents and internally punish the players, for instance with no wage payment for a week, these tackles and unsportsmanlike incidents will only continue, and other players will get hurt. Mick Mccarthy have set a good example after saying he'll talk with Henry about his playing style, but others have to follow him.
The post-match interview was the key entertainment of the night. Both coaches, Martin Andresen and the legendary Nils-Arne Eggen starts arguing about Annan's pinching, with the latter defending his own player. For Norwegian readers, the interview can be seen here. It is quite surprising that coaches insists to defend their own players after such situations. Mick Mccarthy said that he felt it was a clear red card on Henry, but also that "it was a bit theatrical" referring to Gomez' fall. Brian Kidd, replacing Mancini in the interview, claimed that de Jong "is not that kind of player", and denied accusations of there being any malice in the tackle.
Until managers and coaches understands that condoning such incidents and internally punish the players, for instance with no wage payment for a week, these tackles and unsportsmanlike incidents will only continue, and other players will get hurt. Mick Mccarthy have set a good example after saying he'll talk with Henry about his playing style, but others have to follow him.
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