Source: Team_Talk
Henry hoovers up tackling critics
Wolves midfielder Karl Henry believes people should not be so quick to vilify players over accidentally mistimed tackles that cause injury.[LNB] Henry came under intense scrutiny earlier this season when his tackle broke the leg of Fulham and England striker Bobby Zamora.[LNB]The majority of judges accepted Zamora was on the end of some bad luck rather than a malicious tackle from Henry but it is that, along with a full-blooded encounter with Newcastle and a challenge on Wigan's Jordi Gomez that drew a straight red card, which led to much criticism of both Henry and Wolves - something which the former Stoke player took to heart.[LNB]Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said at the weekend that "everyone studies it with a microscope" when Cesc Fabregas makes a tackle, and Henry feels he is coming under the same, unfair, scrutiny.[LNB]He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I've doubted myself. I put on a game from about seven years ago. We played Nottingham Forest at Stoke and I put in plenty of tackles that day.[LNB]"I just wanted to check that my game has not altered. And my game hasn't altered at all - I've always put in lots of tackles, it's the way I've played and nothing's changed.[LNB]"In the Championship you see tackle after tackle and there's no problem with it.[LNB]"At this level there seems to be a problem with slightly mistimed tackles.[LNB]"The pace of the game is something that's a massive point. Players are so fast and so strong.[LNB]"People are so big, powerful and strong. Something that's slightly mistimed ends up with someone doing a flip and it looks so bad.[LNB]"It almost looks malicious and that's not the case a lot of the time.[LNB]"People have got to look past someone being flipped in the air or someone not winning the ball and see was it deliberate? Was it malicious? And a lot of the time it isn't."[LNB]He continued: "Sometimes (tackles) look a lot worse than they are and it's a difficult job for the referees to judge at the time: was that deliberate? Was it high? Could it cause some serious damage?[LNB]"You just don't know until after the game.[LNB]"The tackle at Fulham on Bobby Zamora, a lot of their players were happy with the tackle. It was only at half-time when they realised the severity of it that it becomes a huge issue."[LNB]Henry admitted he was shocked when he watched the tackle back on TV.[LNB]"It wasn't until I watched it back that I realised how bad it did look and how bad it was," he said.[LNB]"I've apologised to the lads for that. I did let them down. I let the club and the supporters down that day."[LNB]He added: "Bobby Zamora will be sitting at home thinking he should be in the England team and rightly so because I've no doubt he would be and I've no doubt he will be when he gets back.[LNB]"I just hope he makes a speedy recovery and gets himself back to where he was because he's a top, top player."[LNB]Wolves were criticised heavily on TV following their August clash with Newcastle, which saw 12 players booked and finished with Joey Barton complaining about the treatment he received.[LNB]Henry said the criticism was "100 per cent" unfair, and added: "There were so many tackles in that game from both parties. I think the neutrals would agree it was just a wholehearted performance from both teams.[LNB]"Joey Barton put in plenty of tackles himself - so did the rest of their players and so did we.[LNB]"(The TV pundits) just picked out a small portion of the tackles that went on in that game and decided to make it (seem like) a hate campaign on Joey Barton that day, which just wasn't the case."
