In Defence of Samir Nasri…

By: Daryl | September 1st, 2008

If you saw Arsenal 3-0 Newcastle on Saturday then you’ll know that Joey Barton was reintroduced to the Premiership. Reintroduced but not rehabilitated. The recent Strangeways resident came on for Newcastle in the 89th minute and made a not horrific, but not too nice either tackle on Samir Nasri.

Nasri responded soon after by tripping Barton from behind. Nasri got a booking for his retaliation and also an earful from Kevin Keegan:

“I know the referee didn’t see it but the linesman did and it should have been a red card. I will tell Arsene Wenger the same thing when I see him and I told Nasri that at the end as well. The fact is that Joey has done nothing wrong.”

I’ll try and ignore that last sentence, and move on to say that though premeditated retaliation is always a bad idea, in this case it’s perfectly understandable.

And not for the reasons you might expect. I’m not saying it’s OK to trip Joey Barton just because he’s a thug etcetera. But Nasri is a young (recently turned 21) smallish (5′10″ according to Wiki) Frenchman recently arrived in English football. He was also having a good game on Saturday (which Arsenal had already won by the time Barton arrived.)

Barton knew all of the above and was clearly out to intimidate the youngster. Just look at the look he gives Nasri after the initial tackle:

(apologies for the biased nature of the video)

An older and more established head might have brushed it off. That’s really the smart thing to do. A more vindictive head (this means you Roy Keane) would have tried to break Barton in half.

But Nasri is a young player still earning his reputation in English football, which can be a physical place for a little French fella. Nasri had to show he can stand up to any bullying so he tripped Barton to let him know he can’t be pushed around. If you’re a creative type like Nasri you don’t want every tough tackling midfielder making you their bitch. The Premiership is a lot like prison in the respect.

Provided Nasri doesn’t make a habit of tripping players he doesn’t like, he’ll be fine. Not so sure about Barton though. Nasri made the news by upending the Newcastle player, but there’s no doubt Barton started it with his tackle, conjuring up a wholly unnecessary bit of controversy that definitely isn’t in his or Newcastle’s best interests right now.

Barton needs to make a serious effort to keep his nose clean and that wasn’t a good start. There’s going to be a lot more of this to come: