The major talking point from the game, and one which has had lasting ramifications for both players involved, surrounded the 79th minute dismissal of Victory captain Kevin Muscat. He was shown a straight red (even though already on a yellow and perhaps lucky to be on the pitch at all after repeat offending) for an ugly, brutal and bound-to-injure two footed lunge on Heart winger Adrian Zahra. Click here for a view of the tackle - it is nothing if not robust. Muscat was immediately condemned by many, and the A-League this morning announced that he will receive an 8-game ban, which looks likely to effectively force the 39 year old defenders retirement. Zahra meanwhile is confirmed to be out for the rest of the season and beyond with serious knee ligament damage. Nice.
The tackle is one of those that is basically impossible to justify. Fortunately Zahra was on the move and did not have his feet planted in the turf and - perhaps knowing it was Muscat bearing down on him - was able to anticipate the impact to a certain extent. Muscat cannot excuse two things for me: firstly the height that the tackle starts at, secondly the scissor effect of the trailing leg. When you bring the second leg in like that, the chance of causing damage to ligaments and joints is massively increased, since the opponent's legs become trapped and twisted with the initial impact. It's nasty, it's angry, and there is no excuse for it. Which brings us on to the topic of discussion for today: Rage.
Everyone gets angry. From time to time there are things in life that have the capacity to reduce normal, ordinary, polite citizens into anger filled spiky urchins of hate; eager to spread death and destruction to all around them. Read this excellent blog for a hilarious encapsulation of day-to-day anger, and if you don't recognise a little bit of yourself in some of those pictures, then you will probably end up a serial killer. Remember what happened when Ned Flanders bottled up his anger - it's not pretty. It's healthy, perhaps even necessary, to vent off some steam every now and then.
For many people, physical exercise is a way of doing just that. Forgetting the stresses of the day by hitting the gym, or smashing a football/tennis ball/small animal* around for a bit can be a brilliant way of relieving tension, getting out some anger and basically letting go. But there is of course a line.
It's one thing to hammer into a punch bag, picturing your nightmare boss and letting the pent-up aggression out. There is probably little harm that can come from hammering down a few serves with extra venom just to get it out of your system - a friend of mine who I regularly played tennis with in the UK used to send down a 290 km/h double fault if he was particularly stressed. Seemed to work for him...made me laugh as well. When it comes to team sports though, there is an added factor in getting out your aggression. The other people.
We've all been there, whether it is the result of a bad day or if things aren't going right in the game, you play with an added intensity, determination and verve. If controlled, a bit of aggression is without doubt performance-enhancing - you fly around the pitch with more zip, put your opponent under more intense pressure and (again, if controlled) can focus and execute things much more sharply. But the key thing is the control. Muscat clearly lost control, and I personally think it serves him right that his career ends in disgrace like this. It's not like he doesn't have years of previous - the FFA even referred to his past record as a contributing factor to the length of his ban.
When you lose it, either you or your opponent is going to get hurt. People who know me may justifiably point to the hypocrisy of me preaching about controlling your aggression and keeping your cool - but my frustrations are always with myself. If I do something on a football pitch that I know is below what I am capable of it winds me up like nothing else (except people who get on the train before letting others off). Even though I can shout and swear and make obvious my anger, I have only ever once knowingly gone into a tackle with the intention to just kick my opponent. As it turned out it was probably the best tackle I've ever made but that is entirely beside the point - Muscat can surely not convince anyone that he was not looking to 'reduce' Adrian Zahra with his lunged tackle.
Strong tackling without doubt has it's place in football. Some of the most enthralling match-up's are between a strong, robust, physically matched defender and attacker - Ashley Cole and Cristiano Ronaldo have had some epic battles over the years which have been so good to watch due to the intensity, the bite and the ferocity with which they are both willing to compete. I certainly am not saying that tackling should be outlawed, far from it - but anyone who has played the game knows there is a way to win the ball hard and fair, and there is a way to take your opponent out.
The nasty, injury inducing tackle is cowardly too. If someone has wound you up to the point that you want to cause them physical damage - have a fight. Be a man, call them out, and sort it out properly. I'd have far more respect for two players who simply went at it due to whatever beef there was between them, than the cynical and cowardly scything tackles that people in a rage can too often resort to.
Rage is no excuse - people can get hurt. At my level that usually means not being able to make it into work on a Monday, but can also easily result in weeks and months of sub-par NHS physiotherapy or costly private treatment. At the professional level, you could end someone's career. Neither scenario to me is worth it. For Muscat, the chance of redemption will probably never come. Shame.
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(Again, if you nod in agreement at that bit, then you're probably going to end up down the West/Shipman/Sutcliffe route. Stay away from me. (but thanks for reading!))
(Again, if you nod in agreement at that bit, then you're probably going to end up down the West/Shipman/Sutcliffe route. Stay away from me. (but thanks for reading!))
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