Avoiding the Drop

For those new to Chelsea, look up Ron "Chopper" Harris in the history books.

Evolution is a mystery, honestly.  Looking back at history offers up some sort of comparison with what was once as opposed to what is happening now.  There have been a raft of high-profile injuries very early in this Barclay’s Premier League season, and it’s gotten some columnists wondering things like “what’s happened?” to beautiful English football.

You’re kidding me, right?  You must be joking.  You have to be.  David Hirshey, I’ve always respected you, but seriously, you cannot have written this piece with a straight face.

English football has a long and storied tradition of violence on the pitch, heavy tackles, brutal elbows, cheap shots of every kind.  You think all those songs and stories about how brutal Leeds United were in the 60′s and 70′s are just made up fairy tales?  You think Roy Keane or Ron “Chopper” Harris got their reputations for being soft?  You think Eric Cantona, who was the most brilliant footballer I ever got a chance to see play in person, was a gentle genial soul who was pushed into punching that supporter and then being banned for eight months?

Look, English football is what it is.  I’m no fan of sub-par tackling, especially when it’s done with such an innocent face like Paul Scholes always manage to pull, and I do feel awful whenever anyone gets hurt severely.  But, to claim that this is some sort of new phenomenon is ludicrous.  English CLUB football is not now, nor has ever been, a competition for the faint-hearted.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you’re looking for something resembling the “beautiful game” that is talked about with wistful looks and gentle sighs, you’re much better looking towards La Primera Liga.  If you want beautiful technically precise football, cast your gaze towards Germany’s Bundesliga.  English football contains elements of both, but don’t think for one second that the traditions of club football in England include some sort of rule against hard and potentially dangerous tackling.

There’s a certain element of the game today that lends itself to players essentially taking the law into their own hands, and you can see it start to happen when you watch a match where the whistle starts to sound often.  I would put it out there that players these days feel that the referees exert too much control, blow the whistles too often for fouls that are hardly close to real contact, that players are willing to go to ground much more easily than they used to.  There has to be a certain element now that feels that if the referees are going to award every touch as a foul and subsequent free kick, they might as well earn their money and go in hard.  I know for a fact that players try to police each other through hard tackles.  It’s always a shame when it goes horribly wrong, but let’s not start going off half-cocked trying to say that the referees are somehow “relaxing” their attitudes towards these infractions.  They are not, if anything, they blow the whistle way more often these days then they did in the past.  The money in the game makes them attempt to “protect” the high-profile players with more whistles and more free-kicks.

Injuries occur, and it’s unlikely you would ever get a player to openly admit that they were deliberately attempting to injure a colleague.  Don’t think for one second that they don’t take a look at who they are going in on, though.  There are personal rivalries that take place from youth leagues to the highest profile leagues in the world.  This has been this way for ages, though, it’s not a new phenomenon.  I just want everyone to realize that we have to expect that these types of tackles and injuries will continue until tackling is outlawed completely and we use “friendly” rules in every match.  Until that day, though, do some damn research, David.

Let’s see what’s available for viewing today, shall we?  All times EDT as usual.

7:45 am – ESPN2/ESPN3.com – Stoke City vs. West Ham United
9:30 am – GolTV – Bayern Munich vs. Cologne
9:30 am – ESPN3.com – Werder Bremen vs. FSV Mainz 05
10:00 am – Fox Soccer Channel – Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wolverhampton
10:00 am – Fox Soccer Plus – Everton vs. Newcastle
12:00 pm – Fox Soccer Plus – Fiorentina vs. Lazio
12:30 pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Sunderland vs. Arsenal
2:00 pm – GolTV – Sporting Gijon vs. Athletic Bilbao
2:45 pm – Fox Soccer Channel – AC Milan vs. Catania
4:00 pm – Telefutura – Real Salt Lake vs. Chicago Fire
4:00 pm – GolTV – Real Sociedad vs. Real Madrid
6:00 pm – GolTV – Botafogo vs. Cruzeiro
7:20 pm – GolTV – Atletico Huila vs. Nacional de Medellin
7:30 pm – DIrect Kick – Columbus Crew vs. Seattle Sounders
8:00 pm – Telemundo – Chivas de Guadalajara vs. Jaguares
8:00 pm – Fox Sports Espanol – Veracruz vs. Irapuato
8:30 pm – Direct Kick – Houston Dynamo vs. Toronto FC
9:00 pm – Direct Kick – Colorado Rapids vs. New England Revolution
9:45 pm – Telefutura – San Luis vs. Pachuca
10:00 pm – Telemundo – Atlante vs. Morelia
10:30 pm – Fox Soccer Channel – Los Angeles Galaxy vs. D.C. United

Boy, I hope no one gets a hard tackle today.  Enjoy the matches, and as always, thank you SO much for your clicks and comments.  We really appreciate the time you give us.