EPL Talk - Latest Comments in Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

TheScout — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:22:55 -0000

Try watching the tackle again. Neville certainly did not make a meal out of it.

http://www.d1g.com/video/sh...

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

Michael — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:08:37 -0000

Officials do get calls wrong; I would know, I'm a certified referee myself and have played soccer at a high enough level to see it in action.

This is a case of that. Look, the Everton player made a meal of it and there wasn't even much contact. Mikel came in from the front and with only one foot. This wasn't a scissors tackle or anything else that dangerous, it was the same as a lot of tackles I've seen that only get yellow cards.

The only, and I repeat, only reasons Mikel got sent off was because of his reputation and because referees have been instructed to crack down and take a no-tolerance policy towards these challenges, when they should be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

Darin — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:48:41 -0000

Not to mention the red card against the Ipswich player in the FA Cup that should have been yellow at most...

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

Michael — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 21:58:10 -0000

My thoughts exactly, wanderer_abroad.

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

wanderer_abroad — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:22:22 -0000

Call me bias but I think one of the people to blame for the sudden harshness of referees is Sir Alex Ferguson. For years he has been moaning to referees about such tackles - obviously only for self-interest - and is always questioning the referees decision in other matches. I think its down to him and other managers that the referees have been told to enforce the rule book to the extact letter of the law instead of using common sense when dealing with matters like this. The Mikel red card was never a sending off offence even though it was a silly challenge.

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

Michael — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 19:04:48 -0000

To be fair, that shouldn't have been a red card for Mikel. Yes, his studs were up, but it was one-footed and from the front. The red card was a case of a player who has a bad reputation and referees instructed to take a zero-tolerance policy on tackles like that, when in reality it should be taken case-by-case and not just blanket red cards.

Re: Has everyone forgotten how to tackle?

Ginto — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:14:10 -0000

What is strange is that I was watching some old FA Cup replays on FSC and really enjoyed seeing some vintage English football. The thing that I noticed, however, was that I think the tackles were generally horrific. The fact that most of the tackles I saw weren't even punished with a foul (much less a booking), leads me to think tackling in general must be very, very difficult.

I've only just started playing football, at an -ahem- advanced age, and slide tackling is not allowed at all so I don't know how difficult a skill it really is. I would think though that if you can make a good cross-field pass and have basic football skills, you should be able to make a clean tackle. My limited viewing of H.S. football has shown me that the boys (and girls) in High School can normally tackle pretty well without going in either two-footed or with their studs up.