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Allardyce blames 'foreign players' for Defoe flashpoint

Sam Allardyce has blamed "foreign players" for having the audacity to react with anything other than delight after being elbowed in the face.

Allardyce wants foreign players to enjoy getting elbowed in the face. Credit: PA

The Sunderland manager was responding to questions about Jermain Defoe after Tuesday's defeat against Manchester City, when the Black Cats striker was accused of deliberately striking Argentine Nicolas Otamendi with his elbow.

The incident went unpunished by referee Stuart Atwell and Allardyce believes the focus should instead lie with Otamendi's reaction, claiming that "foreign players" tend to "make a fuss" because "that's what they do."

It follows Big Sam's assertion in December 2015, that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was "just a soft German" following his strong reaction to an awful tackle from Jermain Lens on Mamadou Sakho.

Speaking about Defoe's flashpoint with Otamendi on Tuesday night, Allardyce said:

Jermain Defoe doesn’t elbow anybody on purpose. They make a big fuss about it and that’s what they do.

That’s mostly foreign players, they do make a big fuss of it. That’s in their nature. They react in a more volatile way to incidents like that than we do.

– Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce