Despite being busy with a new baby, Sachin was moved enough by what happened to Eduardo to take a few moments to share some thoughts…
Maybe everything that should been said has been said already. All the officials, players and fans are expected to carry on. They are saying that what happened to Eduardo is part of the game, accidents happen, players mistime tackles. Nothing to see here. Move on.
So 24 hours after the incident why does it still feel sickening? Why does it feel that something sinister happened but everyone wants to get on with it? Why does it seem so wrong? Oh, ‘they’ will say I am an Arsenal fan and this is what I do — I complain when other teams touch our players yet ignore the times that Arsenal players go in with some bad tackles of their own. But the difference I want to point is that most of the Arsenal players under Wenger are technically competent and will not resort to making silly tackles as part of their everyday game. Yes, everyone knows the exceptions and even most Arsenal fans do not appreciate the un-skillful players in their own team. But it does not matter what I say. It happened to an Arsenal player. That is that. Not an English player. And a player that might have aided in England being out of Euro 2008. So it is understandable that everyone wants to move on. But I can’t yet.
When I first heard about the tackle, I immediately thought of words mentioned in a book that I finished reading a few days ago. The Italian Job is an insightful book by Gianluca Vialli which examines the differences in Italian and English footballing cultures and the different management styles that exist (the book includes some worthy interviews with Wenger). I thought of the sections about how the fans view the players behavior differently in England vs Italy. Vialli mentions how in England fans applaud a player attempting to run after a lost ball (meaning lost cause) and consider that attribute as part of a player’s commitment. The player is giving it his all, he cares for the game. Whereas, in Italy fans might consider that player as wasting his energy. Those words stayed with me and I thought of how some players in England might play with a false sense of commitment.
I can imagine the following words in the Birmingham dressing room before the game. Alex McLeish probably told his players to “give it their all”, to “get stuck in”, etc. Now, each player will interpret those instructions as per their ability. I don’t know much about Martin Taylor but I know he is not a player in the mould of Paolo Maldini, a player who can win the ball by not making sinister tackles. Maldini does not need to because his understanding of the game is genius. Whereas from the tackle that Taylor made in that area of the field and just two minutes into a game, I can easily infer he falls under an inept mould of a player. I looked at the smirk on his face after the tackle and that indicated to me that he had no consequences for his actions. His first thoughts were “that will teach ya” or “you are not getting past me” or he even thought that he had just shown the commitment his manager talked about, that sense of “getting stuck-in”, not backing away from a tackle.
Easier to destruct than to create
Unfortunately, the league is full of players like Taylor. Players who sense of tackling is off, players who are not technically competent. So who gets punished? The player or the system that believes it is manly to take an opponent down, a system that encourages players that there is no shame in being physical to stop an opponent?
Question: How do you stop a skilful player?
In 1966, Portugal and Hungry answered this question by kicking the hell out of Pele. The players did not hide their vicious fouls and openly went after the Brazilian superstar.
Well, for the last few years plenty of teams have also answered this question by going after Arsenal in a physical manner (Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn come to mind). What’s worse is that nothing is seen wrong in that. The excessive fouls are just put down to “physical part of the game”. Yup, the physical part of the game that has always existed, exists and will always exist. Players have to be men enough to take the kicks, get up and carry on. And if a player complains about getting kicked too much? Well he is not a man! He is considered weak. A perception that existed in the English game long before the 1990’s was that foreign players were considered too weak to withstand the physical part of the game. Vialli makes a reference to this as well in his book. Ofcourse, the reverse is also true when quite a few English players could not make it in the Italian league because they did not possess the technical skills required to avoid defenders who would breathe on an attacker’s neck constantly. But those narrow views have changed slightly in the last decade when an influx of foreigners came into the English league and the overall style of play has changed to some extent. Yet one can still find commentators refer to some players as having a “silky touch” yet not being physical enough. Which is the truth but does it matter? In the English league it does.
Where are all the high Quality opponents?
