Football's Old Testament: An eye for an eye. What would you do?

[Fortitude]

The Barsley situation today on Rashford, and many, many others in any kind of football, really. What would you do in the same scenario? Do you believe in retribution, either right then and there, or later in the game when there's a chance to do so more undetected?

If a player goes in with the intent of hurting you, will you let it slide (so to speak), or will you hurt them back?

These questions go both ways as they're intended to ask what you have done in your own time playing, and what you think professionals should do even if it's not what you yourself have or would do in the same situation.

 

[Bubz27]

Should trust the referee to do his job. He's absolutely fallen apart since and shown his ineptitude.

I'd leave one on him next time. Not anything dirty, just a tough tackle.

 

[padr81]

Average Joe would probably lose his head and its understandable, but Rashford has to know better. He was kicked to provoke exactly that reaction and walked right into it.

 

[Ballache]

Let it slide, then get him later. Squaring up to someone on a football pitch is so useless as you won't actually get to do anything and you will probably get sent off.
I also can't help but feel that Bardsley would kick 10 shades of shit out of Rashford.

 

[sullydnl]

I have no problem with a player getting retribution (within reason), just do it in a smart way.

In this case Rashford managed to get himself sent off without actually doing anything that would in any way bother Bardsley, which is the worst of both worlds.

A better reaction would be to just make sure he feels it the next time you go in for a challenge on him but without getting in any serious trouble with the referee. If a player isn't capable of that low-key nastiness then they should just leave it.

 

[worldinmotion66]

It was a petulant kick out. I'd have laughed at Bardsley and reminded him of the score. I'd have gone in hard on him at the next opportunity, so retribution, yes. What Rashford did was cringweorthy and pathetic.

 

[R'hllor]

3pts, decent performance, think we played Burnley away in a good moment for us. There are other things ref, some comedy solutions in certain situation but maybe we should lay off from that this weekend.

 

[Casanova85]

A slap in the face away from the cameras after the match is finished.

 

[Seanus]

When he first got in the team his coolness under provocation was exemplary, yes it was a cnut's trick by the Burnley player and Moss is a knob but he should know he can't do that

 

[freeurmind]

Rashford has got to be smarter there. Leave it and get him back a few minutes later. With the likes Of Fellaini, Matic and Lukaku in the team, there'd be a few willing to exact retribution.

 

[Moriarty]

If a player goes in with the intent of hurting you, will you let it slide (so to speak), or will you hurt them back?

Make them look stupid. Rashford had the beating of him from the moment he came on. He should have just used his skill to make him look like the clogger he is.

 

[100]

There's no benefit to doing what Rashford did in todays game. See Madrid/Barca/Spain 2008-1018.

 

[Scrumpet]

Take a deep breath and let it go, then after the game approach him and ask him if everything is okay in his personal life. Tell him it’s clear something is bothering him and if he needs to vent to a relative stranger then you’re always willing to listen. When he calls and confides that he feels empty inside, that he thought a career as a Premier League footballer would be more fulfilling, tell him that you understand. With time he’ll come to consider you a friend and during one of your weekly coffee meet-ups in which the two of you talk about anything but football he’ll thank you for looking beyond the hard man persona and seeing the human being within. When he gets up to go to the loo, rake your studs down the back of his calf (after surreptitiosly putting on a football boot under the table).

 

[Keeps It tidy]

Rashford should have just stayed down like he been shot. He would be well in reason.

 

[OutOfTowner]

Take a deep breath and let it go, then after the game approach him and ask him if everything is okay in his personal life. Tell him it’s clear something is bothering him and if he needs to vent to a relative stranger then you’re always willing to listen. When he calls and confides that he feels empty inside, that he thought a career as a Premier League footballer would be more fulfilling, tell him that you understand. With time he’ll come to consider you a friend and during one of your weekly coffee meet-ups in which the two of you talk about anything but football he’ll thank you for looking beyond the hard man persona and seeing the human being within. When he gets up to go to the loo, rake your studs down the back of his calf (after surreptitiosly putting on a football boot under the table).

Then "accidentally" stamp on his hand and act like you were falling over.

 

[OldSchoolManc]

With so many cameras from different angles, it SHOULD be up to the FA to punish players retrospectively.
Sadly, as we have seen, they don’t always follow it up unless the media get hold of it. They won’t with Bardsley.
He wasn’t booked for the incomprehensible kick out after his sliding tackle, so he should be retrospectively charged.

 

[giorno]

Well, i never played pro with cameras trained on me throughout the whole game and the risk of a big ban and fine, so at my level, if somebody came in with the intent to hurt me, most of the time i'd either get up and start a brawl, or wait for the chance to go after him later during play

Though there are times when you just square up, say a few words and let it go, cause it's not worth it. That almost never happened to me, but then i'm a cnut

 

[MikeKing]

Anyone remember when Aguero headbutted Fellaini, then threw himself on the floor and got the big guy red carded?

 

[Snafu17]

I would roll around the pitch for about 2 minutes, pretending to be badly hurt.

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Take a deep breath and let it go, then after the game approach him and ask him if everything is okay in his personal life. Tell him it’s clear something is bothering him and if he needs to vent to a relative stranger then you’re always willing to listen. When he calls and confides that he feels empty inside, that he thought a career as a Premier League footballer would be more fulfilling, tell him that you understand. With time he’ll come to consider you a friend and during one of your weekly coffee meet-ups in which the two of you talk about anything but football he’ll thank you for looking beyond the hard man persona and seeing the human being within. When he gets up to go to the loo, rake your studs down the back of his calf (after surreptitiosly putting on a football boot under the table).

