Do Horror Injuries always result from Horror Tackles?

In Saturday’s pulsating Merseyside Derby, Liverpool superstar Virgil Van Dijk suffered a horrific ACL injury which may rule him out for the remainder of the season. The injury was as a result of an extremely reckless tackle by Everton and England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who bizarrely managed to escape punishment due to the Liverpool man being in an offside position. The incident has been met with outrage by both the media and rival fans alike, with calls for Pickford to face an extended ban and even death threats having been received. This begs the question as to whether people are judging the tackle itself, or is a worrying lack of understanding of the game leading people to instead react purely on the resultant injury and the profile of the player it has happened to?

Van Dijk is heralded as the best defender on the planet and is integral to Liverpool’s trophy laden past two years. The fact that he has such a long term injury is huge news in that it is a major blow to the Premier League favourites, and he plays for a club who receive colossal levels of interest with lots of the modern sports media having Liverpool allegiances. Liverpool have asked for a review of the VAR conduct following the game, and rightly so after the failure to send Pickford off and other questionable decisions. The fact that the referees have not sent him off has only heightened the outrage; one would have to question whether there would be such coverage if the red card would have been issued.

Pickford’s tackle was extremely reckless but there were no clear signs of malice or intent. He approached Van Dijk at pace and was extremely clumsy in going over the top of the ball, his momentum following through Van Dijk’s knee. The correct decision was clearly to issue the red card, and him receive a 3 match ban for a straight red. Now, while the tackle was extremely reckless, it was the severity of injury which separates the incident from other similar reckless tackles that take place in the Premier League.

On the left is Pickfords tackle which went unpunished with VVD suffering a terrible injury, a similar tackle made on the right by Lewis Dunk on Gary Cahil resulted in a red card but no injury

Just the following day a similar tackle took place in the Crystal Palace vs Brighton derby. In the dying minutes of the game, Brighton captain Lewis Dunk lunged off of his feet over the ball and impacted Gary Cahill low down on his shin. This tackle was very similar in that the player was both out of control and off his feet, while being over eager to spread his body towards the ball. The referee correctly sent the player off and he will receive a 3 match ban. Cahill was struggling until the final whistle but was lucky enough not to suffer a serious injury as Van Dijk had, and as a result of this and the fact he was correctly sent off, there was no outrage in the media at the recklessness of the tackle.

On Sky Sports Graeme Souness described Pickford’s tackle by claiming: “That was an assault, that wasn’t a tackle. That was an assault.”, while on TalkSport Mark Bosnich has called for a punishment in which Pickford should not be allowed to play again until Van Dijk is fit again. These two statements together with the rumoured petition from Liverpool fans to make the FA take retrospective action against Pickford, illustrate the outrage but also how crazily over the top some of the reactions have been about the incident. Both as a standalone incident and in comparison, to others. It also demonstrates why such refereeing inconsistencies are creating a problem with the game.

A tackle should be analysed independent of the resultant injury. There is a tendency that people analyse how bad a tackle is purely by how severely a player has been injured from the tackle. The reality is that an injury depends on not just the tackle itself but also the momentum involved, the pace at which it happens together with the balance and landing of the fouled player. Football is a free flowing game played at a high pace, when slowed down by the cameras a tackle will always look worse than it is in real time.

The player making the bad tackle is not in control over what the resultant injury may be, which is why it is important that reckless tackles that do not fully connect or manage to injure a player, must be punished with the same severity as those that connect. There is a major inconsistency with how this is refereed at present and this certainly contributes to how tackles are perceived.

Gomes screamed in agony as players from both teams ended in tears and praying for his welfare on the pitch

The intent to injure someone should always be taken into consideration in addition to whether they have endangered another players welfare. Andre Gomes suffered a horrendous ankle break and dislocation in November 2019, the severity of the injury left players in tears and praying for him on the pitch. The tackle was a clumsy late trip by Son which while ill-timed, looked fairly innocuous with no intent to injure. The clip led to Gomes getting his ankle stuck underneath him and colliding with Serge Aurier, subsequently snapping his ankle in an incident which visibly sickened the players on the pitch. The referee brandished a yellow card which was probably the correct decision for the offence of the trip, this was however upgraded to a red by VAR due to the severity of the injury. This was harsh as it was the landing that determined the severity of the injury and not the tackle itself. Son was bombarded with abuse for the tackle when in reality it was the collision with Aurier and the twist of the ankle that caused the damage. It is another example of how wrongly the severity of an injury has determined the reaction rather than the intent and the tackle itself.

Gomes stumbles as he approaches Aurier and his ankle cracks underneath him as he impacts into the tackle. Son had tripped him sending him off balance initially.

There are far worse tackles that are premeditated with the intent to injure or at least stop a player forcefully whether out of malice or frustration. From the evidence I have mentioned, the problem with current decision making and coverage is that if these tackles do not result in an injury the outrage is far less. In recent weeks, Tottenham defeated Manchester United 6-1 with Luke Shaw committing a disgraceful premeditated kick on Lucas Moura. The fact that Moura did not land badly or suffer an injury subsequently led somehow to him not being cautioned. This paired with the fact that unlike with the Pickford incident, the decision did not affect the final result led to no further action. A similar situation occurred when Giovani Lo Celso trod on Cesar Azplicueta’s shin but escaped punishment in February, Chelsea winning comfortably lessened the subsequent coverage.

The left image shows Luke Shaw’s premeditated swipe at Lucas who was running at speed away from him, the horrified reaction of staff from both teams in the right picture illustrates the severity of the tackle

The Premier League is loved for its high pace and intensity, particularly in derby fixtures. The pace of the game lends itself to the occasional rash tackle which will always look worse when slowed down. There is however absolutely no disputing that Pickford’s tackle was reckless and he deserves to receive a ban. A premeditated tackle such as Shaw’s however, should not be ignored due to the lack of severe injury caused, just as Pickford should not be hounded purely due to the unfortunate injury caused. We football fans beg for fire and emotion from the players and sometimes unfortunate events will occur and should be punished accordingly, the tackles we must eradicate are those that are premeditated not mis timed tackles which can be a bi product of our game. The referee must be calm enough to judge a decision based on the incident and be able to remove emotion from the decision; whether a player is lucky enough to escape injury doesn’t affect the severity of the tackle.

Emotionally drained? The VAR debate

Spurs progressed to the quarter finals of the Carabao Cup with a thrilling penalty shootout victory over fierce London rivals Chelsea at White Hart Lane. The derby was full of fight and emotion from the players and mass celebration at its conclusion, with the only negative being that the fans couldn’t be present to create the fiery atmosphere a game of this magnitude deserves. It was however not the lack of fans that made the biggest impact on my experience but rather the lack of the use of the video assistant referee (VAR).

The Carabao Cup does not use VAR in its earlier rounds, and as a Spurs fan celebrating a late Erik Lamela equaliser, it dawned on me that I had not felt such positive emotion in response to a goal in a long time. While obviously there can be many comical reasons regarding Spurs form to explain this, the truth is that is was the first goal I remember being scored whereas I wasn’t waiting to see if VAR disallowed it before celebrating.

VAR has been brought in to better the game by improving officiating and to ensure that correct decisions are made, but it cannot possibly be instant or perfect. Football is a game universally loved for the emotional rollercoaster its fans embark on throughout a match, and its ability to continue to affect their emotions for the days that follow. For some, football is not just a game, it’s a passion and a belonging, and the outpour of emotion that follows a goal from your team can be unrivalled. With VAR being introduced last season this emotion gradually diminished. Early in the season fans celebrated wildly at the sight of a goal, hugging other fans while jumpng up and down, only to then see it reviewed and subsequently disallowed due to an unseen infringement minutes later. After the third or fourth time that you have celebrated a goal that doesn’t then count, you begin to stop celebrating the goal and instead wait until any checks are complete. By the time this has happened the game instantly kicks off and the moment and emotion that you could have experienced has passed.

The use of VAR means that when a goal is scored there is a hopeful cheer as many fans pause, or refuse to celebrate with vigour once seen, at the risk of being ridiculed or subsequently feeling that they have made a fool of themselves if the goal is disallowed. Football is about emotion. When you attend a football match the emotion enjoyed when the ball hits the back of the net is the moment that you’ve paid your money to experience, that sense of group delight and belonging, without which you might as well be watching at home. Even those supporters at home are hoping it is a goal rather than feeling that uncontrollable joy football can bring, so why lose all of this emotion?

A sport well known as the beautiful game; football is far more than a game in the modern world, it is a business. While sport is a test of athletic ability and skill which provides entertainment to the masses, the painful truth is that football is such big business that the financial rewards now massively outweigh those of sporting fulfilment. With this taken into account, the consequence of incorrect officiating decisions can no longer be met with the old adage that it evens itself up over the season, and are instead met with the threat of lawyers and lawsuits.

Maradona scores controversial goal with his hand not seen by the officials

Football has a history littered with injustice notably Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ to eliminate England from the World Cup, and Frank Lampard’s ‘goal that never was’, despite the fact it bounced yards over the line. The introduction of VAR and goal line technology would have eradicated both mistakes and England’s international history could have been very different.

As individual games of football have become so much more financially profitable, the level of scrutiny of officiating, and the importance of each individual game has risen to exceptional levels. In the current climate therefore, it is of paramount importance that the right decision should be made at all times. With the financial implications, owners and clubs demand this to be the case and we now live in a world where money outranks the fans.