In the early 1990’s, Silvio Berlusconi first talked about having an European League where teams such as Milan could play Real Madrid, Barcelona, etc week in week out. His ideas were about a break-away league, where Milan would not bother playing average league teams. The current Champions league is a compromise of his original ideas. In an ideal footballing world, one would love to see Arsenal play teams such as Madrid, Lyon, Barcelona every week. Teams with 11 players who are all technically competent, where the focus of the game is more on winning skillfully as opposed to taking the opponent down by whatever means. But that is only a dream. With the exception of a few teams, almost all the top European leagues feature teams who can’t put together a few passes in succession. Top teams such as Arsenal, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, etc have to play league teams week in, week out where they have to win ugly, where the kicks come flying in, where the tackles are mistimed.
One can only truly appreciate beauty amid ugliness, one can only appreciate joy amid sadness. So maybe one can only understand beautiful football by watching the ugly side of the game. The Premier League wants to play games abroad but do they understand that a majority of people around the world only support a few teams? Arsenal are one of the most appreciated sides around the World because of their current playing style not because they possessed a player who was married to a pop star. In fact, had Wenger not arrived and changed the way Arsenal played, the overall exportability of the league would not be as high as it is now. Shouldn’t there be an emphasis to raise the overall technically quality of the league and encourage better football as opposed to “getting stuck-in” brand of grinding results out? Not really, unless fans start staying away but that ain’t happening.
What now?:
Like others, I also thought of Robert Pires’ injury in 2002. In the F.A Cup replay, he jumped to avoid a tackle and hurt himself on his landing. When I had first seen the incident, I wondered what is he had stayed on his feet? Would the impact of the tackle be worse than his injury? How would Arsenal cope with his loss? Thankfully, Arsenal bravely went onto do a double in his absence and the players bowed down to him during the trophy presentation at Highbury. Now, I do wish that Arsenal go onto win the league and the Champions League trophy this season. To quote Wenger from that double winning season, every game should be like a “Cup final”. Arsenal need to do this to extract some justice from yesterday’s incidents. Anything less will feel hollow.
Final thought….
Football’s Secret Society:
There is a secret footballing society that exists in England. The members trace their lineage back to the old days when the game first caught on in England. Currently, the members meet once a month just on the skirts of Stonehenge when the sun goes down. Some of the current Premier League managers sit on the member’s board. Most of the conversations revolve about the current nature of the game and how the game has gone ’soft’. The members long for the old days of the game when players never shied away from a tackle, when players were willing to shed blood for their team. The meetings always end when all the members quietly look at Argentina’s goal against Serbia from the 2006 World Cup where Argentina strung together 24 passes to put the ball into the net. The members are always horrified to look at this goal and vow that their English Premier League will never become like this. Never will one team manage more than a few passes before a player gets taken out. They want to preserve a strong league where players can take it like a man.
The only thorn in this member’s sight is Arsenal, the only team that defies this society’s beliefs. Eduardo was a victim of this society’s puppet pulls on Feb 23. Hleb and Cesc are constantly on the agenda as well. But the more Arsenal win in the face of such ugliness, the more the society’s beliefs will be challenged, until one day this society will be crushed. I can only hope!
36 Responses to “A kick too many”
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February 25th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
i think u brought up an excllent pt there sachin - it’s a massive footballing gap now in the league. And particuarly with all those English Vs Foreigners talks, that how the foreign players been taking away the English players’ opportunity. let’s face it, the more those football ppl talk about that, i cannot possibly see how it would not cause any ill feeling among those two set of players.
think of that, what “position” has England been strongest, and generated more “talent” in the modern game? CENTRAL HALFS that is. They sure hell don’t lack of central halfs. cos u can be crap with the ball on ur feet, you could still be a top central half, as long as u stop letting the opponet having the ball on their feet as well.
the term “no nonsense” been using so frequently to describe an English player. Why? cos they really don’t know any “nonsense”. u gotta be skillful enough to even try some “nonsense” at the first place.
the majority of English players in the top flight today spent most of the time chasing the shadow against the top tier foreign players. the likes of Ronaldo, or Henry at the past been toying them around for years. on the back of their mind, i think it would be only nature that they would want to get one back over those johnny foreigners with every chance they got.
i am not suggesting this was the case with Martin Taylor on Eduardo. I just want to bring up a new angle for us to think about.
someone said there is politic in football. and it might be true. Just imagine, had Rooney the one who was at the receving end of such a tackle, would the media still be saying “that’s life, get on with it”?
