Home > Football > Are Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool above the law?
Are Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool above the law?
Why is it that with players from the Big Four, reckless tackles seem to escape punishment? It's time the other 16 Premier League clubs were judged by the same standards.
by Lee Sadler on 20 March 2008
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As my profile picture might suggest, I am a Spurs fan -and have just finished watching a highly-entertaining Premier League encounter between Spurs and Chelsea.However, despite the 4-4 scoreline and the highs and lows that were encountered in a high-octane London derby, there was one sour point that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. How the hell did Ashley Cole remain on the pitch after his tackle on Alan Hutton?In recent weeks, there have been numerous accounts concerning Martin Taylor's infamous tackle on Eduardo, which in my humble opinion was an unfortunate yet accidental incident. Yet, Cesc Fabregas and even Sepp Blatter have made very negative remarks towards Taylor and the tackle insinuating that there was some sort of malice involved.However, Taylor’s disciplinary record would indicate that they are both wrong, and despite being a Spurs fan I wouldn't wish that on an Arsenal player or any player for that fact. The red card he received from the referee was punishment enough.So two or three weeks later, with the debate rumbling on, Ashley Cole makes an even worse tackle on Hutton, yet only receives a yellow card. OK, so Hutton didn't break his leg like Eduardo, but it's a miracle he didn't!Cole's studs hit Hutton square on the shin, much like Taylor on Eduardo. However, it was about three feet higher, and this is where my argument begins.Surely a bad tackle is a bad tackle no matter who you are. I have no doubt in my mind that had it have been Pascal Chimbonda making a tackle like that on Joe Cole or Frank Lampard, he'd have been given his marching orders.It amazes me that when a player from Manchester United , Chelsea or Arsenal gets a bit of a roughing up from an opponent, then Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger or Avram 'Toad of Toad Hall' Grant bang on about the safety of their players like they're on the frontline in Iraq. Yet when they dish it out, they somehow manage to miss the incident or the opposing player made a meal of it.This has gone on for years. For example, when Roy Keane practically ended Alfe-Inge Haaland's career, there was no witch-hunt similar to that which followed Martin Taylor. Ferguson wasn't over-critical of his player at the time, yet last week he harped on about how he feared for Cristiano Ronaldo’s future because he didn't get his own way against Portsmouth.Wenger’s reaction to the Taylor tackle was a bit rich. He'd obviously never really watched games that Patrick Vieira or Martin Keown played. I say that because when questioned on such incidents, Wenger generally replies with the famous old " I didn't see it" comment.Then you have Chelsea, whose football talent is only matched by their play-acting skills. If you commit a foul against them then you have at least half the team, led by John Terry and Lampard, surrounding the referee in protest.But if you intimidate the referee into brandishing a card, surely you should expect the same treatment if you commit a similar punishable offence. Surely it works both ways? What was more annoying in the Cole-Hutton incident was the fact that when Tom Huddlestone was, rightly, booked for diving in the second half, Cole was brandishing the old imaginary yellow card around in front of the ref (which apparently is a bookable offence in itself), like he has the right to get on his soap box and take the moral high ground. PS: On the subject of morals, how’s your marriage, Ashley?Another example is when Dimitar Berbatov stands his ground, he is often penalised for backing into an opponent, yet if you watch a live Chelsea match on Sky and Didier Drogba does the same thing, he more often that not goes unpunished with Andy Gray excitedly going on about his upper body strength.Upper body strength, eh? The same strength he possesses when an opponent so much as brushes by him so send him sprawling around the pitch like he’s been smacked in the gob by Lennox Lewis?So are the top four above the law? I'm not saying all teams are whiter than white in terms of discipline or play acting, but it does seem like one rule for 16 and another for the top four.But rules are rules and everyone playing the game should have to conform to these rules. It's part of the game and, who knows, if a big team was to lose a player or two, it could give the smaller teams a chance to produce results that make the league more competitive instead of having a mini league of four dominant teams and the rest battling it out for the scraps that remain.In conclusion, do you think we'll hear Sepp Blatter put his usual unrequired opinion in, and demand that the FA increase the punishment issued to Mr. Cole for his indiscretion? I doubt it very much.
Comments (21)
on March 20, 2008 on March 20, 2008
Lets put it this way, if A.Cole had been playing for Wigan he would have seen red straight away!
