Peter Crouch last night launched a scathing attack on Chelsea's
John Mikel Obi and claimed that foreign players were destroying the
Barclays Premier League's honesty and integrity.
The Liverpool striker said the Nigerian over-reacted to the tackle
that earned the England striker a red card in the Carling Cup
defeat on Wednesday.
Crouch said: 'If you go in on Frank Lampard or John Terry, would
they roll around like Obi did? I don't think so.
'Would someone like Jamie Carragher have gone down like that? I
think it's safe to say he wouldn't.
'Foreign players have brought a lot to our game, but what Obi did
is something you don't want to see. I didn't catch him, but he went
down like he had been shot.'
The England man's frustration boiled over as he jumped into a
twofooted challenge which saw referee Martin Atkinson send him
off.
Crouch, however, has pointed the finger of blame at Obi.
Crouch insisted his England team-mates would not have behaved as
the 20-year-old Nigerian did, believing the Stamfrod Bridge man
overreacted.
Crouch added: 'We were still in the game and could have nicked it.
But after the sending-off it was always going to be
difficult.
'Obi came in with his studs up and that was in the back of my mind.
Then I thought there was another foul.
'There are no excuses for the tackle I made, but if the referee had
pulled the foul up when he should have, it wouldn't have
happened.
'A lot was going their way and I think frustration got the better
of me.'
