Birmingham 2-2 Arsenal – 23/02/08 – (Premier League) 24 February, 2008
Posted by lasagnechef in Premiership.trackback
In the second minute of the game, that happened. The horrific, idiotic, reckless challenge by Martin Taylor on Eduardo da Silva. For the few seconds in which the incident took place, I wasn’t actually looking at the TV, so I missed it, however it was clear that something really quite bad had taken place. The players around him urgently called Gary Lewin on, the sheer panic on everyone’s faces really hit me.
Everyone had a look on their face saying, ‘Woah, this is bad.’ Eduardo was on the pitch for 10 minutes receive urgent treatment. A lot of people were watching this thinking, when are they going to show the replay? Sky said they wouldn’t show the images as they were too sickening for general viewing. When I got home I found these images and this video (Warning: These are not for the faint hearted). Horrible.
Look at that second picture at the top of this article, Eduardo’s face. He didn’t deserve that. Taylor has gone in, clearly not for the ball but to “let him know he was there”. I don’t for one minute suggest that he’s intentionally broken his leg but I’m 100% positive that he meant to miss the ball. That’s why he’s a fucking imbecile who shouldn’t be playing football. After the game Arsene said he should be banned from playing for the rest of his career, comments which he later retracted saying it was all in the heat of the moment. I agreed with him at the time but it shows our class he so quickly, publicly apologised for what he said.
However, it raises the issue that such a terrible ‘tackle’ if you want to call it that, will only result in a three-match ban. Arseblogger (in a great post this morning) talks about this saying that it’s a shame that we had to wait until somebody got really hurt until maybe the FA do something about it. This season there has been some horrendous fouls, a lot of them seemed to come around the same time, towards the end of 2007, and I remember everyone saying that very soon somebody is going to be on the wrong end of something disgusting. Yet I never thought it might happen to us.
Obviously Taylor was red-carded immediately. However there are some stupid pricks out there. Birmingham players surrounded the ref debating his decision, pundits dismissed it as ‘harsh’ and TalkSport radio spoke about ‘typical diving Arsenal’ and how we just can’t take an ‘English Tackle’. Fuck off you stupid cunts, I’d love to see you be on the other end of that tackle you deluded-United-loving-wankers.
You might think that I’m spending a bit long talking about just one challenge in the game, however it completely overshadowed anything else that happened yesterday. When Da Silva was receiving treatment the camera panned around our players who were all abject, some with their heads in their hands. It was horrible to watch and all the fans at home and in the ground felt the same too.
When play finally continued you could blatantly see that it this had affected our play, and it was no surprise when we went one-nil down. They won a dubious penalty outside the area and James McFadden took a good free kick curling into the top corner that Almunia couldn’t quite get enough on.
At half time Arsene Wenger said what needed to be said, and it got through to the players. Within 10 minutes of the second half we were 2-1 up from two Theo Walcott goals. The first was a cross which Adebayor tried to get a head to but the ball fell in the area which Walcott reacted quickest to make it 1-1. The second was a more individual goal, with the confidence of his first Premiership goal five minutes earlier Theo cut in from the right and shot from just outside the area back across goal. A great finish and we were all smiling again.
The first half was a bit depressing with everything that happened but it least it looked like we were going to win. We were on top for the rest of the game, Adebayor had loads of chances, many of which were headers but there was one that is haunting me today. Ade broke clean through and charged towards goal with just the ‘keeper to beat.
He was sort of coming in from the left but Bendtner had followed the play and was making a free, unmarked run down the middle. All it needed was a nice ball squared and it was 3-1. Open goal, simple. However Adebayor was incredibly selfish which had me fuming, he wanted to continue his goal scoring run, not help the team. He missed at that was the end of a fantastic chance. At the time we were wining 2-1 so it didn’t bother me greatly but after game I was livid with him. I do hope Wenger had a go at him because I wish I could.
