Is English Football Too Physical?

The Premier League is too fast, too physical and at times too dangerous. There is a potentially career-ending challenge in almost every game and for the safety of the players, it has to stop.

Saturday’s Merseyside derby had a handful of X-rated tackles. Ross Barkley was the main offender with a particularly menacing lunge at Dejan Lovren. The Everton midfielder was not the only culprit; players from both sides threw themselves into challenges with a reckless disregard for their opponents — and themselves.

The problem was not just at Anfield. Harry Winks may be ruled out for the season after falling awkwardly on the Turf Moor sideline but the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder’s hack at Stephen Ward seconds earlier could have had equally severe consequences. The Burnley defender limped away from the situation as the focus turned to Winks’ injury but the 21-year-old’s knee-high lunge was worthy of a yellow card at least.

At the Emirates on Sunday, Granit Xhaka slid in late on Nicolas Otamendi and was booked yet again. The Arsenal midfielder leaves his feet all too often and is frequently late to the ball. Manchester City’s attackers were too quick for the Swiss international on this occasion but he was able to whack Otamendi. If Xhaka continues like this, he will seriously hurt someone.

Over the international break, Seamus Coleman’s gruesome leg break caused headlines in the Ireland-Wales match. The game was played in the style of the Premier League and Championship; Neil Taylor’s contact with Coleman’s shin had “made in England” stamped all over it. The Everton defender’s career is now in jeopardy while it will be one of the defining moments of Taylor’s career. The Aston Villa man will be remembered for the horrific moment in Dublin. He will carry this dreadful legacy with him.

No professional wants such a burden. Taylor’s defenders — and apologists for bad tackles everywhere — invariably claim that he is “not that type of player.” It’s right in one sense: the 28-year-old is no exception in English football. Almost everyone who plays the sport at the highest level is capable of injuring an opponent without meaning to do it.

The game has evolved into a frantic, physical battle. Arsene Wenger’s first great team at Arsenal in the late 1990s performed at a speed unparalleled in the English game. Aided by manicured pitches and light, waterproof balls that didn’t get heavier over the course of 90 minutes, Arsenal turned up the pace in the Premier League a notch and did it with a joyful, skillful verve. Managers at lesser clubs could not live with the talent of the Gunners but matched them physically instead. The culture of “win the first ball, compete for the second ball” was born; power and pace became the first items on a recruiter’s checklist when looking at players.

Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp still express bewilderment that the game is played this way in the Premier League, with numerous physical contests throughout a match.

Today’s players are fitter than ever. Barkley is in the region of 170 pounds (77 kilos) of muscle. His explosive acceleration over short distances generates a huge amount of momentum. Most of his opponents are of similar build and power. When two players collide, there is a massive transfer of energy. It does not take much of a miscalculation to turn a normal, clean attempt to win the ball into a career-ending challenge.

Of course, few players (if any) intentionally go out to hurt opponents. Yet they wildly hurl themselves at the ball on a frequent basis. In a game that is becoming increasingly quicker, this recklessness is a real danger. Managers tell their players to get possession quickly and impose themselves on the match, which means that the risks get forgotten. If the football authorities want to clamp down on combustible encounters they have two choices: slow the game down or introduce punitive punishments for offenders.

One of the Premier League’s greatest selling points is its all-action style and manic, thrilling nature. There’s no going back to the days of heavier, waterlogged balls and boggy pitches, so clamping down on reckless is the only answer. Players who leave their feet and jump or slide into tackles are a particular problem. Discouraging lunges should be high on football’s list of priorities.

Three-game bans are not enough. One solution would be to suspend a transgressor for the length of the injury inflicted, with a maximum tariff of 10 games. If this were applied and Lovren happened to be ruled out for four games, then Barkley would be sidelined for the same period. Meanwhile Taylor would face a long and possibly terminal exile from the Ireland squad.

The burden of proof that a transgression has been committed should be low. There is no need to seek intent to injure an opponent; that intent rarely exists. Recklessness is easier to see and prove. Sliding and jumping into tackles is enough to make them potentially dangerous. Any player who flies into a challenge in this manner would need to be certain their approach was precise and that they could win the ball without making contact with their opponent. Too often, players dive in without any concern for collateral damage.

English football is a strange beast. It regularly works itself into a frenzy over diving and the merest hint of simulation causes fury. Yet the wildest tackles are often not only overlooked but relished, even though they could end a career.

No one wants a contact-free game but the style of physical interaction has to change to guarantee the safety of the contestants. Players need protecting from each other and themselves. The English game needs to slow down. If it doesn’t, the injury list will grow and grow.