February 25th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Brilliant Sachin.
Thank you for your eloquent post!
As a visual artist and someone who deals with pain, suffering, catharsis and joy in my work, I was intrigued by your insightful comments
“One can only truly appreciate beauty amid ugliness, one can only appreciate joy amid sadness. So maybe one can only understand beautiful football by watching the ugly side of the game.” Sachin
While I agree that juxtaposition helps one to see thesis versus antithesis, beauty, and ugliness, I think that some of these characteristics are simply understood by common sense.
For example, you don’t need to crawl into a sewer to know that it stinks. If a soul were to only have ever seen beautiful football then suddenly be shown the ugly side, I think they would wonder what the hell kind of aberration they were suddenly watching. Like having the turntable suddenly, power on and off while listening to a record.
No one on earth has only seen the beautiful side we’ve all seen the ugly side and if you’ve seen it once you know you don’t want to see it again.
Anyway we are stuck with the same problem that Hegel had with the French Revolution, did it bring liberty or the guillotine. We’re never going to have only the beautiful because like sin it will always raise its ugly head like it did on Saturday. All we can do is hope that Britain learns to become more competent in it’s application and education towards the beautiful game. Shrugging off the Taylor tackle and turning a blind eye to the issue is not doing that.
Also to hell with that secret society, because I’m sure that Sir Purple Nose is the Grand Poo Baa and he get’s to paddle all the lower members into submission. Just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean he’s not out to get us. Just last week he was complaining about Arsenal not getting enough fouls and suddenly on Saturday few calls went in Arsenals favour and most went against us.
February 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
this is the best post i have read so far on this site or on any other.infused with such passion and knowledge to back it up it is a perfect article to draw a line under the eduardo injury.the comparisons to the italian game are important to relativise the football philosophies behind two very different games.thanks for the post.
im currently trying to convince my own team-mates on our football forum of the seriousness of thse reckless tackles(one has deemed the challenge to be a mistake and merely a yellow card;another has argued that it was eduardo’s leg position and pace…crazy stuff) and i will post this in order to illuminate the seriousness of this matter.the same,if not worse,philosophy of traditionalist British football inflicts Irish football today.we play in leagues where physical caution is abandonded and our team,adjudged to be soft because of our youth(average age 21) and size(most of our opposition are fat and cumbersome), fell the best method to beat us is to kick us off the park.the comparisons are glaring.i have seen all kinds of injuries and the fact it has not been publicised until now is indicative of the thuggish press in both countries.it is a shame that such attitudes are reflected in such a small but influential(the genesis of the ‘beautiful game’) part of the football world.
an article like this consoles me that such sentiments do exist out there..thanks for the relief Sach
February 25th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I agree with most of what you said, but I can’t tell if you are in favor of a European Super League or not. I think your paragraph that starts out with Berlusconi’s orignial idea shows a complete disregard for the history and traditions of the game. You make it sound as if the top teams in each league are good and everyone else is complete garbage. This is not the case at all. All of the teams in the EPL are among the best in the world, even those in the relegation zone. The fact is, teams like Arsenal, Man U, etc. are the best teams in a league filled with quality sides. Same goes for the other top teams in top European leagues.
You say top teams “have to” play games every week against lower opposition, as if this is a burden which is a distraction from the real prize of the Champions League, even though that only comprises 13 games for a team that makes it all the way to the final. Yet for the vast majority of football fans, league football is the essence of being a supporter. I’m talking about local supporters of clubs who attend matches on a regular basis, not the legions of fans who watch only the top teams in each league only when the play other top teams.
This “global market,” the one waiting to be exploited even more by the EPL and UEFA, is what helps to make football the massive money-making machine that it is today, but it is not essential to the game’s survival. What is essential is the devotion to fans of their local clubs, who actuall pay money each week to fill up the stadium and watch as their club is helplessly destroyed week in week out by aclub whose 3rd most expensive player makes more money than the fans’ own clubs’ starting 11 combined. And most of these fans would completely agree with your assessment of league football.
