20 Dec 2016

Carra blasts: 'Shocking' €41m thug 'should've been sent off' vs. Liverpool; the ref 'bottled it'

Jamie Carragher has blasted Everton midfielder Ross Barkley for his horror tackle on Jordan Henderson.

Analysing Liverpool's hard fought 1-0 victory on Sky Sports last night, Carra barked:

"He [Barkley] should’ve been sent off. He made a shocking tackle on Henderson. How can the linesman not see it? How has he not given that? The referee bottled it - he didn’t want to send someone off".

Gary Neville appeared to agree:

"It’s a shocker of a challenge, and it could’ve broken Henderson's leg".

Having watched the incident several times, it's hard to argue with Carra's assessment. These kind of 'reducer' tackles need to be stamped out of the game, but they remain a badge of honour in the overly physical Premier League.

Local derbies, especially, continue to be defined by physicality, and it's pretty pathetic when thudding tackles and physical battles are the defining characteristics of prestige games.

Plus, I personally find it a little hypocritical to hear the likes of Carragher and Neville bemoaning tough-tackling in local derbies; Carra and his Sky Sports cronies constantly wax lyrical about the physicality in such games, yet they react with surprise and (faux) outrage when bad tackles start flying in.

Hypocrisy, pure and simple.

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* Barkley: €41m-rated (CIES Football Observatory)


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