Dutch midfielder Nigel DeJong will always be remembered by U.S. men's national team fans for his leg-breaking tackle on Stuart Holden (and by most other soccer fans for his chest stomp on Xabi Alonso in the World Cup Final). The leg breaker was at it again on Sunday, snapping the leg of Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa in a tackle that could best be described as reckless.
How bad was it? So bad that Dutch national team manager Bert van Marwyjk has rescinded a call-up of De Jong because of it.
If you haven't seen the tackle, here it is (and it's not for the squeemish):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_233MxrENY&w=448&h=271]
What do you think of the tackle? Praying for the day someone gives De Jong a taste of his own medicine? Have more respect for the Dutch national team manager for his decision? Think FIFA should step in and ban De Jong?
Share your thoughts below.
Let’s not go overboard. This is strictly business.
The Dutch have always been very “pragmatic” about these matters.
This came up before when De Jong broke Holden’s leg. Just before that match he had had a run of bad red cards and BVM considered dropping him from the World Cup squad; not because BVM has a particular problem with “hard” play, but because it shows a lack of dicipline and in a competition like the World Cup, red cards put a serious crip on your competition. Plus, the refs start to look at you closer.
I don’t know BVM but to me the message he is sending to his team is, “don’t get caught committing stupid fouls”. If you break a guy’s leg, chances are you’ll get caught. When you have as many high profile bad tackles as De Jong has had lately(Holden, Xabi Alonso and now this), you become radioactive and it’s bad for the team.
If De Jong would dial it back just a little he could get the same effect and not get caught so much. Obviously, he’s too stupid to do that. And that is what BVM is addressing, De Jong’s stupidity, not his morality.
FIFA didn’t do anything about the karate kick to Xabi’s chest and they won’t do anything about this. They have no guts.
You just don’t go to ground that fast and hard all the time. I hope he feels some guilt from this tackle. He felt absolutely NONE when he hurt Stu and who knows what he was thinking when he kicked Xabi in the sternum. The FA should ban him for at least two games or whatever their penalty is for a straight red card. Martin Atkinson was right there and didn’t even call a foul. He should work for MLS.
when did Ellen DeGeneres become a Dutch soccer pundit?
Another reason for video review. If a player is stretchered off with a serious injury, there is no reason why a video offical cannot review the play and tell the on-the-field offical to issue a card (or not, if it was a good challenge) before play resumes. If the officals on the field cannot see well enough issue a card on a tackle resulting in a broken leg, then you either have to go to video immediately or ban slide tackles. Otherwise its the Wild West out there. As for De Jong, there should be a Year Per Leg rule: Break a leg, get a year suspension. Break a second leg, get two years, etc.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me a third time, this sh*t has gotta stop.
I hope it’s contagious too. Van Bommel is a bad boy who doesn’t play football either.
I blame the parents.
MLS refs saw nothing wrong with the challenge… 😛
Yeah, until this just happened, I forgot all about his Karate kick to what’s his name’s sternum!!! He’s just playing a different game than everyone else and he isn’t getting punished, so he keeps doing it. He knows exactly what he’s doing. Vinnie Jones wouldn’t put up with that crap, but yes, someone just needs to ban him forever or for a long time.
Hahaha. Ogilthorpe! Yes! I second this solution.
Yep, he knows what he’s doing alright…he just doesn’t give a flying F. That’s shite attitude and not something you want in the league. Imagine if he did that to Rooney?
hahaha, yes!!!! Bullet Tooth Tony!
I think the moral of the story (so far) is that if the ref swallows the red because they don’t want to affect the outcome of the game (the ref who should have shown the straight Red to de Jong in the WC Final), then they are just kicking the can down the line and the player doesn’t change his ways.
If de Jong got shown a straight Red at the WC final, how much flak would he have gotten from his teammates and his country for his reckless play? Would that have made him more circumspect about his tackles and not led to him breaking the leg of HBA?
That wasn’t the only bad call either. A PK was given to Tevez when replays clearly showed the defender got a piece of the ball. Plus Tevez wasn’t even in the box when the foul occurred.
Then, later in the game, one of Newcastle’s strikers was blatently tackled in the box, and no PK was given. Even the announcers were shocked at this.
Manchester City deserved to lose that game, and De Jong deserves to be banned from competitive play in any league.
absolutely terrible challenge. he does get the ball but there was no need to throw himself in as hard as he did. kudos to BVM for having the balls and pride to punish him. unfortunately, I don’t think there are those same kind of people in the offices at the FA and FIFA so I doubt anything will be done.
I’d never advocate ‘returning the favor’ but you have to wonder if De Jong will ever truly understand how out of control his play has become without some sort of serious reality check.
The ref has actually said it should’ve been a red.
The amazing thing is he didn’t even get a yellow on this. I don’t even think it was whistled as a foul. That is the amazing thing. Yeah he got the ball but if you take out someone straight on your bound to get the ball, but it doesn’t make it a legal takle.
FA should look into the tackle and the ref who didn’t even call a foul.
Of those three challenges, he received red cards for precisely none of them. I think the problem starts there.
The most surprising thing about De Jong is that he’s a very good D-mid, even without the thuggish tackles, I can see if you were just a thug who had no skill or tactical awareness and your aggressiveness on the pitch was your only attribute – but this guy can actually play, so why he does continually play over-the-top like this is beyond me.