That said, I pretty much agree with the rest of you post concerning the true motives behind this tackle, and the symbolism it has for all the age-old problems of the English game, which are compunded by people like Sir Alex and those mindless media pundits.
February 25th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Shocking !! The kinds of comments being bandied around by some of the ‘pundits’ have been unbelievable. Wenger and Gallas are being painted as villains fort heir REACTIONS after losing a player and being on the receiving end of 2 very bad refreeing decisions ( can u imagine any referee having the guts to do this to Old red nosed Demento ) and the whole media establishment are acting as if this Taylor guy is an angel.
A couple of Birmingham players have come out and ridiculed Wenger for his comments and said that Taylor deserves as much sympathy as Eduardo.. Excuse me !! Are they out of their @#@#@# minds… McLeish says ” its been blown out of proportion” … I’d like to know exactly what has to happen for Mr. Mcleishs to consider it appropriate… somebody dying or being maimed for life… it is frankly ridiculous.. that guy needs professional help… and Im sorry at this time im finding it terribly hard to work up any sympathy for him or his players…
February 25th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Andez you mention a valid point that is often not talked about even though it is obvious. I also do wonder if there were more skilful English players would the national team change to accomodate them or leave them on the fringes? I always wondered why a player like Steve McManaman was on the outside always with the national team. From what I remember he was a good dribbler but was played out of position and quickly dismissed. But did he not fit in the mould with the rest of the team’s style?
SEH/G. Thanks again. It is a strange thing that when we see something beautiful, we struggle to see appreciate the old ways better. I used to love watching Arsenal under George Graham but now I cannot enjoy watching those games anymore. As for the secret society, yes that is exactly who I had in mind as the head of the society. For the setup of how these people meet, I would suggest watching the movie Hot Fuzz and the ending when everything is revealed. I had those images in mind when I wrote this.
Thanks jizzyk for the compliment and also for mentioning something about the state of the game on your end. I have to admit my ideas were reinforced by the book The Italian Job which I highly suggest. I often think of similar comparisons with Canadian ice hockey compared to European ice hockey. Here in Canada at the youth level, kids aged 8-10 to are encouraged to cross-check and work on their physical game as opposed to improve their skating and puck handling skills. Whereas in Europe, kids at a younger age are made to improve their technical skills as opposed to the physical side. Which is why some Canadian commentators make fun of some European players inability to handle strong physical side of ice hockey. ofcourse, I am in a minority opinion when it comes to Ice hockey as most friends and people I know love watching players beat each other up, whereas I rather watch speedy skaters zip by and try to score classy goals.
ChicagoGooner: When I had first heard of Berlusconi’s idea in the early 90’s, I found it absurd. I thought he was suggesting that as a way to guarantee Milan an easy passage while shutting out other creative teams such as Parma. I thought if he got his wish, Parma would never play in the Champs league and I remember seeing them end Milan’s 58 game unbeaten run in some style. Ofcourse, I also thought that a dedicated European league is not good for the game as well as it would lead to stagnation. The teams would find no need to innovate and continue to play in the same style.
Even now, I do not thing a full European league is good because it would remove local teams away from the fabric of their grass roots support and community. Teams need to play their neighbours because that is how the game evolved. Also, each club team’s style and history is influenced from where they play and where they came from. If that is removed, then we might end up with a generic brand of teams taking to the field. Essentially, an endless cycle of all star games. When I mentioned top teams “have” to play games every week against lower opposition, I didn’t mean it any insulting manner, rather as a matter of fact. But what prompted me to say what I did was frustration that the technical gap between top teams and lower teams is such that some lower teams are resorting to whatever tactics they can to take the top players out. And more often it is negative, rather than improve technically. Lunging in with two feet is easier to read the game and close the space out.
Also, I remember reading that more fans are flocking to games outside of the Premier League because they are enjoying their football experience more there. Which once again shows the importance of supporting a team down one’s road.
kalyan_kosuri:
Yes it is amazing how the media is jumping on Gallas. I think back to Henry losing his cool back in the 2001/02 home game to Newcastle. The media were harsh on him whereas no one wanted to talk about what led to Henry getting upset. And I am sure in the coming days it will be proved that what Gallas did has brought the game into disgrace and his behavior is bad for the game’s image. But inept tackles made are ok because they happen.
