Arsenal

[Dude Ranch]

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.

Oh Christ .

Have you seen the picture? If he'd caught ball and man the chances are he'd still have been badly injured. It was reckless and dangerous. I don't for one minute think he went in to break his leg. He's not the only player who's ever done it. But when you go in studs up, leg straight and with your whole body weight more or less off the ground you're asking for trouble and it's cowardly cos it can only end one way. I think the situation is that players go in hard to give players a whack early on and now this has happened. It's time for rethink across the game. If I was a foreign player I'd definitely think twice about coming over here now cos it's highlighted a problem we have, ie we love our players to even things up a bit by roughing the opposition up. That's our mentality and it's not a knee jerk reaction to this incident. There's no attempt at matching football with football cos the rough stuff is still a valid option. The journos on Sky were saying there's nothing wrong with that kind of approach even this very morning! I mean, fucking hell!

[Dude Ranch]

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.

Thank God for the neutral voice of reason.

It's not an Arsenal thing. I'd still feel sick if it had been Rooney, Ronaldo or Robbie fucking Savage.

[Dude Ranch]

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?

Oh Jesus, wait til I tell the missus what you just said! Excitement +10.

Three places apparently . It's hard to think how it could have been any worse.

[SeanR]

it's strange. I could quite easily examine an x-ray of the injury, but as soon as there's actually flesh and blood and shit involved I'll be seeing breakfast again.

Thanks MOTD!

[Dude Ranch]

it's strange. I could quite easily examine an x-ray of the injury, but as soon as there's actually flesh and blood and shit involved I'll be seeing breakfast again.

Thanks MOTD!

I wasn't going to watch it but I needed to see the reactions in the studio. Showing the footage in slo mo caught me by surprise a bit.

I don't know why but there's something about it being Eduardo that makes it seem even worse.

[Rsdio]

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?

At least one (although it's mentioned that it was the second time it had happened, without specifying the first), naturally enough with my football luck it was my team who lost a million quid over a tackle. I love the quote from the supporter's club guy at the end, it was a far worse tackle than Taylor's and with much more obvious intent, not to mention the fact it was against our most hated rivals, yet you still get the one-eyed fans out.

[Mercury]

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?

I just don't get this thinking. It was a bad tackle deserving of a red card and a three match ban. You could find four or five equally bad challenges from the past few months and no-one was calling for season long bans then. The only justification for a harsher penalty would be if it really was felt he deliberately set out to injure him and I don't believe that for a second. It's not like they had been battling all match or anything.

[TehStu]

You could find four or five equally bad challenges from the past few months and no-one was calling for season long bans then.

Some of us have. This is the unfortunate by-product of it falling on deaf ears.

[tyler]

I've been saying it for seasons. The likes of Michael Brown and Sean Davis (I think) have gotten away with far worse than Taylors because they didn't badly injure the opponent.

[Dude Ranch]

I just don't get this thinking. It was a bad tackle deserving of a red card and a three match ban. You could find four or five equally bad challenges from the past few months and no-one was calling for season long bans then. The only justification for a harsher penalty would be if it really was felt he deliberately set out to injure him and I don't believe that for a second. It's not like they had been battling all match or anything.

The logic behind that is seriously flawed. The fact is that a red card challenge broke a players leg in three places. He didn't mean to do exactly that, I'm sure, but tough shit. No doubt he feels rotten but he still did it. Tell Eduardo that he's not that kind of player. I think he'd look down at his leg and voice a different opinion. I could lash out in a pub one time in my entire life and put someone in a coma. I wouldn't have meant it and I'd be mortified but I'm not sure that would hold up in court.

[SeanR]

remember though. The ref didn't red card him until AFTER he saw the extent of the injury.

[Dude Ranch]

remember though. The ref didn't red card him until AFTER he saw the extent of the injury.

I really cannot believe that this was mentioned more than once. It's so irrelevant it's not funny. I mean, the whole pundit scenario in football is ludicrous as it is. I think the only person to actually go with instinct and be brave enough to say what he thinks is Merson. Shame he gets it mostly wrong .

[SeanR]

I really cannot believe that this was mentioned more than once. It's so irrelevant it's not funny. I mean, the whole pundit scenario in football is ludicrous as it is. I think the only person to actually go with instinct and be brave enough to say what he thinks is Merson. Shame he gets it mostly wrong .

