Top Stories

Holden to miss six weeks with broken leg

Stuart Holden (ISIphotos.com) 

The tackle was an ugly one, but we have now learned the full damage caused by Nigel DeJong's ugly and clumsy first-half challenge on U.S. national team midfielder Stuart Holden.

Holden will be sidelined for six weeks with a fractured right fibula, Holden's club Bolton revealed on Thursday.

The six-week timetable means Holden should still be back in time for the end of Bolton's regular season, which would have him return in time to regain fitness ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

Holden had just begun to settle in with Bolton, starting the team's previous two matches and impressing on this matches. Now he will need to recover and regain the role he earned since joining the English club on a free transfer from the Houston Dynamo.

On the bright side, Bolton manager Owen Coyle revealed that Bolton intends to extend Holden's contract.

"We've already spoken with him and his representative to assure him he will be here for longer because of the belief I have in him, and the quality he has shown since he came to the club," Coyle told Sky Sports. "When we signed him, within the contract there was the option there to extend it further, which we will do."

What do you think of this development? Still stunned that DeJong didn't get a red card? Confident that Holden can return and still be a fofce at the World Cup?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ok…if you dont like that example and can’t see past it then think back to Micheal’s red card in the the confed cup. It was a similar foul, the end-result was different in the sense that the person fouled dint get injured however, it was a dangerous foul. Ref gave a Red card right? this incident involving dejong was similar but ended with Holden coming out injured. My point, because apparently you are too narrow minded that you couldn’t see the point and just focused on a sub-par example is that fouls are called differently. Fans and oposing fans see it another way.

    If you reject my notion of perspective with regards to one fan seeing a fould committed in one way and the oposing team’s fan sees it the oposite way…Then you my friend are the biggest fanatic on the planet that only reacts on emotion and is completely unable to see the play from the other side of the fence. Its like that…always been like that…continues to be like that. Rules in hand, refs will call it the way its interpreted regardless what the rule book says…and until FIFA hands out a suspension then guess what? Fifa approves of the way the ref handled the incident.

    And by the way…the dude on the thrown is Eric Cantona…who played for the greatest team on earth.
    Not Chelsea.

    Reply
  2. this isn’t something subjective. you’re obviously a chelsea fan and your holding out a play that nowhere resembles the foul committed by de jong as saying its a perspective thing. It’s a ridiculous argument your making by saying its like some sort of preference between two flavors of ice cream. i’m sorry but your just flat wrong.

    Reply
  3. I disagree whole heartedly about the Donovan remark. That was a 50/50 ball and both had there feet at the exact same time. bad luck for cole. No way, no how Donovan should have been booked.

    Two entirely different scenarios.

    (SBI-Cole’s injury had way more to do with him putting in a half-hearted challenge than it had to do with anything Donovan did wrong. Donovan went in hard and Cole half-assed it and paid the price.)

    Reply
  4. had he continued to close toward the player instead of spinning the result most likely would have been better for the US.

    Reply
  5. Thanks CG Westwood…thanks for clearing that up.

    Now having that same rule in the referee’s hand or any other referee’s hand isnt going to make someone pull that red card out. The ref calls the foul as he interprets it…just because you would pull the red card out at your local AYSO game or adult league doesnt mean that a professional ref calling a match between the dutch and the usa will also.

    Look man…people see things differently. It happens in all sports. One fan sees a foul committed by an oposing player and screams bloody murder and vice versa. The official is there to call an unbiased match. At the end of the day, if Fifa doesnt hand out a suspension then guess what…by fifa’s lack of action it is deemed the correct call by the official.

    For as long as I have known the game…its always been that way.

    Reply
  6. Nigel DeJong is a piece of shiite, to come in studs up like that and not get a straight red-card………
    hopefully a street thug breaks his leg!

    Reply
  7. The tackle wasn’t vicious and it was 50/50 because he dove in when the ball was to be won and Holden just moved faster. You see those sorts of tackles all the time in the EPL. Was it clumsy? Yes. Was it an intentional effort to break Holden’s leg? No. And for that reason it isn’t “something awful.” Something awful was Keano’s tackle that broke a leg. Or Witsel’s tackle that broke a leg. The tackle that broke Ramsey’s leg wasn’t “awful” and the general consensus wasn’t to blow up.

    Yes I screamed at the TV when it happened, yes I’m pissed at De Jong but as he said after the game, those are the tackles you see in the EPL. I’d blame the system over the refs.

    It’s a contact sport and anyone who has played soccer knows that sliding into a tackle can be dangerous and sometimes the studs come up. My leg was snapped in half from a tackle like that and has forced me to all but quit the game after 10 years. The tackle was clumsy but the intent wasn’t to harm and for that, I would of told the ref to only give a yellow (if I was conscious at the time…)

    Bad and clumsy tackle. It happens. He’s not a thug or criminal, he’s a hard tackling defensive midfielder.