So it looked like we were going to win this one, until extra time. It was in the 94th minute that Gael Clichy costs us the game. A stray ball went over the box and out to the left, now for some reason Clichy paid no attention to it. He must have either thought it was comfortably going out or maybe he didn’t see Parnaby lurking. Once Gael noticed the danger we were in he tried to get the ball off him but wrapped his foot around him from behind and a penalty was given.
I’ve been told today it wasn’t a penalty but at the time it looked like it was. Usually I record Match of the Day and watch it the following morning for the match report but I didn’t feel like it yesterday. I was furious. And so was Gallas, he was so pissed off he had to remove himself from the situation and walk up the other end of the field. McFadden stepped up and put it away and it finished 2-2. Gallas sat on the pitch whilst everyone went back to the dressing rooms until Wenger came and got him.
A lot of people were angry with our captain’s actions but I would have done exactly the same thing and I do not blame him one single bit. That is my opinion. I know what he’s done wrong here so don’t try and tell me.
Yesterday was a very bad day for Arsenal. It’s the worst I’ve felt since possibly the 2006 Champions League Final. I said to myself, “Oi, we’ve only fucking drawn with Birmingham. It isn’t the end of the world. We’re still three points clear.” It was just the manner of dropping those two points, plus Adebayor’s selfishness and mainly due to the sickening injury to Eduardo.
At the time I thought this could be a career threatening injury, at least two years out, if he came back at all. He spent the night in a Birmingham hospital last night and has moved down to London today. I’ve heard from Croatian sources that the injury could not bad as bad as first thought and he could be back in 6 months. Think back to Alan Smith’s injury whilst playing for Man Utd, his bone was ticking out of his leg too and he was back in 7 months. I’m sure we’ll here all about it this week.
We have to believe now. We have to win the league for Eduardo. He was becoming a bit of a fans favourite, a fantastic finisher and a great guy. He was going to be one of the most exciting players of Euro 2008 and it’s his fucking birthday tomorrow!
All I want to see now is Eduardo Da Silva, on crutches, lifting the title at Ashburton Grove with everyone cheering his name. Make it happen Arsenal. Thanks for reading.
hey cannon, how good are these Croatian Sources?
I think we all need some good news about this, but i dont wanna get carried away.
I’ve heard Eduardo’s spoken to the manager with positive news. There was also a news article in croatian which somebody translated. I’ll try find it if you like
Why show the pictures on this site? I always thought you had more class than this.
Hey chef ifs not to much trouble, it wood be great
Why does that show less class if he shows pictures on here? Isn’t it the reason you read the site for Arsenal news? Well…it’s news. The whole article is about how terrible the tackle is and how badly he feels about it just like every other supporter does. He isn’t showing it because he has no class, he’s showing it because he’s reporting what happened. I did the same thing on my blog. We all feel like people need to see the extent of what happened and that there needs to be a reaction to it by the FA. Three games is not enough for that.
Yeah, Alan Smith recovered eventually. But he’s not half the player he was.
What can be said about this tackle?…..I know that taylor should never play again, simple. btw u guys signed that petition? http://www.petitiononline.com/mataylor/petition.html
Theyve got 23354 signatures all saying that he should be banned for life
Guys, this site quoted some Crotian news that Eduardo called Bilic and said he’s doing ok:
http://thegoonerforum.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/good-news-on-eduardo-injury/
If true, this is really great!
I didn’t show the horrible pictures. Just the ones I thought said the most: the challege itself, Eduardo’s reaction, the red card, Cesc praying, them urgantly calling for help and him being strechered off.
Fuck off otariq. What are you on about class?
ok i’m a bluenose who was at the game yesterday but I felt gutted when I saw the pictures on TV. At the time we could only see a player being taken off and of course we cheered out of respect.
I can’t defend the tackle so I won’t try, and of course I like all other bluenoses genuinely hope that Eduardo makes a full recovery.
I honestly thought Arsenal only really got going in the second half, although perhaps thats understandable, but in that time you should have scored 3, nevertheless thats two draws we probably didn’t expect to get against you.
Again best wishes to Eduardo.
This They won a dubious penalty outside the area sounds ‘funny’, ‘chef.
