By Myles Palmer
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EXPECT a fiery, energetic effort by Arsenal tonight, with Thierry scoring.
After Bolton, Thierry plays, which is the right call.
Fabregas will supply the passes needed to outsmart rugged, canny Galasek, the Czech anchorman who is their best player.
Like Arsenal they have their two left backs out, Emanuelson and Maxwell.
ARSENE may switch Lauren to left back against zippy South African Pienaar, who is playing wide right now.
De Jong is scoring from central midfield these days.
Ajax are eighth in the Dutch league.
POSSIBLE LINE-UPS :
ARSENAL : Almunia; Eboue, Senderos, Toure, Lauren; Fabregas, Flamini, Larsson, Quincy; Henry, Van Persie.
Ajax (4-1-2-3): Stekelenburg; Heitinga, Grygera, Vermaelen, Juanfran; Galasek; De Jong, Sneijder; Pienaar, Babel, Rosenberg.
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Chelsea v Liverpool had 0-0 written all over it, especially when we saw that Rafa Benitez left his best player, Xabi Alonso, at home.
MICHAEL ESSIEN’S assault on Didi Hamann was the worst tackle I’ve seen in England for five years.
In a midfield skirmish in 22 minutes, Gerrard was nearest to the ball, Hamann was next to him, and Essien steamed in a yard wide of the ball and crunched into Hamann’s leg just below the knee
It was a vicious, calculated assault.
The audacity of his assault was amazing. And having watched it 12 times now, the “tackle” gets more amazing every time.
Because it is off the ball.
It had to be deliberate because only a pub player would miss the ball by that much. And Essien is not a pub player.
The ball was almost stationary. That is the key point.
If the ball had been moving, or moving fast, you might be able to excuse Essien’s boot missing the ball by so much.
IT WAS SHOCKING.
Hamann was lucky not to suffer a broken leg.
He did not squeal in the TV interview, but told press reporters that it was the worst tackle ever made on him in his career.
It was horrible.
That is not sport. It’s not football.That is not what we want to see.
We want to see a contest of competitive skill, played within the rules, or very close to the rules, and in a good spirit.
We do not want to see robot violence.
The ref, who was three yards away, did not see it, perhaps because he was too close and watching the ball.
The ref’s line of sight may have been obscured by Gerrard’s body.
Clearly, an over-the-ball tackle on a player in possession is one thing.
But an over-the-ball assault on a player who does NOT have the ball is bizarre. It’s something which is outside of our culture, outside our British history of football.
So Uefa must look at the video.
Do MasterCard want to sponsor such thuggery?
Do Carlsberg want to sponsor such thuggery?
PlayStation?
Heineken?
PS. It now appears that Uefa rules do not allow them to look at that tackle.
PPS.3.30 pm :I now gather that Uefa cannot look at the tackle. But they will look at the referee.
December 7th 2005.