It was the reactions.
As players rushed towards and then away from Andre Gomes on Sunday expressing their sheer horror in various ways, with Cenk Tosun and Lucas Digne notable exceptions, it was clear to those watching that this was one of those injuries.
A limb ends up in an unnatural state and the TV channel refuses to show a replay, so social media then instantly provides images of the incident from every angle possible.
Worry builds, but on this occasion it felt even more tragic than normal. The player down injured in the Everton versus Tottenham match was Andre Gomes.
Moving from Valencia to Barcelona in 2016, it was originally thought the midfielder was off to Real Madrid. Then Barca arrived to beat their bitter rivals, and likely overpaid for a player they weren’t entirely sure what to do with.
It’s a path the Catalan club have gone down more than once since, and it left Gomes with everything to prove. Ultimately he couldn’t, and the situation got so bad there were even claims in the media close to Barca about teammates avoiding passing to him.
He was repeatedly mocked, belittled and generally presented as a complete failure.
In March 2018, Gomes took an unusual step for a footballer, speaking to the media, Panenka magazine, about his struggles with pressure.
Weight of expectation and the struggle to impress was eating him up, he felt ashamed he was feeling this way and unable to control the mental side of the game as he thought was the norm.
The Spanish media eased off a little, and then the following August, having been linked with Tottenham for months, Gomes signed for Everton on loan.
Arriving injured, the Portuguese had managed to make himself liked before he even kicked a ball for Everton. Respectful, polite, a real gentleman in football, there was a lot of goodwill replacing what had gone before.
Impressing enough to convince the Toffees to spend relatively largely on him last summer, on Sunday Gomes was starting his seventh Premier League match as a permanent Everton player.
Gomes had been in a challenge with Son Heung-min around the 75th minute, and his arm appeared to catch the Spurs man’s face.
Son went down, rolling around and checking for blood. It didn’t get the reaction he hoped for and when the ball returned to play, the South Korean chased after the action.
First he went to try and catch Alex Iwobi’s legs, and failed. Then, with the ball passed to Gomes, he went for his legs instead and by this point everything was a little faster.
This time Son succeeded. The type of foul we’ve all seen a thousand times before, stopping the opposing team’s attacking with little chance, and seemingly intention, of getting the ball.
Taking one for the team.
And then it happened, after his run had been halted by Son, Gomes started going to ground and his studs caught in the pitch. His foot was already in an unnatural position before Serge Aurier arrived in character, and the outcome of the whole thing was something which Son never intended.
Going over to see the damage he’d played a part in, Son couldn’t look. He was in tears, clearly completely distraught with no hint of that not being genuine.
As Gomes was comforted, Son was too, before and after the disputed red card.
Reaction immediately turned to sympathy for Gomes, and the Tottenham player being excused from all blame. Whether that’s correct or not (if Son hadn’t gone for the man knowing he almost certainly wouldn’t get the ball, it wouldn’t have happened) the subsequent reactions have become a little skewed from some.
Poor Gomes, poor Son, examples of the suffering of both were fed to, and lapped up by, the media.
There may not be a villain in this case, but there are not two victims, and Son doesn’t need to be infantilised to the point we’re all still being updated on his well-being.
On Monday afternoon, he was said to be ‘doing better’ but still couldn’t think about anything else: “He’s still worrying about the player.”
The player? THE PLAYER? At this point some would be forgiven for suspecting Andre Gomes was being edged aside as the true victim in all of this.
Whilst it’s possible to feel some sympathy for the Tottenham Hotspur attacker, who didn’t intend the consequence of his actions, like so many others in different situations, there’s a danger the narrative is becoming just a little odd.