Its introduction should lead to a world in which referees are no longer vilified for each decision they make as they have less individual power over the game. If another top level referee who is looking at replays as the game progresses doesn’t agree with their decision, the decisions gets reviewed. The hope would be that by using such methods, the players will be programmed to play within the confines of the rules due to the fear of punishment following review, whereas pre VAR they would push the boundaries of the rules, using the ‘dark arts’ to escape detection and therefore punishment.

The principle idea of VAR to make the game fairer of course is correct. Memories of sporting injustice still haunt fans all over the world and certain clubs have had their own futures negatively impacted due to incorrect decisions. It is about balance and the experience for the fan needs to be considered just as the financial implication for the owners must. To use the Premier League as an example, much of the financial gain for those clubs in this league is from TV money of companies that bank on the popularity of fans wanting to view what is thought to be the most exciting league in the world. With the lessening of positive emotion attached to football since the introduction of VAR, this will only negatively affect the viewing figures and therefore be counterproductive.

It is rare that anything other than controversy over decisions made by VAR dominate the after match analysis currently. VAR is unlike goal line technology which, other than in one technical failure, gives a 100% correct conclusion. Due to the subjective nature of many rules in football and their interpretation possibilities, we can still get decisions made by both on-field and video assistant referees that they believe are correct, but most football experts don’t agree with. It has not stopped people criticising referees and if anything has encouraged more ill feeling as fans feel they still receive the wrong decisions even with the technology. As a viewer it takes away a lot of the excitement and the negative emotion from what fans feel are unjust decisions, outweigh the positive ones that are lessened by the technology and its delays.

Of course, in modern football we must use the technology available to ensure the highest standards and the correct decisions, but in its present unperfected form, questions must be asked as to whether the positives in doing so take away the raw emotion that made us all fall in love with the game. The Carabao cup has provided a telling reminder of what we once had and the risk we are taking in making the game more robotic.

A Falling Star- Dele Alli

Gasps filled the media suite, and if reports are to be believed also the Spurs Dressing room, as Jose named his squad for Southampton, omitting Dele for the second time in a week. A player that started Jose’s reign on fire scoring 5 in 8 games, the player branded the real Dele after months of jokes suggesting he had been imitated by Dele’s brother, has now found himself frozen out from the squad. More worryingly for Dele is the apparent lack of explanation from the manager. Popular docuseries All or Nothing recently featured a similar situation in which Danny Rose was seen asking Jose for clarity of why he wasn’t starting games, having been dropped without explanation.

All indications suggested he was key to Mourinho’s plans this term, impressing in preseason and gaining high praise from his manager and teammates alike. Alli looked fully fit and hungry to prove himself. After just 45 minutes of Spurs’ opener against Everton, Dele was replaced following a dreadful team performance, and hasn’t set foot on the pitch since. The consensus being that the struggling starlet may look to depart this month, reports even suggesting he’s been offered to clubs. Questions must be asked as to how a phenomenal young player who has already achieved so much can find himself at a career crossroads, and why Mourinho may be willing to let him depart.

The year is 2017, The season has just ended with a resounding 7-1 victory away at Hull and Tottenham have secured a Premier League high 2^nd position. Spurs have unearthed a generational talent in Dele who picked up his second consecutive PFA young Player of the year award, recording 18 league goals and 7 assists from midfield; in doing so surpassing goal and assist stats at the same age of Gerrard, Scholes and Lampard combined. Another impressive season followed as Spurs made camp at Wembley. With 9 league goals and 10 assists together with an outstanding performance in the dismantling of reigning Champions League Holders Real Madrid, Dele had become a household name and a key man for his country moving in to the 2018 World Cup.

Dele Wins PFA Young Player of the Year in successive seasons

Since the World Cup the Spurs star has struggled to reach his previous heights, coinciding with Tottenham’s gradual fall from contention, and the departures from the first team of midfield mainstays Dembele and Wanyama. Dele always enjoyed a great on field connection with Harry Kane; they have combined for 16 goals in the premier league putting them 8^th on the all time assist-goal combinations up to May 2020.

It is however Harry Kane’s adaptation of his own game, in addition to Son’s emergence as a key player at Tottenham, that I believe has been detrimental to Dele’s role in the Spurs team. Kane has suffered numerous ankle injuries in recent seasons before a substantial hamstring tear caused him to miss much of the last campaign, these injuries have resulted in him losing a yard of pace. This extra yard prevents him from making bursts to the front post to convert crosses and play on the last man. In order to adapt his game and utilise his outstanding passing attribute, Kane often can be seen dropping into a deeper role than that he enjoyed earlier in his career.