February 25th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
The society in England is not secret. We all secretly admired Paul Davis when he punched Glen Cockerill in the jaw and Martin Keown jumping up at Van Nistelrooy is hanging proudly on some people’s walls. The problem is that the players like Eduardo should not be subjected to this, maybe a quoto on foreign players is not so bad idea after all?
February 25th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Very well written, and I am in total agreement with you and having watched the injury to Edu just want to have my say..
As a 56 year young person whose formative years were spent growing up in Jamaica, Brazil was the epitome of football. Although most of my early years was spent watching the few English League games broadcast by BBC and having ties vicariously through a few Jamaicans who played in the English League, once I saw the “Beautiful Game” displayed by Brazil in the 60’s I was forever won over.
Having being coached by a Brit (excellent Coach by the way) during my early years it never swayed my belief and that of my teammates of the appreciation of the “Beautiful Game”. In fact, combining that British discipline and work ethic with the Brazilian flair made my High School group not only the best in Jamaica, but we also won most of the Caribbean tournaments.
I was attracted to Arsenal about 8 years ago because they played the “Beautiful Game” and have been a fan since. Thanks to Arsene and his coaching crew (Who are mainly British) I have been blessed to watch Viera, Henry, Lundberg, Petite, Cesc, Hlieb, Cole (Yes, Cashley Cole) and a host of other brilliant performers ply their trade at Highbury and now the Emirates.
Having said all that, I currently watch all the games played by the top European teams in England, Spain and Italy because they provide me with sublime entertainment.
This is not about Edu, but is about people like Taylor who have no right to be a professional in a major league such as the EPL. If he does not know to perform a simple tackle should he be allowed to play? Accidents happen. Yes. However a studs up tackle midway up the shin is cause for concern especially since he was not running from a distance.
A similar incident happened some time ago with Diaby and unless this type of situation is mitigated it could prevent many great players from coming to the EPL. Money aside, unless action is taken by the FA and the EPL to reduce this type of incident it could well spell doom for the sport in England on an international level.
A parting thought. If this had happened to Rooney would the lack of outcry be the same?
February 25th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
what are you on!?
February 25th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,1766_3192918,00.html
Another brilliant brain fart of a statement!
February 25th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
what more can be said, except a brillaint piece of writing.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Excellent article, Sachin.
I still cannot see a single article anywhere on the internet (excepting Arsenal sites/blogs) which says that some action needs to taken after this incident. I cannot believe that not one person in the British Isles can see sense and reason. A lot of my love for the premiership has eroded in the past few days as a result of this.
Imagine if this Arsenal team with Wenger was playing in Spain.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Unfortunately one mans myopia can’t be another man’s foresight.
— like garbage and treasure —
February 26th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Hey thanks for the compliment Nipuna, NCarolinaGunner & Caribkid. Also, CaribKid thx for sharing your story. I needed to write this to get my frustration out of my system because it was bothering me. And now that it has come out that Eduardo will return in 9 months, everyone seems to be ok. Are you kidding me? The guy is out for almost a year and everyone seems to be ok. Will he be the same player when he comes back? I don’t think anyone cares because he will be ok.
You are right Nipuna in that the silence from others has been shocking.
irakli: I can’t believe that Larsson said that. Is it something that he thinks will help him bond with new team-mates?
I am quite tired of seeing Arsenal being made out to be the bad guys all the time. Can they not react at all? Are they expected to take all the kicks and be fine? If that is the case, I pray for Arsenal to destroy every team 5-0 or higher and then go out of their way to demonstrate that the other teams lack any skill whatsever.
arthur3sheds: I am not sure
I didn’t see what I took.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:17 am
How great of Eduardo to come out and not blame Taylor for the incident. Pity you don’t see the same behavior from others. Like some Arsenal blog said, you either have class or you don’t.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Great post Sachin. Definately agree with a lot of what youve stated so passionately. Love the Hot Fuzz reference.