Indeed, despite Clichy’s critical absent-minded mistake, he did retrieve the ball cleanly and it wasn’t a penalty (unlike what should have been on Ade just before).
DC, good to see a nice measured post from a B’ham City fan, credit to you. Indeed we should have scored a 3rd long before.
I don’t blame Gallas walking all the way to the other side of the field at the time of the foul. We don’t know what happened when he the dressing room, but atleast when everyone was watching and could see him, he didn’t blow up and go nuts on Clichy for messing up (though I didn’t catch the part about Gallas just sitting there after the game was over until Wenger went to get him so I can’t comment on that). Clichy’s mistake was inexcusable and a horrible mess-up, but for the most part this season, he’s been decent; hardly normal of him to screw up this badly. Also, to the idiots that actually thought this was a dive and Eduardo “unable to take an English tackle”, yeah, he was totally “faking” his broken leg right? How would they react after they just had their leg broken? What a bunch of idiots.
Here’s to Eduardo making a speedy and FULL recovery.
i really fear for him not only because he is a arsenal player but the great talant he has also I HOPE GET BETTER EDUARDO !!!!!
we all Love eduardo nananana ow
Fuckers,
I’ve had some time to reflect, and I’m still fucking pissed off. Wenger was absolutely wrong for apologising to that fuckwit Taylor. Wenger said it best in the heat of the moment – Taylor SHOULD be banned for fucking life. That fucker should serve penitence for the despicable act he committed. That fucker should be tried under the old law of an eye for a eye, a tooth for a tooth, a leg for a fucking broken leg.
Fuck, I’ve never hated English commentators so fucking much as I do right now. They make my blood boil and my lymph seethe. They make me want to do unspeakable acts to unspeakable people. I never realised before why you fuckers have it in for those TV fucks, but now I do. Those fuckers can all get chopped apart by Brum players, for all I fucking care.
And Lou, Eduardo’s probably so doped up right now that he doesn’t know WHAT football is, let alone make an informed decision as to the likelihood of his ever playing again. He probably thought Bilic was the tooth fairy, or some shit like that.
For fuck’s sake.
Oh, and Mike Dean…. I can’t even talk about him.
chef, I think you showed class in selecting those pics to put up. they spoke for themselves in telling the story without sensationalising the graphic nature of the injury. Lots of other sites showing the video and gory pictures which i think do not show respect to Eduardo. The man himself said:
“I don’t remember the incident very well and it is not something that I want to see again on television or in the newspapers,” said Eduardo.
Great to hear from him and just like you, I hope he recovers as well as possible AND get the medal in May. Despite the draw, the Arsenal lads are the heroes. Great post!
taken from Arsenal Mania….
OK guys here is an excellent way to help Eduardo as much as possible.
Us Croatian Gooners have organized a way for all of You to send e-mails of support to Eduardo.
He will personally get them, hand to hand on Wednesay (100% guarantee), so they have to be send before Tuesday 12pm.
Languages You can send the are English, Croatian and Portugese(although last one we can’t check if somebody wrote something insulting, help is wanted so if You can speak Portugese pm me)
Here is a topic where we started it
http://www.arsenal-croatia.hr/forum/in … opic=585.0
http://www.arsenal-croatia.hr/forum/in … rdseen#new
and here is the e-mail address You send Your best wishes of recovery to:
arsenal.croatia@gmail.com
Your name and location is wanted, but only Eduardo (well and very few of us) will see it.
example:
Dear Eduardo,
…
…
…
Best wishes
John Doe
London
Please feel free to post this on any other Arsenal forums.
An exellent post on a good blog, you can make some money with your blog, like me at http://blogmakemoney1.blogspot.com“
I’m starting to get very pissed off with the media.
There is NO DOUBT the tackle WAS malicious.
“Getting in his face” is malicious. It might not have been as malicious as the result, but it WAS malicious.
I’m so glad that this author has defended Billy Gallas.
These same media morons like alan hanson, who are one of the root causes of this kind of malicious behaviour being acceptable in the EPL, are now trying to deflect attention away and whitewash this affair by attempting to make everyone have a go at Galas now.