Then lock arms, make it look like HE'S the initiator, roll him and bring him down on his side damaging his shoulder so hes injured for weeks.

 

[11101]

We need a Roy Keane in the team. He would have waited a few minutes then absolutely cleaned Bardsley out for a well earned yellow card.

 

[endless_wheelies]

What do you mean by "intentionally tried to hurt"? Just to leave a mark or genuinely injure out of the game?

I can only speak to hockey but I love the "leave a mark" side of the game so of course I pretend to let it go then get them back; jab them in the ribs, hook their leg, barge them (preferably off the side of the pitch onto something hard), it might be the best part of my game as I'm not actually that good. If they actually tried to injure me I don't know, I think I might just punch them there and then if they weren't massive but I couldn't say for sure as I've never come across anyone willing to commit GBH over an amateur hockey game.

Obviously it's totally different in a Premier League game with cameras everywhere, I'd do nothing as it's going to get picked up and the win is more important than messing around pretending to be hard.

 

[Gio]

Been there dozens if not hundreds of times. 9/10 a player who does a snide one like that is either trying to provoke you or trying to hurt you because you’re the better player. Only a mug retaliates in front of the ref. The give him a hard one back tactic is limited IMO because you either end up in the ref’s book or in a war with said player where you both lose by ending up with knocks, cards or worse. The best approach is to either forget it - or failing that to provoke the player that did it to you until he reacts to the point where the ref does spot it. There are different ways to wind up a player like that such as teasing them into yellow card challenges, crossing over in front of them, grappling in a marking situation and waiting for the flying arm to hit you, etc. You’ve got to be smart about it and prioritise the team over your bruised ego.

 

[WR10]

Would make sense if Bardsley actually tried to hurt him. He didn’t. He was just being petty. You don’t retaliate pettyness with pettyness - that’s not how eye for eye works. Rashford looked like a teenager today that thinks he’s developing character.

 

[James Peril]

It’s a silly question, this is professional football and not some 4th division nonsense without any consequences. The referee is there for a reason, trust them to do their job. If not, the cameras catches the incidents and the players are caught retrospectively. Life isn’t always fair.

The answer to your question is obvious. If you’re an idiot and want to be fined and lose your place in the team, you act out. If you’re smart and want to play for United, you get on with it. A third solution is to deck the player like Lukaku did a few minutes later. Rashford is young and can be excused, but he does have that annoying swagger about him that he can lose immediately. He hasn’t made it yet and must develop a lot to be a starter for United. The kick wasn’t dangerous at all, just naughty and experienced from Bardsley.

I could understand a very strong reaction if someone tries to take you out... like breaking your leg or elbowing with intent. I would totally understand a shove or butting heads, even though the reaction would be the same in terms of a red card. Mbappe’s reaction yesterday was more warranted that Rashford’s today. They’re human after all.

 

[James Peril]

We need a Roy Keane in the team. He would have waited a few minutes then absolutely cleaned Bardsley out for a well earned yellow card.

Lukaku did just that though

 

[Eyepopper]

I also can't help but feel that Bardsley would kick 10 shades of shit out of Rashford.

He knocked Wayne Rooney out play-fighting, I'd say that's a safe assumption.

 

[RedFish]

I'm ok with how Rashford reacted. That look Bardsley have to BB him as he was walking away, the fecking cnut.

 

[M Bison]

Do you remember the Evra one on Ballack? I always thought that was a good one. Ballack’s was a naughty one off the ball and Evra flew into a tackle soon after, was a great tackle, really hit him hard although won the ball (may have conceded a free kick but long time ago and can’t fully recall).

 

[Pexbo]

Would make sense if Bardsley actually tried to hurt him. He didn’t. He was just being petty. You don’t retaliate pettyness with pettyness - that’s not how eye for eye works. Rashford looked like a teenager today that thinks he’s developing character.

That’s not far off the dictionary definition of it, actually.

 

[Billy Blaggs]

The Barsley situation today on Rashford, and many, many others in any kind of football, really. What would you do in the same scenario? Do you believe in retribution, either right then and there, or later in the game when there's a chance to do so more undetected?

If a player goes in with the intent of hurting you, will you let it slide (so to speak), or will you hurt them back?

These questions go both ways as they're intended to ask what you have done in your own time playing, and what you think professionals should do even if it's not what you yourself have or would do in the same situation.

I'd have decked him.

 

[R'hllor]

This might sound like thug wannabe but imagine getting red and 3 games ban for that shit? If you want to get sent off and be banned for few games at least have a proper swing or some shit, he moved his head forward for a 3 games and red card, screw that.

 

[RedTiger]

I would have sparked Bardsley the moment he went to touch his eye. But then I'm vindictive and also not a pro footballer.

 

[diarm]

We worship legends like Cantona and Keane even though they regularly let the red mist descend and lashed out, often at the expense of a red card, even when they were far older and more experienced than this lad.

Rashford is a young fella fighting for his place in the team. He got his chance today and was eager to show his worth. Got kicked by a dirty fecker and saw the red mist for a few seconds.

He'll sit three matches out now and learn from the experience. Such a lesson is invaluable to a young player and for me, I'd way prefer it to come at the end of a game we've already won, early in the season and with a reasonable next three fixtures. It could've been 5 minutes into a crucial top 6 battle or at 1-1 in the second leg of a Champions league knockout tie but it wasn't, so we'll get over it and he'll learn to be more mature for future, more important moments.

I enjoyed the way the rest of his teammates piled in to support himnto be honest. A few times over the past few years I've thought we looked mean and apathetic to the fight but that incident today showed a real togetherness which is great to see.