Premier League Round 12: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

The Ugly

James McCarthy’s Tackle 

West Ham’s Dimitri Payet has been arguably their best player this season and a large part of why they are in the hunt for a place in the top four.

He is also a piece of the puzzle they won’t have for the next three-plus months.

The reason he will be out for three months is because of a terrible challenge from Everton midfielder James McCarthy.

Payet received a pass near midfield and turned to go up the field. After he made his turn McCarthy dives into a tackle. His left leg crashes into Payet’s left leg before McCarthy brings his right leg through Payet’s legs in a scissor motion which caused Payet’s injury.

It was terribly timed by McCarthy and I would hope that he did not mean to injure Payet. I would say he meant no harm through the tackle, but does it really matter?

Payet is out for a long time while McCarthy will continue to play on. Why didn’t match official Paul Tierney send McCarthy off?

McCarthy’s studs were not showing, but look at how high up Payet’s leg McCarthy tackles. That is way too high. He may not have meant to hurt Payet, but the challenge was reckless and it should have resulted in a red card.

Too many players have been hurt this season because their opponent’s tackle with no regard as to the well being of the opponent.

PSV defender Hector Moreno’s tackle on Luke Shaw wasn’t even ruled a foul, but it broke his leg in two places. It should have been a card and a penalty kick.

AS Roma player Radja Nainggolan performed a similarly dreadful tackle on Barcelona’s promising midfielder Rafinha, which tore his ACL and put him out for the season.

When are referees going to start looking at how high up the leg tackles are being placed, as opposed to just looking to see if the defender’s studs are showing?

Legs are not meant to be scythed out from under the attacker while they are running and planting on the pitch.

Until red cards are shown for these types of tackles attackers will continue to accrue serious injuries.

Referees, and the Football Association, must start protecting the players.

Saido Berahino’s Header Sitter

West Brom striker Saido Berahino had a glorious opportunity to level their match with Manchester United at one.

He made a great run into the box and a perfect cross was sent in. Berahino was all alone and managed only to send his header well off target.

As an unmarked attacker in the six-yard box it is criminal to not score, let alone miss the target.

If you look at how Berahino approached the header it is easy to see why he missed it so terribly.

Typically, the forward is expected to attack the ball in the air. If you hit the ball, as opposed to letting the ball hit you, it does not hurt that much to head the ball.

Also, you want to get on top of the header as much as possible.

Berahino did none of these things.

As the ball approaches you can see him almost duck his head to protect his face. He does not attack the ball. He does not get on top of the ball.

"Shearer mugging off Berahino with that poor attempt of a header, "Don't wanna head it, it's gonna hurt me……""

Schoolboy is often used as a description for defending which you would not even see at the age young children first play organized soccer.

This was schoolboy heading. I’ve never really seen a professional forward look as though they were afraid of the ball as it approached, but there is a first time for everything, I guess.

After the match, West Brom manager Tony Pulis talked about Berahino’s lack of fitness and match sharpness as something that could have contributed to the miss.

There is no way you can attribute a miss like that to match fitness and sharpness. That scoring chance was all about wanting it or not. Clearly, Berahino did not want that scoring chance.

Next: Lower Leagues The Future Of Premier League

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