It's time to prove once and for all that football isn't always the beautiful game.
For every GIF showcasing another Lionel Messi masterclass, there's a YouTube video dedicated to the types of horror tackles that players like Roy Keane and Nigel De Jong made a living from in the battlefield midfield.
Watch these videos at your own discretion. Here's 10 of the worst tackles even seen on a football pitch.
Callum McManaman on Massadio Haidara
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Fixture: Wigan Athletic vs Newcastle United
Date: March 17th 2013
Callum McManaman turned from one of the Premier League's most promising talents to its most vilified within minutes of this end-of-season clash between Wigan and Newcastle. McMamanan's offensively high lunge onto the planted knee of French full-back Massadio Haidara prompted an on-pitch brawl at half-time and even forced the Football Association to change its own legislation on retrospective punishment.
At the time, because one of the assistant referees saw the incident and didn't deem it illegal, McManaman wasn't punished. Newcastle threatened legal action and the FA decided that from the following season, players could be punished for foul play retrospectively – regardless of whether the officials saw it or not.
Roy Keane on Alf-Inge Haaland
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Fixture: Manchester United vs Manchester City
Date: April 21st 2001
This is probably the most famous horror tackle in Premier League history. After laughing at an in-pain Roy Keane three years earlier, Alf-Inge Haaland was the subject of a hit job by the fighting Irishman in this Manchester derby. Keane's vicious studs up challenge was deliberate and he's said himself that he doesn't regret the challenge. Despite the well circulated myth, this wasn't the foul that ended Haaland's career as it was trouble with his other knee that cut his career short.
Felix Muamba-Musasa on Oupa Ngulube
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Fixture: Mpumalanga Black Aces FC vs Carara Kicks
Date: N/A
None of these visuals are going to put a smile on anyone's face but this is arguably the most graphic leg break caught on camera during a game of football. This horror tackle from South Africa happened right in front of the sideline cameras and you can see the horror of those watching on the touchline.
Nigel De Jong on Xabi Alonso
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Fixture: Spain vs Netherlands
Date: July 11th 2010
On this occasion, referee Howard Webb's decision to keep the offending player on the pitch is just as baffling as Nigel De Jong's kung-fu kick in the first place. This is the lasting image from a dour World Cup final in 2010 – which Spain went onto win 1-0 – and it thankfully did no lasting damage to Xabi Alonso. Despite being the most ill-tempered World Cup final in history, De Jong only received a yellow card for this horrible tackle.
Eric Cantona on the Crystal Palace crowd
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Fixture: Crystal Palace vs Manchester United
Date: January 25th 1995
This wasn't actually a tackle. In fact, it wasn't even on an opposing player. Eric Cantona's airbourne kick into the stands at Crystal Palace remains one of the Premier League's most infamous moments in its formative years. After being shown a red card, Cantona took aim at a Palace fan who claims his only crime was shouting "it's an early bath for you, Cantona". We're not so sure.
Graeme Souness on Gheorge Rotariu
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Fixture: Rangers vs Steaua Bucharest
Date: N/A
Graeme Souness has retained the incandescent rage that he showed as a player during his career in punditry, and his worst offence is seen here. This pretty much shows how British teams approached European competition in the 1980s.
Benjamin Massing on Claudia Caniggia
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Fixture: Cameroon vs Argentina
Date: June 8th 1990
Claudio Caniggia was one of Argentina's danger men at the 1990 World Cup and therefore, Cameroon singled him out for some special treatment in their opening game of the tournament. The last challenge in the video above is by far the worst, punishing Caniggia for having the audacity to dribble past two or three Cameroon defenders. Remarkably, Cameroon's approach worked and they won the game 1-0.
Axel Witsel on Marcin Wasilewski
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Fixture: Anderlecht vs Standard Liege
Date: August 30th 2009
As we come to end of 2015, Belgium are sitting pretty at the top of the FIFA world rankings and part of that is thanks to Axel Witsel's musclebound performances at the heart of midfield. His physical style of play is nothing new as this horror tackle from 2009 demonstrates.
Ruben Rayos on Rafi Dahan
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Fixture: Maccabi Haifa vs Bnei Yehuda
Date: N/A
Israel midfielder Rafi Dahan was forced to retire as a result of the injuries sustained by quite possibly the worst tackle of all time. The crunching attack broke Dahan's leg and tore his knee ligaments. The injuries sustained in the challenge were so bad that Dahan even had to postpone his wedding.
Ben Thatcher on Pedro Mendes
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Fixture: Manchester City vs Portsmouth
Date: August 23rd 2006
Everyone thought Ben Thatcher's elbow on Sunderland's Nicky Summerbee in 2000 was the closest thing to GBH the Premier League had ever seen – then he did this six years later. Chasing a loose ball, Thatcher smashed Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes with elbow and knocked the player unconscious into the advertising hoardings. Mendes took oxygen at pitchside and suffered a seizure on his way to the hospital. Manchester City suspended their man for six matches, with the Football Association hit him with an eight game layoff.