    Reply
  8. people, people. He did apologize after the game. In fact in the Dutch media he was very clear about it. It was a 50/50 challenge gone bad. The Dutch coach criticized him for it and so did the Dutch newspapers. These kind of tackles happen all the time in this sport and most of the time nothing happens. I’ve seen tackles much worse than this and people walk away from it unhurt. Holden was incredibly unlucky and I wish him a speedy recovery.

    Reply
  9. It actually was close to the strongest squad for Holland. But the big fact here is that Holland did not care about this friendly. They played at about 80% maybe even less. I think you could say the same for allot of the US players too. These games are just not that important.

    Reply
  10. Wouldn’t have to be Bolton. How about Fulham, Hull City, Everton or any other team with an American player? Do they play Man City? Jozy Altidore is a nice sized player for such an assignment.

    Reply
  11. It was a pre-meditated, awful challenge. Straight red. De jong was unapologetic and defended it.

    Especially after all the controversy in the UK about Aaron Ramsay you’d think it would have been a red. If that tackle takes place in England or specifically to one of Arsene Wenger’s players let me paraphrase the response to this type of challenge: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

    Reply
  12. Ummm….what other starting forward do they have the didn’t see the pitch last night?

    Who are you refering to besides RVP that didn’t play?

    That was their first team squad.

    Reply
  13. Dont worry, if an American had brought that challenge he would have been sent off and everyone would talk about how the Americans are so ugly and clumsy in their challenges.

    Reply
  14. I had the same exact injury almost two years ago, and from the prognosis and replay, Stu came out better than I did because he managed to limp off the field; I couldn’t even put weight on my leg. Six weeks out is also good; I was out for almost 15 weeks with my fracture. With that said, De Jong deserved more than a yellow.

    Reply
  15. Honestly I thought his best play was the move he made when he got hurt. He was solid but not spectacular before that.

    Reply
  16. Here is what the FIFA Laws of the Game states regarding sending-off offenses (Law 12, page 36):

    A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off if he commits any of the following seven offences:
    – serious foul play
    – violent conduct
    – spitting at an opponent or any other person
    – denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to a goalkeeper within his own penalty area)
    – denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick
    – using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures
    – receiving a second caution in the same match
    A player, substitute or substituted player who has been sent off must leave the vicinity of the field of play and the technical area.

    http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/lawsofthegame.html

    If DeJong’s actions were considered serious foul play it doesn’t matter whether he was coming from behind, the side or the front. And as we’ve seen in the last week challenges from the front can be much more dangerous and injurious than those from behind.

    Reply
  17. Torres got a yellow for dissent with the ref for the incident, although he didn’t (as far as I could tell with the camera angle) directly challenge De Jong.

    Reply
  18. As far as I can tell, the players seem very committed to Bradley.

    Either that or Bradley knows where all of their families live.

    Reply
  19. When van persie had his leg tore up in a friendly against italy 6 months ago, what did the dutch do or say? Whatever retribution they received, holden should receive the same. Holden was our best player out there other than bradley yesterday. I had told myself I wasn’t going to have a drink on my lunch break, but as I watched holden in agony….

    Reply
  20. Are you crazy……FIFA is ridiculous. They didn’t even add extra refs in light of Thierry Henry’s handball that denied the Irish from getting to the WC.

    Reply
  21. I call BS on that. A Straight yellow or red card would have shown that the Ref had the game under control. It was obvious the Ref ended up being another crooked ref.

    Reply
  22. I don’t see how you can defend him as a starter. We have better options at LB than Bornstein, albeit not great options. He has gotten plenty options and it is clear he is not consistent enough to play against the top talent.

    Reply
  23. I think Bradley Jr. did come in with his cleats showing at De Jong late in the game… Unfortunately, he missed and got all ball (but was still called for the foul)… I’m sorry,but that’s a straight red for me, esp. considering that it was a friendly. It would never happen, but it would be great if FIFA implimented a rule where players who injury opponents while committing dangerous and obvious fouls like De Jong did are banned from playing until the injured party returns to the pitch. That means De Jong is out for six weeks and Shawcross out for 9 months! I know, I’m a dreamer, but maybe that would discourage people from commiting disgusting fouls a la Ryan Shawcross…

    Reply
  24. That tackle was fairly similar to the several that got the US red cards in the confed cup. I would give the ref the benefit of the doubt if he gave a yellow, thinking maybe he didn’t have the best view. But how do you go in late and knock someone out of the game and not even receive a talking to from the ref let alone a yellow or red card.

