The Duel

Arguably the most competitive league in the world has lived up to expectation in the first five rounds of the calendar. However the war of words between fellow managers regarding hard tackles and gamesmanship has stolen the limelight from some of the great football that has already been played and numerous magnificent goals. Two schools have developed in the English game. The Arsene Wenger way which defines football as an exhibition of talent in which the game is as much about entertainment as competition and the job of the referee is to protect those players who provide us with the highest quality show. In the other corner we have the Sam Allardyce theory which advocates a more rough and ready approach to the game. A culture of working with what you have and seeking level ground with rich, star studied opponents by means of hard work and determination.

Recently a strange phenomenon has occurred regarding the club closest to my heart. Wolves have received praise for the last three seasons now for playing attractive football and priding themselves on a squad consisting of young, hungry and mainly British players who have at times punched above their weight. However on 28th August 2010 I witnessed the fixture which appears to have tarnished McCarthy’s Wolves’ reputation in a mere ninety minutes in a game against Newcastle which I can only describe as total war. The game resulted in no less than twelve yellow cards being brandished and most notably was the midfield duel between Karl Henry and Joey Barton which various media sources enjoyed highlighting as an example of good old fashioned football at its finest. Henry was since involved in an incident with Fulham’s Bobby Zamora which resulted in the England international falling terribly on his ankle, sidelining him until February 2011 at least. Although pundits have dismissed any malice in Henry’s tackle it would appear certain newspaper’s particularly London based sources are hinting at the skipper’s role in Zamora’s injury. A notable example is the quote ‘Bobby Zamora was carried off in agony following a crunching challenge by Wolves captain Karl Henry.’ Whilst Henry may well have tried his luck at provoking the controversial Joey Barton on his own patch – he won the ball in the challenge with Zamora and was distraught to see him go down the way he did.

It appears to be a trend in football in recent times that every week we see horrific injuries resulting from fairly routine challenges. One of our focal points Arsene Wenger has suffered the loss of players such as Eduardo, Diaby and Ramsey to long term injuries and made no bones about blaming their misfortune on the recklessness of his opponents. Allardyce on the other side of the coin has accused Wenger of insighting fear towards referees who are chosen to handle games involving sides such as Arsenal as if the Frenchman’s words burden them with a moral responsibility to the safety of his player’s welfare which is not really fair.

The question is, who is right and who is wrong? I think we can see both sides of the coin. Nobody wants to see promising young players injured for long periods of time and face career threatening fractures at the hands of reckless challenges. He may dislike it but Wenger’s men can mix it up themselves as I witnessed myself at Molineux last year. Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby both came close themselves to injuring Wolves’ players with two footed tackles which went unpunished by the media or the referee, the most shocking of which ironically on Karl Henry himself. Football is still a contact sport and in order to compete one must sometimes be physical which of course has its dangers. It is the referee’s duty for sure that he ensures dangerous challenges are suitably punished so as to ensure all 22 players on the pitch are protected by consistent rules. Despite this, it is our duty as fans to ensure that we do not slip into an environment where a player is vilified for winning the ball.