Arsène Wenger believes Eduardo’s injury was an accident waiting to
happen.
The Arsenal manager looked on as his Croatian striker suffered a
broken leg at Birmingham last Saturday and has urged the
authorities to give players more protection against dangerous
tackling.
“What we want to have is the right protection,” said Wenger.
“That is the second player we have lost to bad tackles.
“We are the team in the last three years that has committed less
fouls than any other team, and the numbers are available. We are
the team that has been fouled more than any other team and the team
that has been punished more than any other team.
“We try to behave how we want to behave and how we think we
should behave but we just want the right protection from
referees.
“I can show you the legs of [Alex] Hleb for example when he comes out of a game —
he doesn’t get the protection he deserves."
The man in the middle though is not the only one to blame,
according to Wenger.
“I can give you examples many times,” he continued. “Journalists
with smiles on their faces ask me, 'they got in your face today and
you didn’t have the answer'. That is encouraging violence.
“And how many times do I sit in a press conference and people
are looking at me thinking 'you try to play football but when
people kick you, you don’t have the answer'.
“They have to take responsibility as well.”