Arsenal

[Das]

Just saw the injury on MOTD and I feel really sorry for Eduardo.

On close inspection of the stills, it appears that the only thing keeping his foot attached to his leg are the tendons on the outside of the limb. I can't see him returning to the game at this level for a long time (if ever) I hate to say.

OMG. I am teh doctor!

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?s=&am...t&p=4821646

[verytallgirl]

I agree with most of what you've posted above but I wouldn't defend Taylor by saying it was low, at all. Whilst I haven't seen the footage (I don't want to) just look at this picture (not graphic):

It's over the ball at best.

Hmmmm, I know, the angle and height in that picture is unforgivable. But in the more graphic shots, including the really gross one which I wish I hadn't clicked, Taylor's foot, and the damage, looks a lot lower than mid-shin. Add to that the footage from MOTD, and well, I don't know really! Maybe if it is mid-shin it will be better for Eduardo?

However, not defending him: as someone said a lot earlier in this thread, Taylor could have bent his knee to disperse some of the impact, and whatever shot or footage you look at, he didn't do so.

Yeah, it was fast, maybe he didn't have the time to make that decision rationally, but the game is fast, Arsenal are very fast, it's Premier League football!

[tyler]

Hmmmm, I know, the angle and height in that picture is unforgivable. But in the more graphic shots, including the really gross one which I wish I hadn't clicked, Taylor's foot, and the damage, looks a lot lower than mid-shin. Add to that the footage from MOTD, and well, I don't know really! Maybe if it is mid-shin it will be better for Eduardo?

I think the unfortunate reality is that his lower leg had collapsed by then. It was reported that it's broken in three places. I just hope the fact it's not a clean break isn't going to be too problematic.

However, not defending him: as someone said a lot earlier in this thread, Taylor could have bent his knee to disperse some of the impact, and whatever shot or footage you look at, he didn't do so.

That may have been my post. I do find it shocking to see how he's got his leg locked like that and Taylor's a big guy.

[toonfool]

I just want to add my tuppeneth in about the photo which seems to show Taylor smirking.

He must have been shocked at what he'd done, any facial expressions he had would have been a mixture of horror, guilt and sympathy. I don't believe for a second that he was feeling smug about what he'd done; get that out of your mind if you think so.

Also, I'm browsing on a Wii tonight, which has a great zoom feature built into the browser. The photo in question gets very pixelated in a couple of steps, it's clearly a crop of a bigger image. You really can't see a smirk there, there's not enough definition.

How would you have wanted him to look at Eduardo? With eyes that said "Fuck! I'm really sorry, you're a mess!"? Would you give that facial expression to someone in fear and pain?

[Dude Ranch]

I just want to add my tuppeneth in about the photo which seems to show Taylor smirking.

It's obviously something us Arsenal fans will see more easily than anyone else. Human nature. But when you see the nature of the tackle (weight off the ground, leg locked, over the ball), lump of a centre half in a struggling team on Arsenal's fancy dan forward, the knowledge that teams and players are going in to hurt fellow pros week in week out. I mean, it's a cliche. 'Let him know you're there, son'. I'm just imagining him saying 'ave that you cunt. We've all seen it before. I think he's done him and it's only afterwards that the horror becomes apparent.

The photo doesn't prove he was smirking or laughing but it does sow a seed and it makes it feel worse.

How would you have wanted him to look at Eduardo? With eyes that said "Fuck! I'm really sorry, you're a mess!"? Would you give that facial expression to someone in fear and pain?

I don't think he knew. I genuinely think he did what he set out to do, ie hit the lad hard. The true extent of the injury was apparent a bit later at which point I'm sure he was feeling horrible. Too late, damage done.

[BlinkyBear]

Watched the game in an Irish bar in Phuket tonight. There was no booze on sale because of national elections. Man did I need it.

I'm still upset about the injury. Bit annoyed that Wenger has toned down his vitriol as well-having seen the reaction on Cesc's face, the tackle and Eduardo's leg, you can't condone it enough.

Shit game all round, the only positive? Theo. Who needs to play upfront now.

[Dude Ranch]

I'm still upset about the injury. Bit annoyed that Wenger has toned down his vitriol as well-having seen the reaction on Cesc's face, the tackle and Eduardo's leg, you can't condone it enough.

Do you mean condone Wenger's comments or condemn the tackle? I know what you mean though. I said earlier that I think the lawyers may have suggested the retraction. Probably wise at this stage actually.

Shit game all round, the only positive? Theo. Who needs to play upfront now.

Well, he's centre forward for the run in now!

In the first half I was thinking he looks like one of the worst players to wear the shirt. Then he turns it on in the second half and looked great. We've had false dawns with him before - the goal against Chelsea, the CL goals. He didn't push on from either of those. I really hope he can move forward now and they say cometh the hour and all that. We need him now.

