More trouble in Europe

So European trips have led to more problems for English fans, as if the Rome clashes were not enough! This time the problems were between Tottenham Hotspur fans and the Spanish police, with nobody blaming Sevilla supporters for what happened. There are a number of issues for UEFA to address, far more important than apportioning blame.

The first thing they need to do is put a stop to the kind of heavy-handed policing that we have seen over the last couple of nights. If the police are just going to pile in mob-handed hitting people indiscriminately of course there is going to be more trouble.

The automatic reaction of someone who is being hit is to defend themselves, but someone asked politely to move back will respond completely differently. The police in this country learned that if you treat the fans like animals they will act like animals. In Spain they hit first and ask questions later.

There will always be problems when thousands of people are packed in together, all that can be done is to minimise them, and look to defuse any situations that develop. The trouble is in Italy and Spain they seem to think the best way of dealing with anything is to beat everybody within a 100 yards. They do not seem to comprehend that their approach is not working.

Article written by Tris Burke