kippaxwarrior
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 3 Jun 2009
- Messages
- 22,574
- Location
- Jupiter Mining Corporation Red Dwarf
- Team supported
- City of course!!
AT LAST!!! Some sense
Andy Townsend's insight: Bert van Marwijk's a disgrace for dropping De Jong
It is a disgrace that Bert van Marwijk has dropped Nigel de Jong from the Holland squad.
There have been lots of tackles worse than De Jong’s on Hatem Ben Arfa this season - his leading leg went straight for the ball. Momentum is what broke Ben Arfa’s leg and that is unfortunate. It is the sort of challenge I have made a thousand times.
He could make that same challenge again all season and he wouldn’t break anyone’s leg. The referee didn’t even stop the game.
Wild: Nigel De Jong flies in on Hatem Ben Arfa at Eastlands on Sunday
Wild: Nigel De Jong flies in on Hatem Ben Arfa at Eastlands on Sunday
I feel sympathy for Ben Arfa, because he has made a good start for Newcastle and has influenced games. De Jong’s tackle was a full-blooded, strong challenge. The ball was there to be won and he wasn’t setting out to break a leg.
It shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as De Jong’s tackle on Xabi Alonso or Karl Henry’s on Jordi Gomez on Saturday.
We have to be careful that we don’t deem every challenge ‘reckless’ when a player is stretching for the ball at speed. We don’t say the same when goalkeepers come out to claim the ball in front of a striker and their momentum brings them down.
The tackle on Ben Arfa was like the Henry one which saw Bobby Zamora break his leg - there was not much wrong with it.
People are condemning De Jong but they need their heads tested. He’s a committed player for City and Holland. He’s there to be physical and competitive and he is brilliant at it. If we take his type of tackling out of Premier League football, we won’t have a product. Are we trying to take tackling out of football?
De Jong is in the Dutch team to tackle - and Van Marwijk is mad to drop him and make an example of him in this way. I can only assume there are other reasons we don’t know about. If I was De Jong, I would refuse to play for Holland again while he is in charge.
The kung-fu tackle De Jong made on Alonso in the World Cup final was reckless and a disgrace. It seriously endangered Alonso and he only got booked.
So why was Van Marwijk not outraged enough by the challenge to substitute him straight away for going against the principles of the beautiful Dutch game? And now all of a sudden he has found a conscience. Is he trying to protect his own reputation?
During the summer, Van Marwijk sent out a team to kick Spain off the pitch. He thought he would come home to an open-top bus ride after South Africa but instead he came back to a load of criticism about his team’s physical approach. So now he’s made De Jong a scapegoat.
And why is De Jong dropped and Mark van Bommel not? Van Bommel made more cynical challenges in the World Cup than anyone else - and Van Marwijk didn’t do anything about that. I hope it has nothing to do with him being married to Van Marwijk’s daughter.
Andy Townsend's insight: Bert van Marwijk's a disgrace for dropping De Jong
It is a disgrace that Bert van Marwijk has dropped Nigel de Jong from the Holland squad.
There have been lots of tackles worse than De Jong’s on Hatem Ben Arfa this season - his leading leg went straight for the ball. Momentum is what broke Ben Arfa’s leg and that is unfortunate. It is the sort of challenge I have made a thousand times.
He could make that same challenge again all season and he wouldn’t break anyone’s leg. The referee didn’t even stop the game.
Wild: Nigel De Jong flies in on Hatem Ben Arfa at Eastlands on Sunday
Wild: Nigel De Jong flies in on Hatem Ben Arfa at Eastlands on Sunday
I feel sympathy for Ben Arfa, because he has made a good start for Newcastle and has influenced games. De Jong’s tackle was a full-blooded, strong challenge. The ball was there to be won and he wasn’t setting out to break a leg.
It shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath as De Jong’s tackle on Xabi Alonso or Karl Henry’s on Jordi Gomez on Saturday.
We have to be careful that we don’t deem every challenge ‘reckless’ when a player is stretching for the ball at speed. We don’t say the same when goalkeepers come out to claim the ball in front of a striker and their momentum brings them down.
The tackle on Ben Arfa was like the Henry one which saw Bobby Zamora break his leg - there was not much wrong with it.
People are condemning De Jong but they need their heads tested. He’s a committed player for City and Holland. He’s there to be physical and competitive and he is brilliant at it. If we take his type of tackling out of Premier League football, we won’t have a product. Are we trying to take tackling out of football?
De Jong is in the Dutch team to tackle - and Van Marwijk is mad to drop him and make an example of him in this way. I can only assume there are other reasons we don’t know about. If I was De Jong, I would refuse to play for Holland again while he is in charge.
The kung-fu tackle De Jong made on Alonso in the World Cup final was reckless and a disgrace. It seriously endangered Alonso and he only got booked.
So why was Van Marwijk not outraged enough by the challenge to substitute him straight away for going against the principles of the beautiful Dutch game? And now all of a sudden he has found a conscience. Is he trying to protect his own reputation?
During the summer, Van Marwijk sent out a team to kick Spain off the pitch. He thought he would come home to an open-top bus ride after South Africa but instead he came back to a load of criticism about his team’s physical approach. So now he’s made De Jong a scapegoat.
And why is De Jong dropped and Mark van Bommel not? Van Bommel made more cynical challenges in the World Cup than anyone else - and Van Marwijk didn’t do anything about that. I hope it has nothing to do with him being married to Van Marwijk’s daughter.
