Embarrassing. That was Tony Pulis’ verdict on the second half theatrics of Luis Suarez in yesterday’s game between Liverpool and Stoke. He was spot on with that verdict. It was painful watching Suarez, a player of exceptional talent, falling to the ground as if there was an imaginary limbo bar between him and the ball. I’m surprised Glenn Whelan didn’t pick him up and show him what a proper kick feels like.
Unfortunately this was not the only case of simulation in these weekends’ fixtures. Gareth Bale jumped to the floor as if avoiding being shot at by the on-rushing Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Some may argue that he was expecting contact from the keeper, but the question begs, why is Bale looking for a foul when he could take it past the goalkeeper and have a free shot on goal?
Now, I hear you saying ‘But what the stamp on Suarez from Robert Huth?!’ This, whilst being disgraceful behaviour in itself, is a totally separate incident and does not excuse Suarez from his histrionics on Sunday afternoon. Nor does Aston Villa’s repeated fouling of Gareth Bale excuse his from wimping out of a tackle, that’s what he’s paid a six figure sum every week for.
This has become a real problem in this country and it is time the FA makes a stand against it. There is nothing more infuriating than watching players like Suarez, Bale and also Englishmen such as Ashley Young waste their talents by tumbling to the ground in a desperate attempt at conning the referee and the opposition.
Predictably, the FA has already said that they will not take any action against the events of this weekend. All it shows to the fans is that diving, although not always successful, is a part of the game that the governing body are willing to tolerate. Unacceptable. For too long, players have been trying to cheat their way to victory through diving and it has to stop. Now.
Long gone are the days of Robbie Fowler owning up to his dive and telling the referee not to give a penalty. Instead we see Suarez praying to the referee for a spot kick whilst everyone in the ground, not to mention the millions watching on TV, are hiding behind their hands and cringing at the sight of a £22 million striker embarrassing himself and his team.
I know Liverpool fans are going to point to last weekend at Norwich where Suarez should have had a stone-wall penalty and I don’t disagree with them. But perhaps if Suarez didn’t have a reputation that preceded him, he’d be more likely to get these decisions.
It is unfair to single out Suarez, Bale and company as the only culprits, but it is these players mentioned that are the ones who are gaining reputations as cheats; a reputation I’m sure they’d like to shake off.
It remains to be seen whether the FA do make an example of these serial offenders, but anyone expecting anything to change soon, need to stop getting their hopes up.
Please follow me on Twitter: @Alexstoz
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nothing to say about huth stamp,i had a 9 year old at match and your writting about a dive ur a joke
I hate cheats but having said that i also hate dirty tacklers who like to make better players scared with x rated tackles. Lets deal with Bale from the first time he played for Spurs his ankles where badly injured twice once against Birmingham that left him missing three months and the other by Blackpool’s Adams. The later also injured him while playing for Liverpool i believe if you stop the hatchet men we can stop the diving because Bale is now reacting before he gets walloped and so is Saures we are targeting the wrong men Defenders get three chances to stop attackers one dive and it could be a yellow. We have Aarron Lennon who since he was 17 has been tripped at least 4 or 5 times during games and suffered groin trouble for three months and is one good wallop away from another layoff. Stop allowing defenders licence to bring wingers down who are too fast stop giving them a couple of fowls before a red or yellow and maybe the diving will stop because attackers are hitting back by going down before the contact does damage.
i must agree with davspurs .
Respectfully Ken, I have stated that this article is about diving and not other incidents from the game or from the weekend. I have also stated in my article that I agree that it was a disgraceful incident from Robert Huth. Perhaps next time you’re thinking of calling me a joke, you should reassess your reasoning.
Davspurs – you make an excellent point. It is another very important topic of discussion which I’m sure somebody will pick up on very soon. It is important to protect our brightest talents whether they are English or foreign. However, this does not justify Luis Suarez’s dive on Sunday as that was plain and simply poor. However, your point about Bale I can understand, but should a professional footballer be throwing himself to the floor because he’s expecting a tackle? It is a difficult one to call, but either way I’m pleased you engaged in my article and debate is always healthy!
Thanks Alex your are right to address the cheating i mearly pointed out bringing your opponent down when you are beaten is also cheating. We suffered five yellows against Lazio all of them was against Lennon Bale Townsend all three would have bean clear. You see Attackers look worse because like a jump Jockey if you want to cheat its a long way to jump of your Horse likewise getting your defender booked could be painful. But sadly diving sometimes is just plain cheating in any sport. Well done for tackling this topic and ignore the silly answers.
It’s an interesting debate.
Speaking to friend of mine who spent a long time in Argentina, it appears the distaste to diving we feel in England simply is not present elsewhere – making it a cultural issue.
Apparently, attempting to ‘con’ the referee is viewed as an acceptable part of the game – winning through sneak is just as highly valued if not more so than winning through courage and strength, the typically applauded British values we hold so high.
Tony Pulis highlighted exactly that when he acclaimed Glen Johnson for bouncing straight up after being flattened by a late tackle, before then slagging Suarez.
I saw the tackle that floored Johnson, and in no way was the Stoke player going for the ball and he merely was hoping to further intimidate Liverpool players in the hope of securing an advantage in future tackles – something that foreign cultures would also find as ‘unacceptable cheating’.
So there we have the problem – cheating as a whole is viewed differently across the world and hence we cannot be surprised when world football bodies seem slightly disinterested when the British lobby against diving – without a strong British influence in the highest parts of the administration then there simply will not be the cultural will to tackle the issue properly.
Our game could be considered to be at a crossroads – do we change our football culture to suit those who are less strict on diving or do we all stand as fans of British football and make it clear to those players falling our thoughts? If Liverpool fans themselves booed Suarez would that help him stop? If Spurs fans booed Bale would he stay on his feet? Maybe.
I personally can’t stand cheating of any kind and would happily lose a match rather than win by foul means – and I include Stoke’s intimidation as well as diving.
Good article.