| Reds steal win from Sydney FC An injury-time goal to Adelaide United midfielder Iain Ramsay steals the Reds a 2-1 win from Sydney FC, but the home side are finally showing signs of a season turnaround. foxsports.com.au |
Football has a duty to disarm its missiles Nigel de Jong's tackle on Hatem Ben Arfa raises questions of exactly what constitutes an acceptable challengeA month ago, according to Alan Shearer's notorious observation on Match of the Day, nobody had heard of Hatem Ben Arfa. They have now. A tackle by Nigel de Jong broke the tibia and fibula of the gifted young French forward's right leg on Sunday afternoon, condemning him to months of rehabilitation and raising once again the question of exactly what constitutes an acceptable challenge in modern football.De Jong has recent form of the kind that tends to skew a debate. During Holland's friendly against the United States in March he broke the leg of the Bolton Wanderers midfielder Stuart Holden with a very similar tackle. And in Johannesburg three months ago, during the World Cup final, the sole of his raised boot made jarringly painful contact with the chest of Xabi Alonso. Poor Howard Webb, desperately trying to preserve the quality of a showpiece occasion, let it go, but yesterday even Holland's manager, Bert van Marwijk, lost patience and dropped De Jong from his squad after viewing the tackle on Ben Arfa.The Dutchman is known for his stern tackling, and it has made him one of the most successful of Manchester City's recruits since the money started flowing in. A product of the Ajax academy, he is the kind of holding midfield player around whom a side can be built, and he fits into English league football as well as Dave Mackay, Nobby Stiles or Peter Storey once did.But football has changed, or rather footballers have, since those particular hard men held sway. All players are athletes now, far stronger and faster than their predecessors, which means that they are hurtling into contact more frequently and at much greater velocity. It also means they are often making those tackles before the player in possession has had time to control the ball or set himself to resist, absorb or evade the challenge.That was more or less the case with Ben Arfa. But Jordi Gómez of Wigan Athletic was running at full speed and had taken a touch when Karl Henry, the Wolves captain, came flying in on Saturday, sending the Catalan midfielder into a spectacular somersault. If it looked much worse than the collision between De Jong and Ben Arfa, luckily it had a better outcome.The two challenges had something in common: both tacklers were going for the ball, aiming to dispossess the opponent. The injury to Ben Arfa was incurred when the Newcastle United player made contact with De Jong's trailing leg. The sheer force of Henry's arrival knocked Gómez off his feet. In both cases, however, the tackler had launched himself like a sort of human missile, although neither challenge was two-footed.Ryan Shawcross's challenge on Aaron Ramsey last March, in which Arsenal's young Welshman suffered the same double fracture as Ben Arfa, was another example of recklessness, although Arsène Wenger thought he detected something else. "I love the commitment of the English game," he said afterwards. "I do not want to change that. I think it makes the game even more attractive. But high commitment demands as well fair intention."Intention is hard, often impossible, to identify with any certainty. Shawcross's tears after the incident supported those who felt that there had been no malice in the young Stoke City player's challenge. When the ankle of another Arsenal player, Eduardo Da Silva, was damaged in a tackle by Birmingham City's Martin Taylor in February 2008 so badly that the Croatian has never recovered full effectiveness, a combination of clumsiness and poor timing looked to be the culprit.The red-card offences of "serious foul play" and "violent conduct" no longer quite cover challenges in which recklessness creates a threat to another player's limbs. Football needs a new regulation – "reckless endangerment", perhaps – that would be the equivalent of the law against driving without due care and attention, rigorously punished by dismissal to ensure offenders got the point – as they would have to.For spectators, a contrast of styles is the essence of football. Brilliant one-touch interplay is thrown into higher relief when confronted by opponents favouring a straightforward, even rugged approach. But there has to be a way of protecting the Ben Arfas and the Ramseys more effectively, without neutering the game.Cavendish can learn from cycling's rainbow warriorThor Hushovd is the canny Norwegian rider who denied Mark Cavendish the green jersey at the 2009 Tour de France, edging ahead in the final standings thanks to a protest against his younger rival's riding in a sprint finish at Besançon, which the race commissaires controversially upheld. On Sunday he