I sincerely hope its only 9 months for Eduardo. I myself am a surgeon, although not an orthopedist, i did do ortho in my training and have had years of experience in trauma surgery. Injuries like this are tricky. Im glad to hear optimism and i think DuDu needs that support right now, but no one knows how long it will take him to recover and complex fractures like this are very tricky. Eduardo has a very resilient spirit that will drive him on, but he will need time to recover. I dont remember how long Diaby was out, but i believe it was close to a year. Eduardos injury is worse than his so who knows. I agree with your last post - it doesnt make it all better that they are anticipating a 9 month recovery. The fact is that this injury is going to affect his career. He was growing in stature as a player and now that has been halted and set back. Not to mention what effect an injury like this might have on the overall length of his career.
Its a horrendous injury and more needs to be done to protect players and discourage rash, non-malicious tackles. If the Birmingham players had any class they would be offering there support for Eduardo rather than defending the actions of their teammate. i cannot believe the gall of some of these players. Totally poor sportsmanship on their part and total lack of professionalism. Arsene was man enough to apologize for a strong emotional reaction. why the hell cant these bottom of the table so called professionals be men enough to shut up and offer some support to a talented player who by all indications is a standup guy and fair sportsman. I guess Seb Larsson just wants to find a way to get in the papers.
February 26th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Here’s a great quote from McLeish
We’ve had to rally around Martin because he was mentally shattered by the whole experience. I would have been worried about him coming into training today had we not received the support from football people the length and breadth of the country.
“But the fact he has had such magnificent support has helped Martin psychologically because I felt he could be damaged by this incident as well.
“We have shown as a club we are right behind the big fellow. We have rallied around him, got him back into training. It was important he did that as soon as possible.”
It boils my blood to read this.
I am so glad that he has such great support to help him through a tough time. i would hate it if this affected his career and ability to play. Poor guy probably had to buy some new shoes since the blood all over them must have ruined them.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:00 am
Yeah, KC, I was wondering the same thing. No one really knows how long it will take to recover from this injury. It was a very complex fracture and everyone responds differently to these injuries. That prognosis was definitely best case scenario but only time will tell.
I think Andez point is very significant and have wondered for years about it. As footballing mad a country like England is, there’s no way you could tell me that there are no talented players there. These kids are in the streets with sublime skill but if they don’t have the typical British (run-hard, kick-hard) mentality, they get dismissed as not being a hard enough worker. It’s an institutionalization there that won’t allow football authorities to see beyond a perceived lack of effort.
At the end of the day, a high foot challenge with studs showing is, by the book, a red-card offense. To prevent what happened to Eduardo is the reason why it’s been made a red card offense. The problem is most English players can’t make a descent challenge without showing studs so they don’t enforce that rule in England. Also most players have gotten used to it and learn to avoid that challenge. Eduardo, being new, hadn’t learned that yet and has paid the price.
The rule is ignored so badly that everyone in the English media has said there was nothing wrong with a studs-up challenge and has defended Taylor. What they fail to understand is that he has, INTENTIONALLY, committed an illegal challenge. A studs-up challenge is a sending-off regardless of the character of the guy that committed the offense or his intent to significantly injure someone.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:03 am
Funny, i just read a descent article that almost repeated what I said.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/james-lawton-reckless-tackles-leave-ugly-stain-that-apologists-can-no-longer-wipe-away-787310.html
February 26th, 2008 at 6:47 am
One thing for certain - opinion is one thing, they can say what they want “that this is part and parcel of the game, get on with it”.
since this incident has been downplayed by virtually everyone outside of the Arsenal FC, and nobody even believes they need to do something about it, so one FACT remains - it WILL happen again.
Hopefully it won’t be any player of us at the receiving end the next time around. And if a similair incident happens to a player of other club, then sorry, I would have no sympathy to him whatsoever.
@KC. Like i said before, I will not be suprised at all the next time Martin Taylor steps on the pitch, he would be receiving a obviation from the fans. No, i m not saying the fans would appaluse him for that tackle, but I am quite certain they will be showing “support” to him out of the belief that “he’s not THAT kind of guy”.
