As soon as Everton midfielder Andre Gomes sustained a horrific ankle injury after a tackle from Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min, the latter broke into tears. However, Stan Collymore feels that Son went ‘over the top’ with his emotional reaction because of the fear of the comeback he was going to get post the tackle.
“I am not saying (Son and Serge Aurier) shouldn’t have been upset or shown distress, because these are normal human emotions,” Collymore wrote in the Mirror.
“They way Son reacted made it look like he thought football — the referee, the authorities, fans at home and in the crowd, opponents – was going to come down on him like a ton of bricks, even though we could all see he didn’t deliberately go out to cause Gomes’ injury.
“For a while now, I have been bothered that players and managers seem to think they must show an extreme version of their emotions because of the comeback they will get if they do not.
“Nowadays, footballers seemingly have to go over the top to present themselves before the court of public opinion and that needs to stop.”
Notably, 26-year-old Gomes picked up the injury when he was tackled from behind by Son in the 77th minute of the game. He had an awkward fall which aggravated his injury. The injury led to an anguished reaction from players and fans who were in close vicinity to the occurring.
The dull atmosphere in and around the stadium after the incident came alive when Cenk Tosun netted home a late equaliser following a 63rd-minute goal from Tottenham Hotspur’s Alli and the match ended a scoreline of 1-1.