Tottenham’s Mousa Dembélé Charged with Violent Conduct
Tottenham Hotspur midfielder, Mousa Dembélé, is the second Spurs player to get charged with violent conduct in consecutive weeks. The Belgian international could miss the rest of the season and then some.
While the biggest London derby is usually contested between Arsenal and Tottenham, after Monday night’s match (May, 2nd) which ended in a two-all draw and nine yellow cards for the Lilywhites — the most by any Premier League club in a single game — Spurs and Chelsea will now be an even bigger fixture for next season.
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Along with losing Mousa Dembélé for the rest of the season for a standard three-match ban for his eye-scratching incident, it appears that the Football Association could determine the 28-year-old’s actions must result in a stricter ban.
Here’s the Guardian with more information below:
"The FA said the nature of Dembélé’s alleged offence was such that a usual three-match violent conduct ban “is clearly insufficient”, meaning the midfielder could miss a stretch of games at the beginning of next season.The incident was not seen by the referee, Mark Clattenburg, nor his assistants, during a melee at the end of the first-half, but the FA have analysed evidence from TV cameras to bring the charge.Off-the-ball incidents which are not seen by the officials are referred to a panel of three former referees to review."
Not only will Mousa Dembélé miss the rest of the season, but if the ban has been defined as “clearly insufficient” then Tottenham will be without their starting central midfielder for the start of next season.
At the moment, the FA have not decided on how long the punishment will last, but seeing as how Spurs now have two players suspended in consecutive weeks, it wouldn’t be surprising if a three-match ban could be doubled to as many as six games. Which should be “sufficient” enough.
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By doing so, it could ensure that Mauricio Pochettino starts taking a tougher stance on player discipline following three separate brawls during the 45th minute, the 87th minute and at the end of the game.
If a longer suspension for Dembélé wasn’t enough, both Chelsea and Tottenham have been charged as well and will be fined for their team’s actions throughout a chippy game at Stamford Bridge.
Per, the Guardian, the Blues and Spurs have until 6pm on Monday to respond to the charges that were handed out. Of course, the fines can’t be avoided.
As for other Tottenham players involved in mini incidents like Érik Lamela stepping on Cesc Fàbregas’ hand, Michel Vorm getting in the face of Fàbregas and Danny Rose getting into a little shoving bout with Willian.
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Overall, London derbies are always heated fixtures and this is something that won’t go away any time soon. But with that being said, Tottenham now know that their players are susceptible to getting worked up too easily even though Chelsea were to blame for instigating some of the incidents with questionable challenges.
It’s too early to see what will happen should Mauricio Pochettino’s side face yet another player getting suspended after being charged with violent conduct. But if this keeps up, Spurs could be a huge target next season in the bad kind of way.
Meaning teams will target Dele Alli, Mousa Dembélé, Érik Lamela and Danny Rose to get them riled up and sent off the pitch.