That imbecile, kelly, trying to say Wenger’s comments were “disgraceful”!!!!!!
F’kin hell, if I ever met that t!t in the street I don’t know if I could restrain myself.
What’s “disgraceful” is the media trying to deflect attention away by yet again trying to make someone at Arsenal, ANYONE at Arsenal, a scapegoat.
It’s time we took these clowns on and tore them a new one.
It’s for the club, the manager and the fans to comment about Billy and his captaincy, not some Arsenal-hating shower of sh!te in the media.
It’s time to tell them publicly, loudly, to f’off.
It’s time to tell them that THEY are responsible for the ridiculous savagery that we see in the EPL every week.
It’s time to get hanson and his ilk out of the media, and onto the street where they belong.
Its time to murder Taylor, fucking hell
Hey fella Gooners,
firstly can i wish eddy Happy Birthday, i believe he is 25 today, i hope he can still celebrate in some way. get well soon mate!
As i watched the tackle live i didnt think it that bad, the camera angle was behind eddys back but having just seen the video posted here you can clearly see taylor left his foot in and didnt try to pullout at all. Unluckily for eddy he had all his weight on that foot at the moment of impact so there was no way his studs were moving and something had to give. If taylor wasnt diving in, karate style with his leg locked straight, it wouldnt of happened. Should taylor be banned? Ideally yes but no, what can you charge him with? it seems so wrong nothing can be done but anyone who plays football knows it is a danger of the game. One of my best friends broke his own leg after he commited a bad tackle, should he ban himself? the other guy was fine..
Im only gutted as its eduardo who seems like such an unassuming nice, modest guy who just wants to work hard, play footy and score goals.
On a more positive note.. how good is big phil playing, since coming bk from africa toure seems a bit lost and gallas has developed a good relationship with phil. He played a blinder against AC Milan and had a good game on sat. I say let him have a run in the team, make toure work to come back!
also while im here… does anyone else think ade will ever pass the ball to niklas for a tap in.. no chance! cant wait for RVP to be back so we can play two strikers who like each other!!!
Bendner was too scared to have a go at him, Gallas should sort them out. Where is Gallas?………………………oh there he is, sitting in the middle of the pitch making daisy chains
For F**ks sake Blog Head
You are beggining to sound like them prats on MOTD who spent more time having a go at Gallas than a player who could have end another players career.
Gooner Don,
Eduardo is quick and it was a definite sending off, but you can tell by Taylors reaction after the game he didnt mean to break the guys leg so horrifically. He’s not known as a dirty player so you HAVE to give him the benefit of the doubt. Whereas if Roy Keane done it you’d know the prick meant it
but you can tell by Taylors reaction after the game he didnt mean to break the guys leg so horrifically.
Heh. Are you saying he just meant to ‘gently’ break his leg?
I don’t think anyone feels he meant to go for a legbreaker, but
it was still a criminal ‘tackle’ to make. The idea that ‘making your presence felt’ by doing an over-the-top tackle in the first minute of a game is all right has got to stop here and now.
I think McLeish (and in fact Ferguson for that matter) has a lot to answer for in the present case.
Ollie, it was a bad, silly challenge and its a proper, proper shame for Eduardo, but these things happen in football. It happens so fast and thats the nature of contact sport, simple as that
if taylor isnt banned for life then he should ATLEAST be banned for the season.
On Sky Sports it showed pictures of wot happened to eddy at the time
its just horrible and sickening.
and also who the fuck does kelly think he is? It wasnt a sending off. Stephen Kelly is a complete prick
banned 4 life ur talkin like ur leader vegnar now….. , like blog head said its a super fast game out thre and things can in a split second ur over reacting …. anyway i heard that heell be back on his feet in days !
I use 2 play with a lad who had the same injury and he had to have his leg pinned he was off work for 9 mnths and totally skint lost his job, he got about £200 from a wip round between the team , so if u want me to shed a tear for over paid premiership footballers get real, shame ur not gonna win f.a now