AuthorBoth Outcasts We are going to start this off by saying that Neil Taylors challenge on Seamus Coleman in the Ireland v Wales World Cup Qualifier was horrendous and he rightly deserved a red card for it. There were a few other challenges during the match as well that also probably deserved more than the card they got and I think if Coleman’s injury had not occurred all us lovers of British football would just be saying that it was a typical feisty affair between close rivals. Matches between the Home Nations typically tend to have a more physical edge to them than other international games and so there was always going to be some committed challenges going in. What we can’t get behind though is the ‘he’s not that type of player’ excuse that has been used to not only defender the challenge, but also to defend other challenges like these that turn ugly. No player ever goes out to intentionally break another leg or to intentionally harm another player – this isn’t Sunday league soccer with local rivals from pubs, this is top international football. Yes heavy tackles are made to let the player know they can expect a physical battle during the game, but we refuse to believe that players will go out to harm another. No player is ‘that type of player’ and using it as an excuse is just daft.
When Coleman and Taylor were going for the ball it was clear that neither was going to give an inch and both put everything into the challenge. One of them was going to come off the winner and 9 times out of 10 one of them would win the ball and clatter the other without much harm being done. The winner of the ‘meaty’ challenge would likely help the other up and on they would go with the game, possibly with a bit of retribution in another challenge later. We see these 50/50 challenges every week in the EPL and tend to enjoy them, revelling in the fact that tackling hasn’t been completely eroded from the modern game and the Premier League like it has in other European Leagues, but as a result of the leagues physicality there will always be the potential for one of these tackles to lead to injury. When a thunderous, but fair challenge is made we as fans rejoice, enjoying that our player has shown passion and commitment to our club. Commentators howl with delight when heavy tackles are made and lap it up. If the FA does issue further punishment to Taylor then we don’t think he can have any complaints and would agree with the course of action they choose to take. But maybe instead of using the ‘he’s not that type of player’ excuse we focus on improve the coaching of how to properly tackle in this modern age of lightning fast and immensely strong footballers? And whilst on the subject of horrific leg breaks in football, why do newspapers and websites feel the need to show such horrible injuries? We are not saying that news of this type should not be reported, but what we are saying is that the imagery of the incident isn’t required. Instead of a shot of the player in mid-air with his leg at right angles, why not just show him on the stretcher being tended to by medical staff? I am sure that the player involved and his friends/family don’t want to see these sorts of pictures of their loved one and as people who has been in stadiums when players have had similar injuries and also on the pitch when team mates have had horrific leg breaks, seeing images like what happened to Coleman is not something we want to be reminded of. Its bad enough reading about such injuries without having to look at the incident in all its gory glory. |
AuthorsJust Some Fans Writing About Football. Archives
June 2018
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