I think it's relevant because a "straight red tackle" gets a straight red card, the fact that the ref didn't immediately reach for his pocket means he didn't see the tackle as malicious in the first instance.

[TehStu]

Which speaks volumes, to be honest.

[Dude Ranch]

I think it's relevant because a "straight red tackle" gets a straight red card, the fact that the ref didn't immediately reach for his pocket means he didn't see the tackle as malicious in the first instance.

I wish I understood you, Sean .

[BlinkyBear]

Thank God for the neutral voice of reason.

It's not an Arsenal thing. I'd still feel sick if it had been Rooney, Ronaldo or Robbie fucking Savage.

The only football related matter we've disagreed on-I would've fucking cheered my tits off if it was Robbie Savage.

In other matters,I'm kinda at a loose end with this Eduardo thing. Might send a card c/o the stadium-fuck knows how much he's in a world of hurt right now. Probably won't help, but letting him know that I actually appreciate what he's given/could give us might help. Maybe. Anyone else thought of doing something?

[Dude Ranch]

In other matters,I'm kinda at a loose end with this Eduardo thing. Might send a card c/o the stadium-fuck knows how much he's in a world of hurt right now. Probably won't help, but letting him know that I actually appreciate what he's given/could give us might help. Maybe. Anyone else thought of doing something?

It did cross my mind, to be honest. I'd give him my shin if I could .

EDIT: I think there might be a mechanism for 'contacting' players via the official site.

[Silent Runner]

I await the inevitable vitriolic diatribe from Arseblog tomorrow as well...

It's understandably angry and quite critical of Gallas but it's a good read, especially the analysis of the tackle.

[dogsout]

In other matters,I'm kinda at a loose end with this Eduardo thing. Might send a card c/o the stadium-fuck knows how much he's in a world of hurt right now. Probably won't help, but letting him know that I actually appreciate what he's given/could give us might help. Maybe. Anyone else thought of doing something?

Liverpool fans did the same for Cisse when he suffered a similar injury. It might be an idea to get in touch with the supporters' club to find out how to go about it in the proper manner. I'm sure you won't be alone in wanting to do something like that for him.

As for the tackle itself: I think anyone defending Taylor is missing the point. Whether he intended to hurt him or not is almost irrelevant; the tackle was completely reckless. There was no regard whatsoever on Taylor's part for Eduardo's well being. It's a contact sport but it's not a fucking boxing match; Eduardo shouldn't have to protect himself at all times. He should be able to nick the ball away from an opponent, safe in the knowledge that the worst he'll get is a kick on the ankle, not his opponent's studs and all of his weight landing halfway up his shin. It was unfortunate and I'm not convinced Taylor intended things to pan out in the way they did but it's no excuse; he acted in an irresponsible and reckless manner, and has caused serious harm to another in the process.

[Petrousgyre]

Out of interest, how often does this kind of thing happen in Italy and Spain? I've watched a fair bit of Spanish football over the years and can't remember seeing anything like this kind of challenge, but I'm by no means an authority on continental football. Just in the Premiership over the last few years I can think of 6 or 7 challenges resulting in this kind of injury. They have to sort this out.

[Yobo Ahoy]

It was a bad tackle deserving of a red card and a three match ban. You could find four or five equally bad challenges from the past few months and no-one was calling for season long bans then.

The worst one I've seen this season was Dirk Kuyt's knee-high flying dropkick on Phil Neville in the Mersey derby, Moyes was raging but because no-one actually got injured nothing was made of it.

This was a red because of how high his studs were, but the severity of the injury makes no difference to the length of the ban. That's the way it is.

(Also, what the fuck is going on with Adebayor's hair? He looks like Will Smith, circa Fresh Prince era.)

[dogsout]

This kind of injury is usually caused by a coming together of legs as two payers run in close proximity, rather than an out and out horror tackle. Tackles like that are not tolerated in Spain, although the game is a lot faster here so they can be harder for referees to spot. I can recall quite a few tackles that I'd consider to be worse than this one, that resulted in minimal punishment. All of the tackles in question took place in England. I'd say I watch more English football than Spanish, but I do watch a lot of Spanish football and as far as I can see they do not have this problem. There is an obsession for contact in English football that just isn't present in Italy and Spain. The referees let a lot more go over here and although that can work in favour of the game in that it can be more entertaining, it also means players will sometimes go over the top.