became the world road race champion, at the end of a race in which Cavendish retired.The two men settled their differences long ago, but the highly strung Manxman has a good memory and an appetite for revenge. If you had to devise a means of motivating him to win his first green jersey in next summer's Tour, you might come up with the idea of forcing him to watch Hushovd spending a year sporting the world champion's rainbow colours.Heskey shows sure timing Houllier's arrival at Villa Park, has turned down an overture from Fabio Capello – or rather, as is now traditional, from Capello's assistant Franco Baldini – to change his mind about his retirement from the international game, which means he will not be returning to help out a depleted England squad at next week's Euro 2012 qualifying match against Montenegro. Apart from vindicating the judgment of those who have spent long and often arduous years resolutely refusing to join the legions of long-term Heskey-baiters, the player's decision shows that the Aston Villa forward understands the oldest rule of show business: always leave them wanting more.Money tap has a source "It's nothing to do with him," Ryan Giggs's agent told my colleague Simon Hattenstone when the subject of the Glazer family's controversial ownership of Manchester United came up in an interview published in last Saturday's Weekend section of this newspaper.Maybe one of the many things wrong with modern professional football is that players show no interest in the identity of their employers. This has only become an issue since big clubs fell into the hands of the sort of people who figure on lists kept by Amnesty International, albeit the Glazers are not among these. But there are plenty of people in the world – even journalists – who care about where their money comes from. Why shouldn't footballers?Richard Williamsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Rooney to quit Man U Speculation is mounting that striker Wayne Rooney is set to leave Manchester United following a rift with Sir Alex Ferguson. foxsports.com.au |
Win! Win! Win! Take a photo that answers this question and you could win two VIP tickets to England v France, a new England home shirt and a digital cameraTo celebrate the launch of the England football team's latest home kit, which is available to buy from 12 October, Umbro is holding a competition for all budding amateur photographers.All you need to do is take a photo that answers this question: What is beautiful about England today? It could be anything from a simple nature scene to the crowd at a football match. Then go to Umbro's Facebook page to upload your photo and enter the competition. The winning entry will receive two VIP tickets to see the new kit being worn by the England team in their match against France at Wembley on 17 November. On the day of the match the winners will receive meals, drinks, transfers to Wembley and a night's accommodation. The top prize also includes a new England home shirt and a digital camera worth £500, while the winning entry will be shown on the big screen at half-time. Five runners-up will receive the new shirt. Umbro's new England kit was created in collaboration with graphic designer Peter Saville. From his early designs, including album sleeves for New Order and Joy Division at Factory Records, through to his collaborations with fashion clients such as Christian Dior, Saville's work continues to influence and inspire.The New Fabric of England is Saville's personal vision of modern England. The clean white shirt with the multicoloured St George's cross motif on the shoulder reflects the multicultural diversity of the England team and its supporters. As Saville puts it: "Football is a language everyone can relate to and the new England home kit provides the perfect canvas to reflect what England looks like today." (Click here to watch a video interview with the man himself).Inspired by the idea behind this cultural fabric, Umbro decided to reveal the new kit on a special England team line-up made up of some of the best young footballing talent in the country. Alongside established names including Wayne Rooney and Joe Hart, the image also includes players such as Jade Bailey, one of the best prospects in the England women's team, and Eric Dier, an English teenager playing in Portugal.So get thinking about what modern, beautiful England looks like to you. The competition will be judged by the Guardian and Observer's head of photography, Roger Tooth, with the most original and creative entries to be showcased on guardian.co.uk. Visit facebook.com/umbro to enter.Closing date for entries is 29 October 2010.guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Schalke 04 v Hapoel Tel Aviv: live Follow live commentary of the Champions League Group B match between Schalke 04 and Hapoel Tel Aviv at the Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday Oct 20 2010, kick-off 19.45 BST. telegraph.co.uk |