Nani injury

That's a common mistake made by people who don't actually know the rules and rely on listening to pundits. The rules actually state:

"Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."

Carragher lunged directly at Nani and clearly endangered his safety by directing all his force into his leg. Serious foul play = undisputed red card.

Rafael's lunge could also be considered as serious foul play, but the law also states:

"Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself). It is committed with an opponent nearby and prevents the opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury.

Playing in a dangerous manner involves no physical contact between the players."

As such, Rafael's lunge could also have been considered to be playing in a dangerous manner as he made no contact with Lucas. As such, the ref could have (and in fact did) viewed it as a yellow card offence. Obviously it was much closer to serious foul play, and hence deserving of a red card, but under the law of the game Carragher's tackle was worse than Rafael's.

 

Actually the rules state that you get a red card for "serious foul play", it doesn't really matter if it 1 or 2 footed (although 2 footed usually ends with a red under newer guidelines) if its a dangerous foul its a red card simple as that, Carragher's was dangerous (as was Rafael's) so should of been red, I can't see how that is debatable.

 

There is no way any reasonable person could honestly compare these two tackles. Carragher's was late and dangerous. Keane's wasn't even a tackle - it was a pre meditated and calculated assault on a player who Keane intentionally set out to cause injury to. The most disgusting incident in modern football. Keane should have been banned for life for that.

 

well done to keane

 

On a slightly different note... What the hell is that black strip on Nani's leg i've been noticing lately?

 

I'm not talking about the motivation behind the tackles. My point was that the action involved in the two tackles was not too dissimilar, the only difference being how much later Keane's was and the fact that he went higher up into the knee and not the top of the shin. I was using it to blow the whole "only two footed tackles deserve straight red cards" dipper bs out of the water.

I agree that Keane should have been banned for a pre meditated attempt to injure someone, but then who's to say Carragher didn't have the same idea? He's already admitted deliberately injuring one of his own team mates cos the guy laughed at him, so at 2-0 up against his most hated enemy it's not too much of a stretch to think he'd also want to take out the opposition's best player...

 

swarbs

nani has replied on twitter

thank you for your support after my injure. i hope to be back really soon

 

Kinesio tape. Supposed to be like Magic tape but better cos it lifts the skin to reduce the pain from strains and injuries.

http://www.kinesiotaping.co.uk/tapingmethod.jsp

 

I do think there was some intent from Carragher. But to me it looked more like a heat of the moment thing. Not that I'm excusing it, but the comparison with Keane is a misnomer. Keane set out to deliberately injure Haaland, in a pre meditated attack which he had been planning for months. It wasn't even a tackle or anything that resembled one. It was a straight out act of thuggery for which Keane escaped lightly.

 

Like I said - I'm not comparing motivations, just the execution (poor choice of words?). I have never, and will never, defend that tackle from Keane. The day I heard about the quote in his autobiography was the day he stopped being a Utd hero for me.

 

But the execution was indicative of the motive, on both counts. Carragher looked like he wanted to take the ball and the man, he missed the ball and followed through on the man. Keane simply set out to injure a fellow professional, it was his only motive and the execution showed just that.

 

What about his admission he went in to hurt Song?

 

I disagree. Carragher's lunge was studs up and directly at the player. He wanted to make sure Nani didn't get back up, with the ball definitely a secondary priority. If you look at the video and the freeze frame, he's looking directly at the player rather than the ball.