To think the BBC commentary team were far too mild in their condemnation of English player stepping on opponent

[Clafoutie]

I know from other threads that most people on MN have zero in football so hoping those people will simply not read!
To anyone who is interested, I thought that the very feeble way in which the BBC commentators responded to England player Lauren James deliberately standing on Nigerian player Michelle Alozie was incredibly disappointing and biased. The incident was totally unacceptable and Lauren James was rightly shown a red card, but the commentary team seemed to really hold back on condemning it, and later speculated about how Lauren James must have been ‘tired’ ‘frustrated’ and maybe ‘stayed on the pitch too long’, and other excuses. I get that it is only football, and hardly a big deal, but I thought it was really wrong and quite uncomfortable to watch.

Zero interest in football I meant!

I agree with you, a really stupid childish thing to do and they know the cameras catch everything these days. I think they were lucky to get through.

Pretty awful. Even worse because I read an article at the weekend about how James has been protected and sheltered like a precious jewel because of her absolutely overwhelming talent... I'm reminded of David Beckham's petulant kick at an Argentinian opponent years back.

Zero interest in football here! My boyfriend showed me the footage as he was so horrified - I was shocked; disgusting behaviour. Didn’t hear the commentary but anything other than condemnation is pathetic. She’s a disgrace to sport (whoever she is!)

Nah I thought they were bang on. She's not the first player to do that and won't be the last. Nigeria were a very physical team, much more than others England have played in the world cup and she retaliated physically (wrongly). People make mistakes and I doubt she'll do it again.

It is such a shame that James did that, I don't know what she thought would happen with cameras everywhere.

Overall I felt the commentators were too negative about England. They seemed sure they would lose and as soon as they won they were accused of daylight robbery, after playing for so long and getting 4 penalties in. So I actually thought they were harsh but maybe not harsh enough towards James specifically.

I was only half listening after the game but I'm sure it was said that there is no excuse?
It probably was because of all those things, but they weren't saying that made it ok, just that it highlighted her inexperience?

It was an awful thing to do. There's already a meme image of it, I've seen more posts about it than I saw about the euros final and she's likely not playing another game this world cup (if we even get past the next one).. she's not going to be allowed to think it was ok! I hope she learns from it rather than gets destroyed by it though.

I agree anotherman, felt like I was watching a different game to the commentators. Nigeria were physical and pacey and a different challenge for England but they couldn't find the back of the net. They were never going to win if they couldn't score in 30 mins against 10 women.

James reminded me much more of Wayne Rooney stamping on Ricardo Carvalho in the 2006 World Cup.

Beckham's was a tame flick at Diego Simone, in contrast. Simone made a meal out of it and four years after the WC in France he admitted he'd conned the ref:

"I had tackled him, and we both fell to the ground. As I was trying to stand up that was when he kicked me from behind. And I took advantage of that. And I think any person would have taken advantage of that in just the same way. Sometimes you get sent off, sometimes you don't. Unfortunately for the English team that time they lost a player. Anyway, you take advantage of all the opportunities you find in your life. If you don't take advantage of a chance that comes your way you are lost."

Michelle Alozie, on the other hand, did not con the ref and so Lauren James' behaviour was more similar to Wayne Rooney in the 2006 WC in Germany against Portugal.

It’s such a shame. I didn’t really listen to the commentary so I can’t comment but it was clearly a very foolish thing to do. This is going to haunt her for some time to come.
She has been this tournaments golden girl and now, after a split second reaction in a temper she’s utterly ruined it for herself.
The only saving grace is that England managed to hold out and win.

I do agree her behaviour was unacceptable, she will love to regret it and they definitely could have been more direct in their observations. However I was somewhat heartened to see she didn't get a harsher response from commentators than Beckham when he did similar, often women are held to a higher standard especially around violence, because it isn't 'ladylike'.

I hope she learns from it rather than gets destroyed by it though.

Yes, I agree with this. It would be good if something positive came out of it eventually.

But people want partisan commentary.

He doesn't watch the men's football then? Particularly the Chelsea v Tottenham game after which Souness said he was thankful that football was back to being a man's game?

@PermanentTemporary just bare in mind that the male footballers are protected while visiting brothels, committing DV, rape etc. I'm sure that there wasn't a sexist slant to that article at all.

We shouldn't hold the women players to standards that we don't expect from the men. Horrific, disgusting etc is never used about the dirty playing tactics used by the men, especially when it's against England.

I agree, OP.

James was stupid & petulant. She let her team-mates down badly. Serena Wiegman has a reputation as a no-nonsense character so I’m sure that, while the coach has to publicly supportive, in private James will be spoken to about the responsibilities of representing her country.
The commentators made too many excuses for her behaviour, but they will be aware of a need to tread carefully given the abuse on social media previously directed at England players who have been sent off or missed penalties in tournaments. James is mixed race which, rightly or wrongly, will be seen as increasing the need for caution given that black players have previously been racially abused.

Yes, that’s true, and would have been worse!

They might be playing Colombia in the next round.
Ireland played Colombia in a warm up game and they called the game off after 20 minutes because the Colombians were so dirty physical, so England better beware.

Good point, and one I had not sufficiently considered.

I’m pretty sure the commentator (Alex Scott?) noticed it immediately and said ‘that looks like more than a yellow’ or something similar? Then - after the VAR - ‘well deserved red card’ and ‘there’s just no excuses’ or similar?

I agree that I found the commentary odd though. They were speaking as if England were playing terribly, and I don’t think they were. They played well, against a strong team, kept more of the possession, had more attempts on goal, etc.

As the guardian commentary pointed out, there's a long history of brilliant young players losing it in this way in very big matches: Zidane, Maradona, Rooney. It's the biggest occasion of their lives, they are under huge expectation and then things don't go their way and they snap. James barely touched the ball in a match where she was expected to star, on the biggest stage. That's to Nigeria's credit. She's still young and the pressure on her is huge.

Also remember she'll learn her lesson the hard way, it could be the end of her tournament, and that will really hurt. So no need for a pile on, because she's not got away with it.

Certainly not intending a pile on, and hope that doesn’t happen.

@Ponoka7

"just bare in mind that the male footballers are protected while visiting brothels, committing DV, rape".

And your proof of this is?

It's not as though she's facing no consequences. She may be about to miss out on the rest of the world cup. I reckon she'll be punishing herself enough, as I'm sure the papers, social media and well, websites like this are! Would an extra 'what a stupid thing to do! ' from the commentators really make a difference?!

Great, I had thought perhaps with the rise of women's football we might lose some of the violence associated but seems it is something about the game itself. Bet dv rises through this as it does in the men's too. Football players generally come across as awful role models and are paid to behave like this.

I loved Chloe Kelly going to comfort Chiamaka Nnadozie though and telling the cameras to leave her alone whilst she was crying, brilliant sportswoman(?)ship.