February 26th, 2008 at 7:03 am
If a player is injured because of an illegal challenge, then the offender should be banned from football without pay for as long as the injured player is out, for up to 90 days. This includes no training with the team.
This measure, while dramatic, places a duty on players to accept responsibility for their actions instead of just brushing it off as being part of the game or them being clumsy. Understand, I’m not talking about accidental challenges but illegal challenges resulting in injury. That, I believe, is very reasonable.
February 26th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Following the Eduardo incident, I have a feeling - Arsenal will be getting more bookings from now on.
Simple, our players have actually withnessed what has happened, and the extend of Eduardo’s injury. Put us into their shoes, back in their mind, they must be thinking “it could have been me”.
Really, it could have been anyone. Eduardo was standing 30 yards away from goal, Hleb could be the one taking up his position, or Cesc, or Adebayor, anyone.
So it’s not difficult to imagine our players will be more sensitive towards any aggressive challenge from now on. And they would probably start to complain to the referee more. And earns themselves a booking as a result. As we all knew, so often, the one who provokes always got away from it, those who responsed get the card.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:21 am
All I can say as WOW, very well said. I’ve been thinking of a way to express my thoughts on the subject since, but haven’t been able to articulate them to paper. Your train of thought is almost the exact same as mine. Great Job.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
So now Aliadiere’s slap ban’s been extended to four games:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=511391&cc=5901
glad to see the FA has its priorities straight.
February 26th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Thanks KCGooner & c0reyf.
nicosian, I am not surprized that Aliadiere got his ban increased. I thought he might get 5 games because what he did was the most ugly thing seen in football. Worse than a studs up tackle because it brings the game into disgrace. Studs up tackles are normal so it is ok. Nothing wrong. Maybe Aliadiere should have lunged into with both studs and slapped Javier in the process, that way he might have escaped with a lighter ban. Frustrating.
February 26th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
#17 KCGooner
I heard the interview of McLIESh on Sky Sports last night from which those quotes came. Make your blood boil and almost hurt my pocket book, as I wanted to throw the remote at the boob tube.
It is just too abstract to have McLeish paint a picture of Taylor as the victim with terms like shattered, etc. It’s as if Taylor was left laying on the pitch not Eduardo. He even went so far as to say that Taylor probably wouldn’t have been able to play out the rest of the match even if he was only handed a yellow card, he was so shattered by the affair. Shocking.
The part about “support from football people the length and breadth of the country” for Taylor is absolutely frightening and doesn’t say much about football people does it.
If I thought a bit of the beautiful game died with the nasty tackle on Saturday, today after both McLeish and Larson’s comments I’m thinking, talk about adding insult to injury - if ever there was an example this is it.
“Poor guy probably had to buy some new shoes since the blood all over them must have ruined them.” I had to laugh but sadly he’ll probably be selling them on e-bay in a few years with the blood still on them.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
The FA is freaking joke. It is full of fat & ugly men who doesnt want extra work. That is why Ali has gotten himself another match ban instead of 3.
Unintention or not, surely the FA needs to do something about Taylor. But knowing them, probably not.
February 26th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
The FA will do sweet FA. THey are a bunch of imcompetents. What we need is a suspension for Taylor, even a Liverpool fan I know said that and he is hardly Gooner biased.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Did you notice that practically nothing has been said about the off-field behaviour of Spurs players at a nightclub after their glorious win?
We shouldn’t be surprised, 3 of the perpetrators are English lads, you know the type, without a malicious bone in their body.
Re the FA & Taylor’s lowering limb altering skills……watch this space. I’ll be really surprised if we have heard the last of this story. Wenger is a smart operator. He quickly re-positioned himself after his initial emotional outburst…..but I think we all know that he hates that sort of ugliness in the game. And quite simply, with Arsenal’s style they can’t allow that to continue.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Kiwi, when David Dein was associated with Arsenal and on the FA Board, we could have hoped for some action. Now, I am not so sure.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:32 am
Nipuna, true, the thought crossed my mind that Dein would have had easy access to the FA.