    What was even more infuriating is when De Jong flopped without being touched when Beasley ran by him for that loose ball at the top of the box later in the game.

    De Jong is simply a joke.

    Reply
  25. Regardless of the of the severity of the actual result, the point being is that people see different things and interpret different things due to their biased opinion. Now if you want to get emotional about weather or not Landon Donovan indeed committed a foul then have at it. However, you are missing the point. Quit the Whining…and get on with it, lifes not fair, refs miss calls and decide the severity regardless of studs up or down. They use thier discretion and guess what….according to the rules that the refs and play is governed…it was not a red.

    Reply
  26. Well said. I hope there is pressure brought bear on this situation. It’s too easy for FIFA to sweep this under the rug because it’s just an American player with only two games under his belt with a European club — and it’s just Bolton, at that. Their instinct will be to protect De Jong, not the American players.

    I’d like to see a serious PR effort here to get FIFA to take action.

    Reply
  27. Did anyone else notice that Harkes looked like he was shedding serious weight? The shots of him in a suit at the beginning looked like when Tom Hanks turned back into the little boy at the end of BIG. Seriously, get this guy a tailor, or better, get him off the air. Wynalda > Harkes by a mile.

    Reply
  28. Yea….USA gets bad officiating almost every time we play a european club. It’s very clear to me. I actually think the USA has done well with bad officiating. I’m just sick of BB just sitting there with seemingly no emotion. Sunil is just as bad. I can’t stand those two. Coaches and Managers are supposed to instill passion and fire in their players, IMO. I don’t think BB does this.

    The Dutch, German and Portuguese are all bums.

    Reply
  29. IMO that should have been a red. If nothing else it should have been a yellow. And the yellow he got for dissent doesn’t count since Torres got a yellow at the same time.

    And as for the retaliating, the players have to be smart. This isn’t hockey, were you can throw a punch, get a five/ten minute pentaly and your team still plays 5 v 5. With the US’s luck our player gets the red and we play down a man the rest of the game. Although one or more players should have been in De Jong’s face.

    Reply
  30. Totally agree with you when I saw the replay, it really looked like he’d torn something in his knee, I am shocked that it wasn’t a combo injury to knee and fibula. I think it was a freaky type play, and without being able to see the replay again – I have to admit, I didn’t notice the contact to his lower leg. I was so focused on watching his knee bend to the side. I think he’s lucky to be out only 6 weeks honestly. Is it a hairline fracture or something, seems pretty short for a fracture?

    Reply
  31. Yea……..well, it was well documented that Sneijder is a bum and big time actor. Yesterday’s game just shored that up for me again. But I was surprised that so many other players on the Dutch were just as Dirty.

    FIFA needs to evaluate every tackle like English FA does and I would even evaluate every foul/dive from each game regardless of the outcome and give out retroactive yellow/red cards. Its the only way to control all the histrionics that have harmed soccer. It has become ridiculous.

    Reply
  32. landon hit only the ball. he did not hit the player. it was a 50/50 in the air and it was like a drop ball. both players kicked, cole’s ankles were weaker.

    De Dong (did he hit the ball) hit holden’s side leg without a guard with his studs up and broke his leg.

    Ball vs Cleats…

    Donovan hit the ball, de Dong hit his leg with his studs…

    When I played studs up was red card… What are FIFA’s guidelines?

    HUGE EFFING DIFFERENCE

    even the English called donovan’s challenge fair, and the dutch are calling de Dong’s challenge bad…. get your head out of the sand.

    Reply
  33. Yes!! Glenn Davis is great. Those in Houston get the priviledge of watching Glenn Davis’ soccer hour. I believe it is on at 5pm tonight.

    Reply
  34. I didnt read a lot of the last comments because their are so many of them but for all who think the ref was horrible (he was bad not as bad as people are acting) what about dumbass Bornsteins handball that gets called as many times as it doesnt. We got the benefit there. No one remembers the times the call benefits them and bitch and complain when the call doesnt go their way. I am a firm believer thatthe ref doesnt cost you games. The same can be said in the France-Ireland game. Yea Henry should have bben called for a handball but the gme should have never went to OT in the first place. Ireland got away with what should have been a PK for France earlier in the match. The calls usually level themselves out in the end.

    Reply
  35. It doesn’t matter if DeJong got a red card or not. A red woudln’t have helped the US learn in a game meant for experiencing a fair game against a quality team.
    What matters is DeJong’s stupidity in a needless challenge in a friendly. No one wants to get hurt in the weeks and months of the World Cup and DeJong should have realized not to go into such a stupid challenge.
    Here’s hoping Holden comes back stronger. Poor kid. He was doing so well and if he was healthy all the way through leading into the summer, imagine how good he could have been.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Revsfan Cancel reply