And all of them will be correct. Because it is rare for coaches to speak objectively. Indeed, it may be impossible. So expect no consistency from coaches when it comes to the matter of fouling. Coach A complains bitterly of what he sees as a disgraceful tackle from one of Coach B's players -- and let's say that we agree, it was a bad tackle. But when, the following week, one of Coach A's players commits an almost identical foul, the coach will tell a very different story as he attempts to justify what he had condemned only a few days earlier.
Let us take Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal coach, whose team has a reputation of playing attractive soccer. One might almost say, given the unpleasant macho atmosphere that obtains in English soccer, that Arsenal are often accused of playing good soccer.
Whatever, Arsenal frequently play skilled soccer -- which ought to mean the opposite of roughhouse soccer. Generally it does. And when opposing teams resort to fouling, Wenger -- probably the most articulate of the EPL coaches -- springs to the defense of his players. He did it this past week and, to my eyes, he was exactly right to do so.
He directed his criticism at Stoke City, and in particular at the tackles that saw two of his players, Emmanuel Adebayor and Theo Walcott, stretchered off the field.
Both tackles were bad -- dangerous or clumsy, it makes no difference. Anyway, one surely has a right to expect that tackles in the league that claims to be the best on the world will not be clumsy.
Wenger questioned whether either of the Stoke tacklers - Ryan Shawcross and Rory Delap -- were even trying to play the ball. Of course the Stoke coach, Tony Pulis, defended his defenders, Delap in particular, who is "as honest and committed as they come." Of course. Then the Stoke goalkeeper, Thomas Sorensen, had to have his say, accusing the Arsenal players of "lacking that bit physically ... they lack that bit of spine you need." Spineless wimps, in fact.
No coach is going to take that, so Wenger pointed out that if it's a question of bravery on the field, then "you don't have to be brave to tackle from behind." No, he said, it was his Arsenal players who showed bravery by trying to play soccer in the face of such intimidation.
Again, I'm in agreement with Wenger. His complaints can be easily dismissed as the bleating of the losing coach, but I feel he is correct to sound off about the use of rough play as a tactical weapon. I do not find the attempts of Pulis or Sorensen to disguise intimidating roughness under that catch-all definition of direct play at all convincing.
Sadly, this confrontation between "physical" soccer, and "pretty" soccer is tilted, from the start, toward those of the physical persuasion. They play their game and if the real soccer players don't descend to their level, then they're wimps. If they do, they may get the satisfaction of kicking their opponents, but their chances of coming off best in a kicking contest are obviously not good.
And the sport itself suffers, of course. But it seems we're not to be concerned with that. As long as it's played in a manly way, everything is OK. On that point, as Pulis and Wenger were exchanging barbs, I was astonished to see another English coach -- Paul Ince of Blackburn, something of a Rottweiler in his playing days -- come out with a phrase I thought one didn't use these days -- "It's not a game for women," he said.
Perhaps all that needs to be noticed here is that Arsenal, despite being spineless, are considered one of the strongest teams in the EPL, while the manly Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers are among the weakest -- and among the worst, should you be looking for something worth watching.
In this instance, I'm in Wenger's corner. But I know that will not last because it will not be too long before Wenger is excusing or ignoring an egregious foul by one of his own players. After all this is the same Wenger who harbored the talented but undoubtedly violent Patrick Vieira on his team for years, and I certainly don't recall Wenger ever criticizing Vieira, despite his impressive collection of red cards.