That said, it’s easy to dismiss the influence and networks that other Arsenal officials have in the EPL, and indeed throughout European football. Arsenal is an incredibly stable club with perhaps the longest serving set of senior people in English football. I’m confident that even without Dein they have the nous to influence should they choose.
A word in an ear here and there, a little leaning on certain contacts, some judicious media bites from Wenger,….it’s really not that hard. Forget about the media and what appears to be current public opinion…….they’ll swing like a pendulum. Most people give this type of thing nothing more than passing thought - unless they’re directly affected.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:44 am
Is this secret society actually real??
February 27th, 2008 at 10:54 am
#32
Yes there is a society but it’s not secret. It’s a group of players and coaches who all believe that the only way to beat the Arsenal is to “kick them”. They see the foreign hordes at the English Gate as a bunch of “Prima Donna’s”.
The name of this society is “The kick it up em”. Most of the members, if they didn’t get jobs as footballers or coaches, would be bouncers, bagmen or collection agents for organized crime.
That’s why Arsenal needs to sell to the Russian so we can get some serious knee capping, or just capping justice back into the English game!
BANG BANG BANG
February 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I am happy to hear that Eduardo’s injury could heal in 9 months or so, it is great news, but it still doesn’t take away the pain and bitterness I feel.
I feel ashamed to call myself an Englishman after seeing some reports in the papers and after watching the Match of the Day program. The bias is so unanimous that it can not be put down to a few unempathetic individuals in the media, it highlights a psyche that is prevalent throughout the whole country. I think we have developed a nationalistic almost racist supremacy syndrome that seems unable to acknowledge we (the British) can do anything wrong and out of order, because we are civilised, we are just not like that.
I read an article in the Mirror today by a guy called Oliver Holt, in it he said although he does not know Taylor that he is not the type of guy to commit a “rash and dangerous challenge.” Somebody crashes into someone else, with studs raised, with such force that his leg is broken and ankle dislocated, however this is not rash or dangerous, because an Englishman can not do such things, right? I remember when Eboue tried to block John Terry’s clearance, as a result JTs follow through ended up making firm contact with Eboues studs, in reality it could never be percieved as a stamp yet I heard commentators Alan Shearer in particular describe it as a particularly nasty challenge.
I am sure if Taylor had not been British, there would not have been a unanimous cover up and sympathy for the perpatrator it would have been a different set of headlines. The same writer Oliver Holt went on to say that the only people who applauded Spuds from the Chelsea team after the CC final were JT, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard who he then described as real men. I will also will not forget how Sven G Ericsson was treated because he wasn’t an English manager. The press were always looking for any excuse to condemn even when England losed to Brazil via a probably flukey goal Sven was a fault. They tried all sorts even setting him up (this had never been done to an English manager prior to Sven) and of course we cannot downplay the FAs role in conspiring against him.
Those who are honest or who care will admit that we have a real problem in this country, we are forever blaming others for wrongdoing whilst exonerating ourselves, we can be extremely hypocritical. Want to take the glory but not the shame. Another example is the recent celebrations for the works of William Wilberforce in the UK. People were ready to proclaim that Great Britain was more virtuous than the rest of the western world because it was the effort of an Englishman that led to the abolition of the slave trade. However the majority thought it was inappropriate to apologise for being involved in slavery as a nation because we cannot apologise for what our ancestors have done so many years ago. Nevertheless it is OK for us to glory in the effort of one man whom from what I have read did not agree with the abolition of slavery but only the abolition of the slave trade (for questionable reasons).
As I and others have said if it were Rooney or one of the other golden boys this had happened to, this incident would not have been brushed under the carpet as effectively it has.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Hi Gavin,
I wrote about the society’s origins and meetings as a matter of fiction. Although like SEH in comment #33, I do believe such a society might exist in principle even though it won’t be openly admitted. The media is damn good at putting a spin on opponents who kick Arsenal out of games as playing a “physical game” or being “gritty” and “digging in”, etc. Quite amazing how a slight change of words in a headline or an article alters the complete context of a situation or even softens a nasty situation.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Any croatian readers out there? There is a link to a Croatian paper in the Guardian blog and if one looks at the picture of Taylor back in training, he looks quite happy. His new buddy Larsson seems happy as well.