Enfield Exile wrote:As for De Jong, he’s not dirty. He’s just committed. Overly committed at times when it isn’t necessary but he isn’t what I would call a dirty player (with the exception of the Alonso tackle). He’s the kind of player that when you go into a challenge with him you have to compete. If you go into half-hearted, you will get hurt.
That's all well and good if De Jong is up against another strong midfielder. If they're going into a 50/50 ball then it's okay to say the other player needs to compete to win the ball.
But what about the rest of the time when the other player is dribbling with the ball, beating another player, off-balance or looking to play a pass upfield? Has the rest of football got to stop playing simply to allow De Jong to throw himself about?