3 Spain Defenders have pushed up to halfway unsure if to follow Kane

The Southampton centre back Jack Stephens has been dragged out of position by Kane dropping deep, leaving a hole for Son or Lamela to run in to

In both of the above images, Kane has dropped into the space between the centre backs and the midfield. He then encourages the wide attackers to make runs beyond him for him to play them in. The first image was months after the World Cup for England, against Spain in the Nations League, ,and is in the build up to a Sterling goal. By dropping deep he creates space for the runners to get in behind the back line as the centre backs are sucked up the pitch into a higher line wondering if to follow Kane. The pace of Rashford and Sterling can then be exploited over the top or down the channels.

In the second picture Kane has again dropped deeper to receive the ball, this time in Sunday’s Tottenham victory at Southampton. Kane has dropped into the channel between the defence and midfield and has pulled the centre back high up the pitch. This left a hole behind the centre back which Son drifts into from the left and exploits this space to receive and score one of his four goals assisted by Kane in the game.

Alli has occupied the number 10 role for Spurs in recent years in a 4-2-3-1 system, and this space that Kane is dropping into in the above examples is one you’d expect a number 10 to occupy. That lack of space impacts on Deles ability to be involved in the build-up and leaves him needing to either play deeper than he is comfortable, or further forward almost as a striker making him far easier to mark than if he were making late runs into the box.

At Alli’s peak he used to drift in from the left, rather like Son now does; timing his run to perfection to get in behind as Kane, in a higher starting point, occupied the centre backs. Spurs at this point were playing a wing back system in which Kane played up front with two of Eriksen, Son or Dele playing off of him and the wing backs providing the width.

Dele is aware that Eriksen is about to receive the ball, and looks to time his run into the box to arrive and meet the cross.

5 seconds after the still above, Dele has drifted to the back of the box behind the centre backs as Eriksen released the cross

In the top image you can see that Kane is playing high against the centre backs, making his run between them to occupy both centre backs as Eriksen receives the ball. In the next image, Dele has used Kane’s occupancy of the centre backs to drift in behind the back of them and free himself to eventually score the header.

Kane occupies both Centre Backs, Dele steals a march on right back and receives the ball unchallenged

In the above picture, once again Dele has made his run drifting from the left into the gap as Kane is occupying the two centre backs playing high up the pitch. He receives the long ball on his chest before slotting into the net after escaping the attention of the defender. With Son now playing from the left for Spurs, his ability to do this is again now limited by another player using the space he once occupied. The roles in which Dele occupied in Pochettino’s successful team are no longer as prominent in Mourinho’s system which could lead to Mourinho seeing a him as surplus to requirements.

Mourinho was non-committal on the subject on Sunday stating an imbalanced squad and the inability to fit all his attacking options on the bench as reasoning for his absence; he stated that a team is a puzzle and you cannot name 4 wingers or 3 wingers and a number 10 on the bench. He did mention however that Dele could be included in a balanced squad and that he didn’t “need” to be sacrificed, however having raved about his preseason just weeks ago one suspects we don’t know the whole story.

Spurs delighted their fans bringing home global superstar Gareth Bale just a day before the Southampton game, another world class option to add to a vast attacking pool of talent now at the club. Jose often refers to wanting 2 players for each position for a balanced squad and with the addition of Bale they have 6 players for 3 spots. With the mouth-watering prospect of Bale, Son and Kane lining up as a front 3, Jose must decide whether a number 10 of the Dele ilk suits his system moving forward. This could certainly be a reason Jose is more willing to listen to offers for the former MK Dons man. Tanguy Ndombele and Lo Celso were brought in last summer to provide creativity from the centre of the park and following Hjojberg’s arrival earlier in the window, a 433 formation seems likely to be Jose’s chosen system. This begs the question to what Dele’s best position is in that system, and whether his lack of compatibility and high sell on value make his position in the squad vulnerable.

Played as a wide forward he could use his great movement and ghost into the box with late runs to score as he has proved in the past. You would have to question however whether Dele has the pace or dribbling ability to play in that position; while being a very skilful player Dele has always relied on instinct and timing. When given lots of space and time, he tends to be lethargic and not move the ball quickly enough often turning over possession. He could also play in this system as one of a 3 in midfield. To do so, the young midfielder would need to be more tactically disciplined and comfortable taking the ball deeper, before making late runs into the box.

Dele is at his best when playing off of Harry Kane, he used Kane’s movement as a decoy to find space and make late runs into the penalty box. In addition to this, Dele was far more suited to Pochettino’s high press than the counter attack style currently employed by Mourinho. By Spurs wi,nning the ball high up the pitch there was more space and less players back to drive at in the attack. For a player who acts on instincts such as Alli, having less time to think often benefits his game.

The next two weeks will tell us whether the omission of Dele was one to prove he is not needed, or merely a Mourinho mind game used to challenge the player to rediscover his best form. It is clear that an adaptation will be needed for Alli to fit into Jose’s system and become the player once described as the best player in the world of his age, but great players to not become bad players overnight and I would not put it past the Spurs star to flourish once again.