Former footballer Tam McManus has admitted he has been disappointed by Kevin De Bruyne’s recent dives for Manchester City.
The City maestro went down under a challenge in the first period inside the area, but referee Peter Bankes didn’t deem the tackle worthy of a penalty.
Of course, Brentford went on to defeat the Premier League champions with the Blues falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Last week, however, De Bruyne had better luck, with the Etihad Stadium outfit receiving a spot-kick late on against Fulham after the Belgium international was clipped by Antonee Robinson.
But McManus has criticised the 31-year-old.
Speaking to Football Insider he said: “You don’t like to see that and he doesn’t need to do it.
“He is a top, top-class player and I love watching him. You do get gutted when guys like that try and cheat and dive in the box.
“He doesn’t need to do it, he can stay on his feet. It was a really poor day for De Bruyne, but luckily for him he can go to the World Cup and forget about it.
“But that’s two weeks in a row where he has been accused of diving and that’s not a good look for anyone.
“The only thing that will happen is referees will cotton onto it, making it harder for City to win penalties.”
TIF Thoughts on McManus’ comments…
Will Manchester City win the Premier League this season?Yes
No
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According to WhoScored, only Erling Haaland (7.90) is average a higher average match rating than De Bruyne in the Premier League this season (7.76).
There is no denying that he is perhaps one of, if not the best player in the division, and to see him stoop to the act of simulation isn’t pleasing to see.
It’s not something we have come to associate with the 93-cap ace, and now with the World Cup approaching, we are all certainly hoping that it isn’t a facet of his game that we start to see regularly either.