TV pundit and former footballer Alan Shearer has expressed his anger after Leeds United man Robin Koch was allowed to continue playing this weekend despite suffering a head injury.
On Sunday, Marcelo Bielsa’s men fell to a 4-2 Premier League defeat at the hands of Manchester United. Despite a spirited effort to get the game back to 2-2 after trailing 2-0, Leeds could not hold on to claim a result against their bitter rivals.
However, one moment in the game caught the eye of the former Newcastle United striker. Indeed, in the first half, Koch suffered a clash of heads with Scott McTominay, which led to a lengthy stop in play. Eventually, despite being covered in blood at one stage, the Leeds man was allowed to keep playing, albeit heavily bandaged up.
Was it right for Robin Koch to continue after his head injury?
Yes
No
15 minutes after the knock, Junior Firpo had to come on to replace his injured teammate, who clearly could not continue. But it seems the failure to bring off the clearly hurt player immediately has drawn plenty of criticism.
Indeed, pundit Chris Sutton took to Twitter to express his disapproval, saying: “Football doesn’t care about its players. What needs to happen to a player before the concussion procedure changes?”
In response to this, Shearer seconded Sutton’s feelings, tweeting: “Terrible he was allowed back on.”
It’s clear to see just how strongly these former footballers feel about the situation. The Premier League has introduced concussion substitutes in recent years, but this most recent incident proves there is still much to be improved upon when it comes to head injuries within the game.
In other news, Marcelo Bielsa shocks BBC Pundit by doing this…