Yes you fool!!
by Rob on March 20, 2008
"Ashley Cole makes an even worse tackle on Hutton, yet only receives a yellow card. OK, so Hutton didn't break his leg like Eduardo, but it's a miracle he didn't!" Well put, you fucking cretin. Obviously it must have been a far worse challenge. After all, Hutton only went on to play the second half. Where do they dig people like you up? Do you work for peanuts, or do they have a deal with a monkey farm? No offence.
by Rob LikesDik on March 20, 2008
Rob you are a tw@t, the only reason Eduardo's leg broke was cause it was at the time his weight bearing leg. Taylors tackle was at worst 6 inches off the ground. Cole had both feet off the floor and was at least 2 feet in the air when he made contact with Hutton. The author stated it was a miracle he didn't break his leg and his right, just cause Eduardo ended up worse off, doesn't make Cole's challenge any less severe.
by Martin Newman on March 20, 2008
I agree with what you are saying in principle, But being a Liverpool fan feel somewhat aggravated with your inclusion of the mighty reds in the same cluster of teams which are above the law, yet you fail to qualify their inclusion in your little rant !. The Scum’s Taggert has seemed to unleash his trade mark hair dryer onto the Referees even trying to draw attention to potential hard tacklers in his pre match interviews yet he is happy to watch Rooney steam into the opposition with a red haze around him and turn a blind eye on the blatant diving of his Portuguese winking idiot. As far as Chelski goes it drives me mad when they surround the referee complaining and abusing. And like you rightly pointed out Terry is in the middle of all this. Is this the kind of composure expected of an England captain? I think the FA (the governing body and officials) need to demand more respect from players and managers that continually bring the game into disrepute. As with rugby, if you step over the line or act out of turn you expect to be discipline.
by Mark Thomas on March 20, 2008
Liverpool aren't as bad as the other 3 but are still not without blame. How come Mascherano can put his hands in Aliadiere's face and get away with it, when Aliadiere gets a red card and 4 game game ban for responding in a similar manor
by Dominic Cassidy on March 20, 2008
I agree with what you are saying in principle, But being a Liverpool fan feel somewhat aggravated with your inclusion of the mighty reds in the same cluster of teams which are above the law, yet you fail to qualify their inclusion in your little rant !. Ever noticed how important English players seem to get away with a lot more than anyone else. Remember a certain Alan Shearer being asked to appear before the FA for deliberately stamping on Neil Lennon? Shearer threatened to withdraw from the England team and lo and behold the FA subbenly decided that it wasn't that bad, no action taken The Scum’s Taggert has seemed to unleash his trade mark hair dryer onto the Referees even trying to draw attention to potential hard tacklers in his pre match interviews yet he is happy to watch Rooney steam into the opposition with a red haze around him and turn a blind eye on the blatant diving of his Portuguese winking idiot. As far as Chelski goes it drives me mad when they surround the referee complaining and abusing. And like you rightly pointed out Terry is in the middle of all this. Is this the kind of composure expected of an England captain? I think the FA (the governing body and officials) need to demand more respect from players and managers that continually bring the game into disrepute. As with rugby, if you step over the line or act out of turn you expect to be discipline.
by gooner fromhell on March 20, 2008
Martin - your carragher is a thug that gets away with horrendous fouls in every match. ok, i would agree that his fouls aren't necessarily of the potential leg-breaking calibre, but for a footballer he sure uses his arms darn lot, especially inside the box. having watched quite a few leaverpool games this season i am left wondering whether carragher would have to use a knife against the opposition for a referee to ever give a penalty.
I didn’t say that Liverpool were blameless – I was just indicating that if you include a team in the title of a rant at least mention them in the main article. Jamie Carragher is a legend – passionate about the game passionate about his team. Yes I agree he can be a little Mr. Tickle with his arms, but football is a physical sport, I would rather see two men honestly trying to muscle each other off a ball with arms and shoulders over limbs breaking and long term injuries. I can ever recall Jamie falling over and rolling around on the floor after having the ball taken from him. And as for Xavier Mascherano, well if we are going to go though every slight encounter and tit for tat situation within the English domestic league then we could be here a while. Referees are people, having good days and bad days – In most cases during the time of a season karma comes round to make it all equal in the end.
by Jonny on March 20, 2008
Intimidation is at the center of this. I don't think it preferential treatment as such, but the pressure the fans and players lay on will affect a referee and his decision. I think John Terry is an embarrasment to his team for his antics every single time Chelsea conceeed a foul. Complaining to the referee gets you nowhere. I can understand passion but he must know this. And Ashley Cole yesterday, pathetic. He knows exactly what he's done and as a professional he should accept the card and be thankful it wasn't red as he deserved.