Hopefully this will send the message that he doesn’t have to play like a brute to be a good defensive midfielder.
Sorry but FIFA should have done something about him after that World Cup incident. Looking at the play, One, he was nowhere near getting that ball, two, he started the tackle so late that he was knee to knee when he was coming down on the tackle.
FIFA should ban players who play this reckless. There should be no place for players like him on the pitch.
For DeJong, a 12-month ban ought to make him learn how to tackle properly IMO
… same way he wasn’t called on Holden’s leg break, and same way he was only yellow-carded against Spain. it’s a mystery.
Bob should play the Dutch again and play with Jermaine Jones and Pablo Mastroeni, have Pablo come up from behind with Jones applying pressure and just take his ankle or knee out!
Then due to the ejection, if he’s still in the field and the 1st try didn’t succeed sub in Clark for a forward and have Rico finish it off or do a Ruiz like treatment of him, if he’s out of the game, take out Robben for payback due to De Jong taking out Holden!
Okay maybe it’s a little harsh 😀 but come on, this guy is sick. What’s worst is he NEVER GETS PUNISHED FOR IT, worst thing was a yellow at the WC Final, I don’t recall if they even called a foul in the US game, I think they did but no card at all. Should have been ejected vs US and in final, Spain would of made Holland cry with goals and posession!
Do you really think BVM would not call up his own son-in-law.
I just hope this means that the Dutch will begin playing a little more positive football with only one holding mid instead of two.
If you’re good enough to make a high-speed technical tackle, then you’re good enough to avoid injuring others. If you DO injury others, you need to be disciplined.
I wouldn’t want to be the one assigned the task of executing vigilante justice on De Jong. Let FIFA handle it. Give him a prolonged match ban.
Once is an accident, after that the guy needs to be seriously suspended! I always thought the tackle on Holden was minimized, you could tell De Jong was just a reckless player.
funny how he keeps making that kind of play though
My second favorite national team to follow is the Netherlands. I have always loved the flair and creativity they have always shown. But, I hated the fact that they employed this “enforcer”. It is great to see him dropped from the National Team for now.
Wow. Not again! Accidents happen but this is just becoming deliberate.
He is not that kind of player.
Two thumbs up for BVM to uninvite DeJong. Not only does it send a message to the player but also to the rest of the ream as well (are you paying attention Robben, Van der Vaart, Van Bommel?)
The FA need to step in and give him a bans as well – that’s two legs in a year he’s broken. These reckless tackles need to stop.
Maybe what they need is a for a team to sigh a guy like Ogie Ogilthorpe to a one game contract to even things out and take care of MR De Jong.
DeJong should just be put down. end of.
The thing that I despise about him above all else is how little he made of breaking Stu’s leg. He’s dirty sure, but to have no remorse to speak of and see no wrong doing makes me sick. I rue the day that he gets his..
red card
afc, I actually think he knows EXACTLY what he is doing and just doesn’t care. That’s what makes it that much more appalling. I say a one-year ban is in order.
If some breaks “accidentally” deJong’s leg, that team should shouldn’t go down a man for a malicious tackle, but should be allowed to bring on a 12th player. Shouldn’t take too long…
I’m with you skinny. How as there no foul called or card shown. At least in the World Cup final a yellow was shown (I think the ref would have shown red in any other match but didn’t want to have such a key role in deciding a world title).
Thrill you took the words right out of my mouth. Player should be suspended for as long as the injured player is out (I like your idea better twice as long)..and without pay.
Ives who is in charge of any kind of suspension? EPL or FIFA?
This is happening more and more but unlike the other incidents this guy does it over and over again!
I know the dutch aren’t the best at defense but this is ridiculous. Something needs to be done.
Ban him for life, he obviously doesn’t know what he is doing. I don’t think he thinks he did anything wrong, he’s done it so many times.
when someone gets injured by a reckless* play the offender should be suspended for twice the recovery time of the injured player – and the offender’s club should pay twice the higher of his and the injured player’s salary to the injured player and injured club
* scissoring his own legs to trap the other player’s legs is at best reckless – if you don’t know how to tackle someone without insuring you don’t do that, then you don’t know how to play
Damn Dirty Dutch man, should be drag into a street and have his legs broken. No joke.
Doesnt appear the official even called a foul on the play, how did he miss that? And we think MLS refs are sketchy. Ban this clown without pay until Arfa is able to come back.
It took me a second to realize they weren’t speaking English, but that was a bad bad tackle on one of Newcastle’s better players. The Dutch manager has shown more balls banning De Jong than most other pro-sports coaches I know. What a man.
If someone ended his career I would probably look the other way and say sorry I didnt see anything. Honestly, FIFA, the Dutch FA and the Premier league need to stop him from getting on the pitch ever again.
kudos to the dutch national team coach…i guess we’ll have to wait and see what the FA does…
the FA and FIFA need to step up and put a stop to this. completely ridiculous.
I think a very strong suspension is needed. the only question is for how long…
R U Serious?
This guy is out of control. Look at his record. It’s time a governing body steps in a hands out some punishment. Or…like in the old days…someone needs to stick a Vinnie Jones out on the pitch and take one for the team by de-cleating De Jerk.
The Dutch manager just went up in my books. Horrid tackle and a thug, glad someone has the composure to put him in his place.
he should be banned forever. Enough is enough.