I'd say in Spain and Italy, there are a few players that are known to be dirty and can and will make challenges like Taylor's and worse as and when they see fit. That was what got Materazzi sent off against Liverpool the other day. Although by the letter of the law both of his infringements were bookable offences, had it been another player I'm certain they'd have escaped with one at the most. The English media made a big deal out of it because it is a rarity to see shirt pullers punished with yellow cards over here, despite that being a reasonable, and indeed, accepted punishment pretty much everywhere else football is played outside of Britain. That speaks volumes of the mentality over here. You only have to google Materazzi to see the amount of ridiculous challenges the bloke has made during his time in Italy. The difference and indeed the problem with English football is dangerous play is all too often laughed off as 'getting stuck in'. The other side of the coin is we get a faster, free flowing game with less infractions than they have in Spain and Italy.

It's supposed to be a man's game yet so often it is anything but. It is about time this side of the game caught up with modern times. I've said for a while that I'd like to see top European referees make their way to the premiership. I mean, we import the best playing and managerial talent from all over the world, why not do the same with the officials? It would make for a much better game in my opinion.

[Kelthink]

I can recall quite a few tackles that I'd consider to be worse than this one, that resulted in minimal punishment. All of the tackles in question took place in England.

The worst one I can remember from recent memory was in the Champions League game between Celtic and Benfica. Amazing the Benfica player didn't break the other fella's leg, it was worse than Martin Taylor's by a long shot.

[Dude Ranch]

The difference and indeed the problem with English football is dangerous play is all too often laughed off as 'getting stuck in'...

It's supposed to be a man's game yet so often it is anything but.

This.

[hercules]

It was a horrific tackle, look at it!

Whether he intended it or not, that is wreckless and it needs to stop, even if eduardo wasn't there and it was the ball why on earth would he attack the ball like that? Looking at the slow mo on MOTD taylor didn't seem to smile but his reaction is what has really angered me, he looked like he was trying to excuse it with the ref.

[dogsout]

The worst one I can remember from recent memory was in the Champions League game between Celtic and Benfica. Amazing the Benfica player didn't break the other fella's leg, it was worse than Martin Taylor's by a long shot.

I've seen worse challenges than Taylor's, too. Taylor's was the kind of challenge that is all too frequent in our game and when the results aren't as severe as they were yesterday it is deemed by the 'experts' to be 'leaving your mark' or 'getting stuck in'.

To sum what I feel on the matter up in one line: The speed of the game over here + the obsession for contact bred into players over here = incidents like the one in question.

If only the authorities weren't so busy trying to think up more ways to take money from the fans maybe things could be changed for the better. They should be focusing on stuff like this rather than trying to get a glorified pre-season friendly tacked on to the league season in order to make a few quid more. I think employing some of the top referees from around the world would go some way to addressing that. But that would probably slow the English game a touch and heaven forbid we do that. It's definitely the kick and rush nonsense that keeps the punters emptying their pockets at the governing bodies' feet after all.

[tyler]

Out of interest, how often does this kind of thing happen in Italy and Spain? I've watched a fair bit of Spanish football over the years and can't remember seeing anything like this kind of challenge, but I'm by no means an authority on continental football. Just in the Premiership over the last few years I can think of 6 or 7 challenges resulting in this kind of injury. They have to sort this out.

Certainly not as often. I do remember a Figo challenge that was particularly cowardly when he was at Madrid. I think it dislocated the guys knee aswell.

edit: Here's a pic of the Figo's brave challenge

[Lilywhite]

http://us.dada.net/video/3270823/Binya-har...e-versus-Celtic

Thats the Binya one on Scott Brown. When I watching the match a few months ago it looked like his leg was about to snap. Sickening challenge thank god it didnt result in a serious injury.

[phresh]

Whether he intended it or not, that is wreckless and it needs to stop, even if eduardo wasn't there and it was the ball why on earth would he attack the ball like that? Looking at the slow mo on MOTD taylor didn't seem to smile but his reaction is what has really angered me, he looked like he was trying to excuse it with the ref.

Surely if you saw match of the day then you saw that he didn't attack the ball like that? Don't get me wrong it was a terrible tackle but that picture makes it look like his foot has come in from a high angle when in reality a few milliseconds before contact his studs were on the floor and he 'flicked' up, presumably trying to flick the ball away. Either way I hope Eduardo gets better soon, he's been great for Arsenal this season especially considering it is his first season in the prem.

[Guest Eduardo]

Ban slide tackles