An awful lot has been made this week about Pep Guardiola’s refusal to teach his players how to tackle.
But perhaps it’s his arch-rival Jose Mourinho who should be having a word with his players over their tackling technique as it seems like defender Marcos Rojo has absolutely no idea how to try to win the ball without putting the opposition attacker in danger.
Seamus Coleman was on the receiving end of a disgraceful, studs-up, two-footed lunge from the United man during the 1-1 draw with Everton earlier this month. Rojo was shown a yellow card for the tackle, when almost everybody watching was in agreement that it should have been red.
One would have imagined that the Argentine would’ve counted his lucky stars and vowed not to attempt something so stupid or rash again.
Well, if he did, it didn’t take him long to row back on it as he came up with a similarly hideous tackle on former United winger Wilfried Zaha when the Red Devils travelled to Selhurst Park on Wednesday.
As Zaha took the ball inside Rojo, the defender bared the soles of both of his feet and stabbed them in the direction of Zaha’s ankles.
Luckily, Zaha had the athleticism and wherewithal to jump over the point of impact and escape serious injury.
We can’t show you the footage but the below screenshot gives you the essence of the challenge.
Trust us when we tell you it was worthy of a straight red!
But yet again, it was just a yellow for the versatile defender.
And in the wake of his second infringement in as many weeks, United fans pegged him a liability while non-United fans were shocked that he had managed to escape red yet again.
Rojo is so fucking annoying, doesn't matter how well he is playing, he will always be reckless and hot headed. Liability
— KingMusa (@Darkseidisnt) December 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/adj_7Pincus/status/809135759043284992
https://twitter.com/wayneos/status/809135729406316544
Seems Rojo is actually gonna have to snap someone's leg before he sees red for one of those horror tackles. Dirty little scumbag.
— Powelly (@Steve_Powell9) December 14, 2016
Rojo is a fucking absolute scumbag! That cunt needs banning! Prick
— 𝕾𝕵𝕻 (@SJP1905) December 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/carpmad/status/809135842988032000
Someone needs to bin that prick Rojo. Fella's attempted tackles are shocking
— Craig Hegarty (@craigsh23) December 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/Llandegren/status/809140123103268867
Has anyone ever taught Rojo how to tackle? Appalling player
— Steven Church (@stevenchurch97) December 14, 2016
