And, although the injury incident itself was not directly down to an Arsenal player, I still maintain their targeting him in the game from the kickoff increased the chances of him picking up an injury.
I have been there myself, literally playing his position (though, obviously at a far, far lower level to the best player in the world at present), and every opposition player leaving the boot in on you, putting in a snide elbow or knee, or pushing or pulling you from behind whenever the ref has his back turned changes the way you play (or just move about the pitch), and it can absolutely lead to injuries when that happens. FFS, Havertz put his forearm in to his throat straight from kickoff—Rodri would have had been expecting everyone of them to have a go any time they were near him from that point forward and he probably started to try to compensate to protect himself. It goes back to what you are taught early on that in 50/50 challenge situations it is usually the less committed player that gets injured. And that applies to when you start changing how you run and shift and play more generally to avoid getting crocked by thugs.
They all knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were instructed to do it. And they are all happy to see him out of the season, the absolute cowardly cunts.
