Whisper it, but Birmingham City might have even surpassed Spurs as the club most hated by Arsenal fans – for now, at least.
After Martin Taylor’s tackle on Eduardo, and the chants about Taylor aimed at Arsene Wenger and co. on Saturday, there’s the fierce tackle by Liam Ridgewell on Theo Walcott:
Hmm, big English donkey defender demolishes elegant Arsenal forward? It’s Taylor v Eduardo all over again, only without such a bone-crunching aftermath.
I would describe Ridgewell’s tackle as about as unfair as a fair tackle can be, if that makes sense. In other words, I believe the Blues defender intended to leave Walcott in a heap, but in a manner Alex McLeish compared to your average Stuart Pearce tackle. Former Premier League referee Dermot McGallagher said it was the type of mand-and-ball tackle that had been “outlawed”.
Now, as Arseblog pointed out earlier this week, Ridgewell’s tackle was essentially NO different to the type of reducer dished out by many Arsenal bruisers in the past, including ugly lumps like Steve Bould, Martin Keown and Tony Adams. So, people in glass houses etc. But that doesn’t make it right either.
What’s your opinion: was Ridgwell’s tackle fair or foul? As I say above, I think it’s right on the limit of what constitutes a fair tackle.