Wenger: Ten-game bans for dangerous tackles

Malicious, sometimes career-threatening, challenges are becoming a more frequent occurence in the Premier League, with Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole the latest to see red on Wednesday night for a reckless scythe on West Ham's Scott Parker.

And the Gunners boss believes that, while full-blooded efforts to genuinely win the ball remain an integral ingredient of English football, players who deliberately intend to harm their opponent deserve a more severe punishment than a standard three-match suspension.

"An accident can happen when two people go for the ball but it is very rare," he told the Daily Mail. "What I see is that guys go into the tackle to hurt the player. There is not sufficient punishment.

"They could create a special committee to analyse if three games is enough because, in some tackles, 10 is not enough.

"Maybe we need to be stronger with our own players but sometimes you see the players make horrendous tackles and then say to the referee 'What's wrong there?'

"You think 'My friend, touch your head because you have completely lost touch with reality'. It is unbelievable but they know what they have done."

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Gregg Davies

Gregg Davies is the Chief Sub Editor of FourFourTwo magazine, joining the team in January 2008 and spending seven years working on the website. He supports non-league behemoths Hereford and commentates on Bulls matches for Radio Hereford FC. His passions include chocolate hobnobs and attempting to shoehorn Ronnie Radford into any office conversation.