I've heard rumours that we can, and might, recall Vela.

EDIT: Blinky, I'm off to Thailand in two weeks. I pray that the booze will be flowing by then!

[Sigourney Beaver]

Jesus, those pics are bad

I didn't think it would be that bad from what I saw on MOTD. I thought maybe his leg flapped around a bit coz the bone had snapped a bit but his foot is clearly all off

[Hardwired]

I've only just seen it. That was disgusting. I feel so sorry for Eduardo. He was really starting to find his form.

Whatever they decide, Taylor shouldn't even be allowed to think about playing football again until Eduardo's back. His actual ban should kick in after that.

[Silent Runner]

It was horrible.

It does bring up an interesting point for me. Just say someone purposefully, or rather is incompetent enough, to end your career. What could you do about it in another walk of life?

Would Eduardo have a legal claim against Taylor or his employers regarding loss of future earnings? Is there any precedent in football for a player suing another club/player?

[V3zna]

Despite my post last night you are all ignoring it. Djibril Cisse, snapped his leg twice. I've witnessed the bloke playing live and he's recovered fully both times. He's still the fastest footballer I've ever saw regardless of his lack of natural talent.

[Hardwired]

Despite my post last night you are all ignoring it. Djibril Cisse, snapped his leg twice. I've witnessed the bloke playing live and he's recovered fully both times. He's still the fastest footballer I've ever saw reagardless of his lack of natural talent.

Nobody's ignoring it. Nobody's suggesting Eduardo won't come back, either. It's not going to be soon though.

[V3zna]

Nobody's ignoring it. Nobody's suggesting Eduardo won't come back, either. It's not going to be soon though.

Fair enough. From a neutral's point of view it's obvious Eduardo was a much more gifted player than one that relied on pace. It's a bad break break but I see no reason why in 9 months time why he won't be back firing on all cylinders.

[Dude Ranch]

Fair enough. From a neutral's point of view it's obvious Eduardo was a much more gifted player than one that relied on pace. It's a bad break break but I see no reason why in 9 months time why he won't be back firing on all cylinders.

Fair play mate, we need to be positive. But it does look horrendously bad. I think you probably need a bit of luck and all that and I wouldn't be surprised if it was all over. We/he needs to look at Cisse, Larsson etc. and see that you can come back. Diaby had a really bad one too, and from a worse tackle IMO.

[hercules]

Theo hasn't done that bad this year considering he is playing out wide, i hope he gets a run up front now as he really turned it on in the second half, he was even back defending at times which suprised me.

[Steve007]

Nearly 24 hours later and I'm still

Let's forget football right now, I just hope he will walk again. I'm sure with the very best medical care that Arsenal will give him that he will be ok.

[Sigourney Beaver]

Squeamish people should avoid the back page of the Mirror.

[BlinkyBear]

Do you mean condone Wenger's comments or condemn the tackle? I know what you mean though. I said earlier that I think the lawyers may have suggested the retraction. Probably wise at this stage actually.

Well, he's centre forward for the run in now!

In the first half I was thinking he looks like one of the worst players to wear the shirt. Then he turns it on in the second half and looked great. We've had false dawns with him before - the goal against Chelsea, the CL goals. He didn't push on from either of those. I really hope he can move forward now and they say cometh the hour and all that. We need him now.

I've heard rumours that we can, and might, recall Vela.

EDIT: Blinky, I'm off to Thailand in two weeks. I pray that the booze will be flowing by then!

Just spoke to the girlfriend at home and she said that the media are having a pop at Wenger for being so tough on Taylor and Gallas for having a wobbler. Pricks. After seeing the pictures of Eduardo I'm calling for Taylor's head on a stick and the FA should at least ban him until the end of the season. Here's an idea, if someone breaks another professionals leg/causes them to be injured, the cunt who does it should be banned for the length of time the injured party is out.

Dude-the booze ban should be up this evening if the votes are in for the election.Where are you going in Thailand?

[V3zna]

Let's forget football right now, I just hope he will walk again. I'm sure with the very best medical care that Arsenal will give him that he will be ok.

You are over reacting big time. He snapped his leg, he'll recover. It's 2008 and few players have their careers finished by injury. Eduardo's a damn good player and I fail to see how this injury will stunt his progress.

[Dude Ranch]

You are over reacting big time. He snapped his leg, he'll recover. It's 2008 and few players have their careers finished by injury. Eduardo's a damn good player and I fail to see how this injury will stunt his progress.

Blimey, that's incredible actually. OK, it's hit Arsenal fans most but imagine Torres getting the injury and then read what you just typed. Don't panic, it won't stunt his progress. His foot didn't actually get severed and his leg is only broken in three places. And they put the blood he lost back in at the hospital. There won't be any mental difficulties either, next time a fourteen stone pair of raised and out of control studs are coming his way.

