I encourage people to read Pete Gill's piece on F365 (which is normally a bit anti-Arsenal):

He's really got a grasp of the issues at hand here.

OK, it's unfortunate that Eduardo got injured, and it's unfortunate that it was Martin Taylor, because I do believe he's a nice chap, and there's idiots like Roy Keane, Robbie Savage, Joey Barton, Steven Gerrard and so on that have gotten away with worse, more intentional tackles, but only because the other players avoided injury.

The issue here isn't about the individual making the tackle, it's about this ridiculous mentality in British football about "getting in their faces", and "letting 'em know we're there". It's about a coaching staff telling a non-aggressive guy like Martin Taylor to go and start kicking people as soon as they get the ball, and the idea of the tackle not being to "win the ball", but to "stop the man". And then injuries like this happen.

It's ridiculous to hear people defend the tackle. It's one thing to say "OK, he doesn't deserve more than a 5 or 7 match ban", it's another to say things like "the tackle was harmless, he was just unlucky", or "it looks worse than it is because he got injured". That logic is pathetic, and it's ridiculous, and as Gill says in his article - just how lawless is English football becoming, that people think it's OK to get away with this kind of thing? You have people like Stephen Kelly and Garth Crooks saying it shouldn't have been a booking, and Alex McLeish coming out and basically lying outright to the media (probably because he was the one who instructed his players to "get stuck in"), it is absolutely disgusting.

There was a time when the physical defensive play of English football was highly respected around the world - when guys like Adams, Keane, O'Leary, Vieira, Parker, Woodgate, Campbell... even Des Walker - they could slide into thumping challenges from 5 feet away and perfectly get the ball. Why did Rio Ferdinand cost 30 million pounds and why does he play for one of the world's top clubs? Not because he kicks people or injures them, it's because he is good at what he does.

Why have Everton and Aston Villa improved so much and become European contenders in recent years? It's because their midfields have become focussed on playing football with players like Petrov, Arteta, Young, Pienaar, Barry and so on, and their defences have players that can win the ball and use it properly - Laursen, Lescott, Yobo, Mellberg - their game isn't about just kicking opposition players up into the air, it's about playing football the right way. Teams might still be over-physical at times, but they aspire to be more than that.

The next time someone complains about foreigners ruining the English game, and how England doesn't produce any decent players... think twice about it. It's not because skilful English youngsters aren't getting a chance, it's because the manager's first reaction to a player or team of skill that they're facing is to try and kick or foul them, and this style of play becomes a blueprint for football. Even now in the lower leagues, some of the most sought after players are ones that are just big lumps who kick the opposition. There is an absolute paranoia against people that try to play football the right way, and managers respond not by trying to outplay them, but by trying to kick the sh*t out of them.

Joe Cole twice broke his leg as a youngster, but managed to survive to the top level, probably because of being in a good football environment at West Ham. Others haven't been so lucky. Former Arsenal youngster Ryan Smith was one of the club's and England's best youth prospects - a dazzling left winger. One day against an Ipswich reserve team, after another dazzling display of skill, he was taken out by a 16 year old Ipswich player who made no attempt to win the ball, and just wanted to stop the player. Smith's knee ligaments were destroyed, and his career was never the same. He came back scared, without confidence, and his progress was ruined.

So the next time someone asks why England doesn't produce any skilful or creative players, tell them it's because of the sh*t mentality of the game at the moment. Unless they're at a big club like Everton, Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool (where they're well protected), they are either going to suffer many injuries at a young age, or stop trying to play the way they can to avoid getting kicked. Of course some might get through, but the fact is that is very rarely happening.

You can appreciate the English mentality of wanting to always win, but this has to be done the right way. The problem is right now that the administrators of the game seem to think it's OK to tackle and foul people just for the sake of it, and so managers are pushing this to the extreme. They send their players out to kick the opposition first, and play football second, and the FA just seems to allow this. I'm not suggesting that we become like Italy, with the game stopping every 5 minutes, but that bad tackles and bad behaviour are properly punished. Managers should not think that it is an acceptable tactic to try and unfairly stop the opposition, and that violence is acceptable as long as it doesn't do any serious damage. This is what needs to change.