by stein hoibo on March 20, 2008
"Liverpool aren't as bad as the other 3 but are still not without blame. How come Mascherano can put his hands in Aliadiere's face and get away with it, when Aliadiere gets a red card and 4 game game ban for responding in a similar manor". You got your facts wrong. Masc was not HITTING. He was warning after been kicked three times in under a second. Aliadiere was given a three game ban (as the rules says). He was given an extra game ban because his team complained about the decition. Although I agree players like Torres and Ronaldo should be protected more by the refs. Don`t even compare those two tackles. Eduardo had his foot firmly on the ground. A tackle like this should have at least a 10 game ban. Coles tackle is a red card (3 games).
Lee harvey Oswald may not have shot anyone before but that didn't make him innocent. (ref Taylor) ... How long are Eduardos legs (three feet higher look at the pictures again!!)?.. And what about that dive by a Spurs player last night if a foreigner had have done that Sportingo would have hanged him by now?
by Essexian76 on March 21, 2008
Riley had it in his power to send Cole off, firstly for the challenge and secondly for showing disrespect, he chose to yellow card him, why? simple, he's a poor ref, I think any other ref would have sent him off, but that wimp chose the cowards option. Are you seriously saying that all refs get together and select teams and players that can or cant be sent off...codswallop...no conspiracy theory,just poor judgement by a poor referee
by GoonaAbroad on March 21, 2008
That article is almost spot on - but almost! It is not the teams that get away - the English players ALWAYS get away! That John "One-more-Drink" Terry is on top of it! For example, against Sunderland -instead of getting his marching orders for his clumsiness he stays and, ironically, scores the only goal of the game. I am sick of watching Arsenal players being punished for the smallest physical effort against the English players from the smaller clubs. The refs are biased and the media plays a part for that - remember the non-English debate? The FA should not duck but tackle the system that circles around transfers and bungs. Unless it is business before country...
by Andy on March 21, 2008
Allowed to tackle at waist height (Kuyt). Can ask the ref ro change a yellow card to red. Outfield players allowed to act as goalkeepers. Opposition reduced to 10 man team on a weekly basis. Special dispensation to enter the CL when they don't qualify.
by Paul Cranswick on March 22, 2008
I think it is probably clear that referees dont set out to favour one team over another but they do certainly get intimidated. Mike Rileys extraordinary record of awarding penalties to Man U and the absence of penalties awarded against the big four as great examples of this. The standard of behaviour from certain players at these clubs needs to be firmly dealt with as they set an example to youngsters and are ambassadors for the english league worldwide. Thus Rooney's continued swearing at officials should be rewarded by consistent sanction. Cole, Terry and Drogba's behaviour at Chelsea is usually intolerable. Terry is not England Captain Material by any stretch of the imagination - this should go to Ferdinand who has cleaned up his game following his travails and has been Englands best defender at two world cups. Arsenal and Liverpool behave a little better than Chelsea and Man U but they do get the rub of the green more often than not. The Taylor incident is an example - a tragic accident where Taylor was outdone by a faster and more skillful opponent. It was a one footed lat tackle that merited a yellow card and no more - the injury was tragic but incidental there was clearly no intent. Cole's challenge on the other hand cannot be similarly excused. There have been plenty of examples this season of players being sent off for bookable offences Kitson and Koumas being good examples but the big four have to really step out of line to see red.
by stein hoibo on March 23, 2008
"Liverpool FC are The Law Allowed to tackle at waist height (Kuyt). Can ask the ref ro change a yellow card to red. Outfield players allowed to act as goalkeepers. Opposition reduced to 10 man team on a weekly basis. Special dispensation to enter the CL when they don't qualify." The rules were changed, because in ALL cups, the winning team will enter the next years competition. If one of the four top teams should have any rights to complain, it surely is Liverpool. Just the last two seasons: 0-3 at Goodison. The two first goals were CLEAR freekicks to L., Chelseas penalty at Anfield, Reina (hands) playing Bolton, Reading-Liverpool, four (three clear) penalties, and ALL 50/50-decitions awarded the other team. For each insident against Liverpool, there are two the other way.
on March 23, 2008 on March 23, 2008
Liverpool!!! Carragher is a cross between a basketball player and a rugby player.
He probably does watch football from abroad with a name like GoonaAbroad. I bet he watches Arsenal from another country.
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