[Dude Ranch]

Dude-the booze ban should be up this evening if the votes are in for the election.Where are you going in Thailand?

Thank fuck!

Ko Lanta, is it? An island near there. The missus booked it as a surprise cos we both graduated last year and we'd had three years of counting the pennies. Can't wait.

[ckny]

Just spoke to the girlfriend at home and she said that the media are having a pop at Wenger for being so tough on Taylor and Gallas for having a wobbler. Pricks. After seeing the pictures of Eduardo I'm calling for Taylor's head on a stick and the FA should at least ban him until the end of the season. Here's an idea, if someone breaks another professionals leg/causes them to be injured, the cunt who does it should be banned for the length of time the injured party is out.

Christ, get real. He made a mistake, a mis-timed tackle. He didn't do it on purpose.

[Art Vandelay]

And so it goes on. Until this type of behaviour is treated with the disdain it deserves it will carry on, and maybe next time it will happen to a footballer who isn't foreign so we can all care about it.

[Blooming Marvellous]

You are over reacting big time. He snapped his leg, he'll recover. It's 2008 and few players have their careers finished by injury. Eduardo's a damn good player and I fail to see how this injury will stunt his progress.

How on Earth do you know that?

[Silent Runner]

Christ, get real. He made a mistake, a mis-timed tackle. He didn't do it on purpose.

What this boils down to is whether or not you believe that a professional sportsman can set out to deliberately injure a fellow pro. Personally I’ve no problem thinking that Taylor had only one intention when he made that tackle and that was to injure Eduardo. He probably didn’t mean for it to be a potential career-ender but a straight leg, shin high, studs up, over the ball tackle with his full weight behind it had only one purpose.

[BlinkyBear]

Thank fuck!

Ko Lanta, is it? An island near there. The missus booked it as a surprise cos we both graduated last year and we'd had three years of counting the pennies. Can't wait.

Not wanting to let my travels let another thread go OT, but yeah, Ko Lanta. Very lucky you are as well. We might be heading there next week, might be staying in Phuket if a mate from the UK comes to join us. But Ko Lanta looks immense-lots of very long beaches, sunset fish barbeques and free flowing beer. Lovely.

Was Eduardo's leg broken in 3 places then?

[Steve007]

You are over reacting big time. He snapped his leg, he'll recover. It's 2008 and few players have their careers finished by injury. Eduardo's a damn good player and I fail to see how this injury will stunt his progress.

I'm not over reacting at all. He did more than break his leg, his foot was hanging by a thread! It's going to take months and months of physiotherapy before he can even put weight on it, never mind running and kicking a ball! This injury is far worse than a 'simple' leg break.

The injury was so bad Arsenal and England physio Gary Lewin was left "ashen-faced" after seeing the double compound fracture, said Sky News Online sources.

The club insider said: "It's one of the worst injuries Gary's ever seen - and he's seen them all in his 20 years in the game.

"He left the room looking pale and ashen-faced - the injury is terrible. We are waiting for further tests over the next day before we can really assess the injury.

"But it's not looking good at all - we don't know if it's career-ending, but he won't kick a ball this year."

Eduardo is resting after surgery at a hospital in Birmingham.

[ckny]

Taylor would have made contact with the ball had Eduardo not nicked it away from him. He was simply too fast, and his leg replaced where the ball was. Accidental.

[tyler]

Despite my post last night you are all ignoring it. Djibril Cisse, snapped his leg twice. I've witnessed the bloke playing live and he's recovered fully both times. He's still the fastest footballer I've ever saw regardless of his lack of natural talent.

Cisse had two clean breaks so I wouldn't be quite so so blasé about it. Eduardo's injury seems more complicated. It was reported as broken in three places but most are now saying it's a double fracture with possible ligament damage.

And so it goes on. Until this type of behaviour is treated with the disdain it deserves it will carry on, and maybe next time it will happen to a footballer who isn't foreign so we can all care about it.

As a neutral (and I know that's probably not the right phrase for this) it's frustrating to see the incident passed off as a clumsy tackle. When a tackle is so dangerous, ignorance is not an excuse. Maybe the media were so taken aback by Wenger's comments they felt the need to go the other way, I'm not sure. I certainly agree that had this been a tackle by an average foreign player (in the same way Taylor is an average English player) on Walcott there would have been an outcry.

[tyler]

Taylor would have made contact with the ball had Eduardo not nicked it away from him. He was simply too fast, and his leg replaced where the ball was. Accidental.

He would have taken the top of the ball (just) and thrown Eduardo 5 feet in the air. That was the best case scenario. It was a strong challenge intended to leave his mark. It went horribly wrong but it's the potential of these challenge to injure that means they need to be dealt with very harshly.