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I couldn't agree more. Awful challenge.
Interesting that the two podcasts I listen to on a semi-regular basis (The Guardian and The Times) took quite different POV's on the incident. Amazingly, Richardson et al on Football Weekly seemed to decide that the challenge wasn't that bad because he got something of the ball, which is a pretty ridiculous way of looking at it in my opinion. The Times disagreed (thankfully), saying that whether or not he got anything of the ball was irrelevant. Which it is. They then went on to have quite an interesting discussion about the fact that players who have been fouled and react badly are usually punished more than the person who committed the (potentially career ending) foul in the first place. Something I've always had an issue with.
I genuinely think Matic should have got a yellow card (if you look at this shove, it really is just a shove - it's the fact that he reacts at all which earns him the red) and Barnes should be suspended for some time.
dan-
Couldn't agree more with you.
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I can sympathise with Matic's reaction, I'd have done the same (or worse!) but it is a red card and he has to accept that.
The blame there lies with the FA. The rules that are in place mean that Barnes can't be punished. Costa was retrospectively banned for something 'off the ball' yet it was committed in plain sight of the referee as was Barnes' tackle.
Eduardo and Diaby both had the top flight careers pretty much ended by horrific tackles like that on Matic - it should carry a much more serious ban than three games commensurate with the amount of damage that can be done. For me he would miss the same time as Suarez nibbling someone on the neck. I guess that is a hard thing to adjudicate on but it would cut out poor/reckless/dangerous tackles.
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Barnes didn't get something of the ball, he had the ball and passed it to Jones. Matic made the challenge and got caught. Whether or not it was intentional from Barnes or the follow through from the pass, it's tough to tell.
My first thought when I see pundits describing it is a terrible tackle is that, given that there wasn't a tackle, they haven't actually seen the full thing.
As Jose said
"‘If you have contact or the opponent was aggressive, let’s go, keep going, this is English football. Foreign players are bringing lots of good things. They come here because they are talented, but I prefer English blood in football.
‘English blood in this situation is: “Come on, let’s go”. The tackle is a hard and aggressive one. Football is for men or for women with fantastic attitude."
jaw
Tenderloin
aggi
So Barnes has escaped with no punishment, Atkinson is not set to receive a break from action and Matic is still banned for three games - despite someone attempting to finish his career. Yup seems legit.