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Martinez backs Wenger call
Roberto Martinez has thrown his weight behind Arsene Wenger's calls for the Premier League's flair players to receive greater protection from referees.
Arsenal boss Wenger is still seething after seeing wonderkid Aaron Ramsey ruled out for the season with a badly-broken leg suffered at Stoke last weekend.
Although the Potters man in question, Ryan Shawcross, was shown the red card, Wenger has called on the authorities to do more to crack down on the over-physical tactics employed by certain clubs in the top flight.
And having seen his own starlet James McCarthy subjected to arguably an even worse challenge at Birmingham on the same day, the Wigan manager believes Wenger has a valid point.
Martinez told the Evening Post: "The hardest thing in football is to be constructive and creative, and to produce the kind of attractive play that everybody wants to see.
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"It makes football what it is, and I agree that the referees should be stronger and look to protect the flair players a little bit more.
"With those sorts of over-physical challenges, you have lot to lose – and the rules should help the attacking players.
"A tackle does not have to be malicious to be dangerous. If it is mis-timed, you can still put someone's career on hold for nine months, which is a big price to pay. Paying the price of a broken leg because you are trying to be a creative player is too much of a risk.
"The rules should be a bit stricter."
In fairness to Shawcross, his tackle near the halfway line was clearly mis-timed as opposed to premeditated foul play.
But Martinez questioned the wisdom of launching into such a robust challenge in such a harmless part of the field.
He explained: "At the time, I thought that it was a late, late tackle, but I didn't think that it was malicious or that he was trying to hurt the player.
"But in that area of the pitch, it was unnecessary.
"You could understand if a player was the last man trying to save a goal or have an effect on the scoreline. But not when they are in an area where there is no real danger to the defensive team.
"Yes, we all want to see heart and desire in the game, but we cannot allow tackles like that which put players at big risk of injury. We all know what players like Aaron Ramsey can do on the ball, and defending is an art as well.
"But there is such a thin line when it comes to the physicality.
"Teams that are physical and hard to break down are perhaps being too successful at the moment."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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