Whilst we marvel at the wonderful goals and pieces of skill performed each week by the finest attacking players, we rarely give praise to the defenders at the other end of the pitch who are also doing their job. Defending is not a glamorous art filled with moments of brilliance and excitement, but it is a necessity for any team that has aspirations to win trophies. Defenders don’t normally have a lot of time in the limelight, nor do they require the attention of the cameras to do their job. They just get on with it without any fuss, so here is a chance to celebrate the most spectacular part of their game; the slide tackle.
Contact within the game is becoming frowned upon more and more, with referees often brandishing yellow cards for offences that in the past would have been deemed as perfectly acceptable. Older fans reminisce about the days when the crowd would cheer when a player dived into a full bloodied tackle and took the ball from an opponent. Whilst the contact was strong and would generally leave the opponent on the turf, it was allowed because the ball had been played first and it was only the momentum of the defending player that would knock the attacker to the floor.
Today’s game is very different and these sorts of tackles are now considered as putting an opponent in danger, because the defender is not in full control of his body once his feet have left the ground. However, players such as Vincent Kompany have claimed that as long as the ball is the only thing that the defender’s feet make contact with, then these sorts of tackles should be allowed. Hopefully we aren’t witnessing the end of the slide tackle and the law makers will see sense in a good, fair challenge being a necessary part of the game.