I'm quite happy with my Mersey derbies having a bit of extra punch

By David Maddock

Published 11:42 09/02/10

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I'm not adverse to a little violence in football, at the right times, as it happens.

Let’s face it, the odd punch-up, an occasional flying challenge or thumping collision, it spices up games, gets the fans going and creates an atmosphere, and football’s as much about atmosphere as it is glorious skill.

So all the hand-wringing over who should have been dismissed and how to curb the excesses of the Merseyside derby seems a little misplaced in my eyes.

Yes, Steven Pienaar and Javier Mascherano both committed pretty horrendous tackles that on another day would have invoked red cards, but try telling Tommy Smith or Johnny Morrissey that there’s no place for that sort of thing in the game.

The players of the 60s and 70s would laugh at what causes outrage these days, and they would shake their heads in bemusement at the interpretations of modern referees.

I reckon they’d also die laughing at the suggestion that Marouane Fellaini should have been sent off along with Sotiris Kyrgiakos following the collision between the two.

I watched that incident closely, because even when the two were winding up to challenge it was clear there was potential for nastiness.

Fellaini was positioned to block tackle, but when he saw the Liverpool defender leave the ground in a two-footed lunge, he lifted his own foot in protection. Had he not, he would have risked even more serious injury.

Of course, after riding the challenge, his foot was then in the air, and he brought it down on his assailant. But what else could he do? And let’s face it, if someone comes at you with two feet, what else are you going to do?

This was a case when TV replays simply didn’t convey the true incident, because stopping it at a certain point made Fellaini’s response look more premeditated than it really was.

I was surprised, and saddened, when I heard Jamie Redknapp say afterwards that Fellaini should have been dismissed too, because he’s a former professional, who knows the score about protecting yourself on the pitch, and he should know better.

Red card? Not a chance. And I’m not even ENTIRELY convinced Kyrgiakos should have been sent off either. Put it this way, he wouldn’t have even been booked in a Merseyside derby of the 70s. And as for the second yellow card shown to Pienaar, don't get me started.

So let’s not get carried away and go down the line of hysterical overreaction to every challenge, because otherwise, we’ll end up with a non-contact sport that pleases no-one but Arsene Wenger.

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