Ryan Shawcross, who broke the leg of opponent Aaron Ramsey last season, and has now been made captain of Stoke City defends Man City's De Jong (who broke the leg of Ben Arfa, Newcastle last weekend) and of Wolves captain Karl Henry who was sent off the same weekend for a wild tackle ....having left Bobby Zamora of Fulham with a broken leg just three weeks earlier.
By offering the excuse that the game is faster nowadays Ryan opens himself up to the criticism - why isn't his game fast enough to tackle cleanly? Has he not kept up with the faster game? Does he mean that the forwards are faster but not the defenders? Is he confessing that he is too slow for the modern game? ( I don't think he has played in any other at his age)
If he realises that the margin for error is now so small then why does he tackle so recklessly?
There is also the question of whether De Jong will soon become the captain of Manchester City!
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