Euro 2012 qual. - Dutch drop De Jong over tackle
Nigel de Jong has been dropped from the Netherlands squad for their upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers following his tackle which broke Hatem Ben Arfa's leg.
Manchester City midfielder De Jong's fierce fourth-minute challenge broke the Frenchman's left leg in two places in Sunday's 2-1 win over Newcastle.
The tackle itself went unpunished by referee Martin Atkinson, but Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk publicly slammed the tackle and said he had "no alternative" but to remove the 25-year-old from the squad to play Moldova and Sweden during the international break.
"I've seen the pictures back," Van Marwijk said in the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper.
"It was a wild and unnecessary offence. He went in much too hard. It is unfortunate, especially since he does not need to do it. The funny thing is that the referee did not even show a yellow card for it. Apparently, there are other standards (in England).
"I just told the players. I told them that I saw no other option. In the future I will agree with Nigel to talk. Now I want the staff and the players to concentrate on the next two important qualifiers."
De Jong drew heavy criticism for a series of wild challenges and fouls on Spain players during the World Cup final and for breaking Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden's leg in a friendly against the USA in March, and Van Marwijk felt he had to act in order to try and teach the midfielder to exercise restraint on the pitch.
He said: "I have a problem with the way Nigel needlessly looks to push the limit. I am going to speak to him."
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton was scathing of the player's challenge, which broke both Ben Arfa's left tibia and fibula.
He said: "Everyone will have their own opinion, but it was a tackle that did not need to be made. When you have a young talented player when they have that type of injury and it's there for his team-mates to see, it's of course very upsetting."
However, City assistant manager Brian Kidd defended his player following the win at Eastlands, insisting De Jong is "not that type of player".
He said: "Everybody knows Nigel, he is as honest as the day is long. It's so sad when you've seen that happen. There was no malice in it, definitely not. Nigel's not that type of lad. He's the same in training."
Comment 149 - 168 of 168
Well, now that it's not another Arsenal player that has been injured, I hope people now appreciate why Wenger had been complaining about the referees and the FA not doing enough to protect players from these brutes. Maybe he wasn't "whingeing" afterall? And talking about intentions, if you tackle a player in a game of football so hard that his bone broke especially in a number of places, then that in itself, is a proof of malicious intent. Sport's a game, not war.
It' s funny how emotional people here still blame the whole Dutch team for a rough final when clearly de Jong and van Bommel were the ones playing rough. Get over yourselves!
babi ape??ko nk org mati dlu ke ape bru nk kasi kad kat botak hitam tuh,npe dye x pnh kene buang pdg,lwn newcastle lgy aq pelik,x kene kad kuning pon,ref pon cam sial,dye ngn van bommel geng bodoh dye tuh spatotnye g mampos & kene ban dri maen bola lagy tau x
he is not that kind of player my @#$% the tackle on alonso in the world cup and broke another lad's leg in a friendly. "ur in the wrong sport de jong", muppet should get serious ban and look into kick boxing for a career!!!
The dutch made a great choice dropping De Jong from the squad look at the karate kick he did to Xabi Alonso at the world cup final that was stupid tackle. plus he only got a yellow card he should of been sent off. zakii_luvs_her and all you city fans let me make this clear for you: Roy keane's tackle on Haland's was an accident Keane went for the ball but caught Holand's leg instead.
It's easy to slate the Dutch for their performance at the World Cup but 10/10 to Bert van Marwijk for taking this action when the match officials let it go unpunished. Perhaps this is the first step on Holland's road to recovering a damaged reputation as a football playing team.
As for De Jong, I think with all their millions, Manchester City can afford to invest in a higher class of individual to represent their club. This cowardly tackle was so early in the game it was clearly meant to be a "warning" to the creative Hatem Ben Arfa to intimidate him into under performing.
GBH type attacks must not be tolerated in football and I hope the FA will act accordingly on this matter. If it happened off the pitch De Jong would have got six months for it so why is it legal ON the pitch?
Full marks to van Marwijk, shame the police don't start prosecuting these violent people posing as footballers. Henry of Wolves is even worse than this psycho. Same goes for that neanderthal Shawcross. It's the only way these players can overcome the gulf in skill between the talented and themselves...plus some of them are deranged with a blood-lust.
is this the same manager of the same Dutch squad that were such a disgrace at the world cup
hmmmmm
I just cannot fathom how some people are trying to come up with reasons for this S.O.B dirty tackling??? Come on guys, just because you are a fan of MAN City you want us to believe that this is his way of playing. Where is your commonsense? This is not a one time mistake, this has been going on for quite some time now. Yes, defensive midfielders have to make some rough tackles, but not breaking legs. We never witnessed Gattuso ( the italian bulldog) or Edgar Davis, Rijkaard, diego simeone, to name a few break legs or play nasty. This thug enjoys a career in England, but if he lived in America, he'd be out of playing any kind of sports for life. I won't mind seeing some thugs coming after this SOB with baseball bats breaking his legs, Now feel the pain that you are unleashing on others.
everybody knows that a premiership players has to be strong,hard and build to qualify and fit for any games cos that all premiership all about and not that i really happy about De Jong tackle. it was not intentional its bcos he was focus, determine and makes effort to take City to the top. so dont blame him so hard for now.
Van Marwiyk ,is a hypocrite of the worst kind . Was he not the coach of the ugliest Dutch team of all-time. A team who contained apart from De Jong ,the most irritating and anti--football ,footballer Mark Van Bommel who was on a one man mission to destroy the World Cup .Mark Van Bommel just happens to be Van Marwiyk's son-in-law.He was never reprimanded for his shocking displays . DeJong is an animal continuing the work he has always been asked to do by that sanctimonious twit Van Marwiyk etc
thank God somebody is seeing reason to caution this Animal...is that his hobby now, reckless tackles.
frm Kingsley in Enugu
Well done Holland,at least YOU have been man enough to deal with it right,NEXTtttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt
bad tackle by an inept looking player, some idiot trying to argue is case when his past actions offers no defence. Simple if some players are punished for opening their mouth then some players should be punished for their lack of respect for other footballers, how many legs does this idiot has to break before proper action can be taken it is only by luck the number he has broken is not more than 2. and for those city fans saying people jealous at you, before you open your gob your club are spending money they havent generated and they dont own and doubt with the level of losses announced fifa would allow you in the champions league when the new rules kicks inn.
anyone who sees that tackle and says 'it's just football' are completely insane or have no idea that these kind of tackles can end a career! look what happened to Ramsey, that was also way out of order! and the excuses they give like what has been said already 'he's a nice lad really' what a load of rubbish!!! and the refs are not doing anything about it which is even worse so they will always chance their arm the next time round and try to get away with another bad tackle just coz some other player is better than them...take the player out if he's out doing you! and the managers are not doing anything about it either!!! i bet that if this happened to C. Ronaldo something would be done!!!
its very unfortunate for ben arfa but it was a legal tackle.nigel is a hard player,there to break up play and win the ball back,its not exciting to watch but a vital part of the game and hard tackles are part of it.what about keane,veira,mascharano,barton,essien,all hard players
Just how many legs do you have to break to "be that type of player" ? Its a disgrace, he should be banned from playing in the premiership for as long as Hatem Ben Arfa is out injured. Maybe he'd think twice next time before he goes for a hatrick of legs broken in a year!
You could get some thug from any Premiership club simply walk up to an opponent and kick him in the nuts. Just as sure as fate his manager will pop up and say "he is not that type of player" and all the fans of the club will swear it wasn't a foul, arguing that only wimps would complain about being seriously injured. Pathetic liars! Creeps! You and your kind are destroying football.
How pathetic, when Wenger talks about hard tackles, the press and others, especially other managers have a go at him.....well????? he's either right or wrong!!!
#149 Accident? The guy seems to be breaking legs at will. Constant bad tackles. He's a footballer who can't keep up with the speed of the game.
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account