West Ham United James Tomkins has revealed that Robin Van Persie was deliberate in elbowing him in Sunday’s game against Manchester United that ended in a draw.
Tomkins received an elbow from Marouane Fellaini which led to a broken nose, but the center back admitted that the Belgian wasn’t deliberate in doing so. Fellaini’s height means that whenever he tussles with someone for an aerial ball, the opponent is likely to be on the receiving end of the big Belgian’s outstretched arms.
Tomkins went on to add that Van Persie was malicious in his attempt to win the ball and had deliberately elbowed him in the 30th minute, “The nose is a bit swollen. Fellaini was the second time in the match when I broke it. He has always got that about him when he goes up with his hands a lot.
“It is tough to say that he does it deliberately, but with the Van Persie one, I think he had a look at me first and then he has gone for me.
“I think that was more malicious than the other one, even though I came out worse the second time.a
Tomkins also said that he felt the challenge from Van Persie deserved a yellow card at least, “I think it was definitely a yellow at least, but I dona t like to say that some should have got sent off. I am sure that there are challenges that I might make in the future that could be yellow or something else.a
Tomkins has been on the receiving end of some challenges this season and there was an incident at Everton where he tried to feign an injury and hence received some flak from the fans. This time, in fairness, the 25-year old got up immediately. He said, “Obviously when I went down before it didna t cover me in glory to be honest, so I tried to get up more quickly, but he did catch me, he caught me sweet around the jaw.
a I was expecting a little bit of physical contact from strikers, but when someone looks round and then comes for me it is a bit more malicious.a
To make matters worse, Tomkins and West Ham couldn’t hold on for the win as Daley Blind scored late on to equalise for Manchester United. West Ham next face a tough tie as they travel to St Marys to face Southampton who are in brilliant form at the moment.