Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has criticised PSV Eindhoven defender Hector Moreno after Luke Shaw was left with a double fracture of his right leg following one of his tackles.
The England international was given oxygen and stretchered off during the Red Devils’ 2-1 loss in the Champions League at the Philips Stadion after a robust challenge from Moreno. And Van Gaal was unhappy with the style in which the defender won the ball.
“It was a very bad tackle with two legs,” said the Dutchman afterwards, who used to manage the Mexican during his stint at AZ Alkmaar, per Joe Bernstein, David Wood and Ben Grounds of the MailOnline. As noted in the aforementioned piece, Van Gaal revealed Shaw was in a pretty bad way:
When he came into the dressing room, I couldn't say anything to him because he had on an oxygen mask, and he was crying.
I am not a doctor so I can not say how long he will be out but when you have a double fracture I think it is six months, it depends how it develops. He won't play in the (Champions League) group phase any more. I hope he can play this season.
The challenge from Moreno did see him win the ball cleanly inside the penalty area, meaning the referee didn’t give a penalty for United. But Shaw’s lower leg felt the brunt of the forceful follow-through and he was left with a gruesome double fracture.
As we can see here courtesy of MUFC Scoop, Moreno was clearly uneasy after realising the extent of Shaw’s injury:
Former referee Graham Poll has criticised the referee on the night, Nicola Rizzoli, for not sending off Moreno and awarding United a subsequent penalty kick in his Daily Mail column:
His leading leg might have touched the ball but the way he entered into the challenge—at pace and off the ground—he had no control over his actions.
Rizzoli knows the law and, while the tackle might have looked worse in slow motion replays which the referee does not see, he should detect and punish such tackles made with excessive force. He is one of UEFA's very best officials but he missed a poor tackle here which also should have resulted in a penalty for United as well as the red card for Moreno.
It’s a challenge that has left the football world divided. Naturally, there are plenty from a United and England standpoint, who are hugely disappointed with the tackle given the subsequent injuries to Shaw.
Indeed, Bleacher Report’s Rob Blanchette doesn’t think Moreno needs to go in on the ex-Southampton man quite so hard:
But Shaw was travelling at speed and running into a dangerous area of the pitch. The Mexican is a dynamic defender by nature too and a committed, clean player. If there was going to be a collision between the pair it was always going to be high impact and after winning the ball cleanly, Moreno clearly times the tackle well.
As noted by ESPN’s Mexican football expert Tom Marshall, the PSV centre-back isn’t a player renowned for being malicious either:
It’s horrendous what has happened to Shaw, especially given the way he has begun this campaign. But the galling manner in which he has been left with a long-term injury often prompts over-analysis of these incidents, with replays slowed down to make movements look much worse.
Moreno could be accused of being a little rash, especially in the sweeping motion his standing leg makes after winning the ball. But the tackle wasn't high and it wasn't two-footed. It seems clear there was no malicious intent in the challenge.
via http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2567526-luke-shaw-injury-prompts-louis-van-gaal-criticism-of-hector-moreno-tackle
RSS Feed
