Sound of Football Podcast 287 - Aggressive football

In his post match interview on Saturday, Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte expressed surprise at being asked by British media whether or not Marcos Alonso's aerial challenge with Arsenal's Hector Bellerin was a foul. "Not in England. In Italy... maybe."

The challenge itself, which brought Chelsea's opening goal, was defended by almost all commentators, the only dissenting voices being those from Arsenal fans. Was the aggression and desire to win the ball too great? There may not have been any intent to injure the opponent but nonetheless Bellerin lost consciousness, could play no further part in the game and required an MRI scan.

Meanwhile, in Germany a more clearly unacceptable form of aggression took place outside Borussia Dortmund's ground as a section of home fans indiscriminately attacked supporters of RB Leipzig. What had been barely more than a war of words over something as ideological as club ownership, has now seemingly degenerated into an all too familiar out-pouring of anger.

On this week's podcast, Graham, Terry and Jan look at both these incidents to discuss the place for aggression in the game.

For more information on the podcast and links related to the subjects discussed, check out the Show Notes on our blog.

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