COMMENT: Jay Spearing red card shows why Premier League football is losing its appeal
by Ben Thornley, DPW WestDec 9 2011

WHEN Manchester United set out to equal Bayern Munich’s continental record this season it was probably levelling their haul of four European Cups that they will have had in mind.

Instead, the Red Devils now have a chance to match the Germans’ feat of completing the full set of European trophies Šby winning the Europa League. Ajax and Juventus are the only other sides to have achieved this.

Not that it will be of much comfort to United and their fans, who will discover for the first time that going out of the Champions League into the secondary competition is like going to bed with the Corrs sisters and waking up with their brother.

WHEN Liverpool lost Jay Spearing to a red card against Fulham on Monday, the English game continued to lose some of its appeal.


For all the technique of La Liga and the tactical sophistication of Serie A, the blood and thunder of the Premier League has helped to establish it as the most popular among a global audience who are as thrilled by a well-timed tackle as almost any moment of skill.

Increasingly, however, this element of British football is being eradicated by law makers and enforcers seemingly intent on making it a non-contact sport.

No-one wants a return to the days when the likes of Vinny Jones could assault opponents on the field without sanction nor the re-introduction of the tackle from behind, which helped to end so many careers.

But the kind of full-blooded challenge demonstrated by midfielder Spearing (above), which earned him a sending off, would once have instead merited a standing ovation. It should still have a place in modern football.

The 23-year-old took the ball cleanly and, crucially, with one foot, even if his momentum eventually resulted in both feet lifting off the ground after the point of contact.

With Fulham’s Moussa Dembele not in control of the ball, it was there to be won.

Yet referee Kevin Friend deemed it worthy of a dismissal, viewing it as the use of dangerous and excessive force.

As such Spearing now faces a three-game ban for kicking a ball, while England striker Wayne Rooney, who viciously lashed out at Miodrag Dzudovic has seen his international suspension reduced to two matches after an appeal by the English FA.

Skillful players should be given a level Šof protection, although the battle between the game’s enforcers and enchanters has always provided captivating viewing.

However, the irony of Friend’s bizarre Craven Cottage display is that it could help to drive out one of the league’s most exciting talents.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson declared open season on Luis Suarez when, Šunprompted, he accused the Uruguayan of ”diving all over the place”, the former Ajax man been given little sanctuary by officials.

Key decisions have almost entirely gone against Suarez.

Even the few he has won have resulted in uncensored complaints of cheating from the likes of West Brom defender Paul Scharner, despite TV replays conclusively proving otherwise.

It is presumably the outcome envisaged by Ferguson, who has managed an array of players – like Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruud Švan Nistelrooy, Ashley Young, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney – whose struggle with the earth’s gravity suggests they were raised elsewhere in our solar system.

Suarez can only be expected to tolerate such ill treatment for so long, however.Then, the glamour of ŠEnglish football will suffer another setback.

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