Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, has called on the football authorities to clamp down harder on malicious tackles. Arsenal have incurred 76 red cards during Wenger's reign but the examples he gave of unacceptable challenges were the one two weeks ago by Newcastle's Kevin Nolan on the Everton striker Victor Anichebe, and the one by Sunderland's Dan Smith that left Abou Diaby with a broken ankle in May 2006.
He suggested that a "special committee" be established to assess the degree of malice in such clashes and to impose suitably severe sanctions. "In some cases three matches is insufficient," he said. "In fact, in some cases 10 matches is insufficient. The one on Diaby, for example, you do that on the street and you go to jail."
Though he said that English football is cleaner now than it has ever been, Wenger believes that, paradoxically, the risk of serious injury is higher than ever before.
"The game here is less dirty now than it was when I arrived 10 years ago," he said. "I remember playing at Wimbledon and the doctor was more busy stitching and repairing cuts than I was on the bench. So there are fewer dirty tackles but when you have them they are much more dangerous because the speed and the power of the players is so much higher. If you're caught for a fraction of a second on your standing leg it can destroy your career."
Wenger stressed that he is an ardent admirer of "the fantastic technique of tackling" but lamented that artful tacklers are increasingly rare. When pushed to name tacklers who impressed him, he cited the former France international Patrick Battiston and the ex-Arsenal defenders Tony Adams and Martin Keown – but no current players.
"I don't see many good tacklers any more. I feel in a good tackle there is a desire to regain the ball, not just clear it. I've seen players who go in already knowing who they can pass the ball to when they get it. Most of the tackles nowadays they tackle to just kick the ball anywhere." He submitted that the higher stakes at play now partially explain this decline. "Every time now you play for your life. Players feel like that. Look now, after 28 games you have so many teams still fighting to stay in the league. It increases the pressure."
Arsenal, of course, are under pressure at the other end of the table and Wenger insisted that with players such as Theo Walcott and William Gallas likely to return from enforced lay-offs this weekend, they are poised to challenge hard for the FA Cup, the Champions League and even to overtake not just Aston Villa, but also Liverpool and Chelsea in the title race. "They are not out of reach," he said.
Cesc Fábregas will provide a further boost if he returns from injury in two weeks' time, as expected. The Spaniard indicated this week that he would consider quitting Arsenal if Wenger, whose contract expires in 2011, ever left. The manager said the club must ensure that does not happen. "I think he can still be here in 10 years because he should be one of the basis of this club. I think the club should be built around personalities like Cesc. That's why I hope he will still be here after me."
While Wenger feels his team are still on track for a successful season, he expressed his doubt that Manchester United could fulfil their ambition of completing a five-trophy clean sweep. "It's not impossible. A team like Man United can do it but I don't think they will because the scheduling at the end gets very tight. But they will have a chance if they win the championship early and can afford to rest some players for the Champions league. But it will be very difficult because the mental demand is also very high."
