Lord God Jose Mourinho wrote:You missed out the Dutch national team coach from the list who think it was a nasty challenge. I guess he's probably a bitter United fan though? .
According to a number of Dutch fans on various blogs, he has used De Jong as a scapegoat, over what happened in the WC. Whether that’s the case or not, I don’t know.
What I do know is that it was a poor piece of man-management.
Quote: I don't think De Jong meant to cause injury. I think he went in hard knowing he'd take out Ben Arfa as well as the ball and make him wonder for the rest of the match where the next hit was coming from. 5 years ago that would have been fine. But it isn't 2005 now. We've had years of FIFA directives that ball and all tackles were outlawed and players couldn't dive in to challenges like that. .
My own personal opinion is that intimidation and using physical power and presence on a football field, is part of a footballers arsenal. Football is not just about pace, trickery and intelligence. It’s about power too. As long as that is used without intent to seriously injure or to simply carry out a violent act, then that’s fair.
As for FIFA clamping down on hard tackles, I fail to see how De Jong’s tackle could be seen as illegal.
Quote:And the two broken legs that De Jong has dished out this year is the exact reason why FIFA have clamped down.
You missed out the Japanese player whose ankle he broke and the
He does need to calm down but I believe the main reason he has caused these injuries is due to the fact that he goes to ground so often.
The Alonso tackle was a strange one. I have never seen him tackle like that for City. If I am honest, I don’t think I have seen him go out to ‘do’ someone. He’s no Roy Keane or Karl Henry. Palacios is far worse than De Jong.
His tackling technique sometimes reminds me of Brian Robson, although the latter got away with murder as he was a key player for England. Robson’s timing was also never as good, especially later on in his career.
