Okay we all know Nani goes down far to easily all the time but maybe he is told to. In the end of the day winning is so important nowadays and most teams would do anything to win. Just look at the Serie a scandal. I am not saying it is a good thing but our coaching staff and Ferguson obviously can see Nani goes down very easily but have not said anything to him as he carries on doing it. If the manager said "stop going down easily and play acting, and if you don't you will be dropped". I am sure he would cut it out but Nani does have a low pain threshold. But he plays acts a lot and the manager can see this. It is obvious he is told to do such a thing. Maybe not that cynical but probably told to gain an advantage in any means possible. Also Hernandez a player who is gracious and never goes down has started such behavior as well and is starting to go down with any little contact and dived VS Newcastle. Ronaldo was the same if not worse than Nani and went down all the time. If the manager wanted him to stop I am sure he would of but the example with Hernandez points out our forwards are told to gain advantages in any means possible as winning is so important. It might seem embarrassing but this is the name of the game. If you watched Real VS Barca last night you would of thought it was the norm. Going down easily, waving fake cards and gaining advantages. It is the name of the game and until severe punishment is given to players who do it, then it won't stop but get worse. But how would you judge it though? sometimes when a player is running at maximum speed and is slightly clipped it can look they have dived at first glance (which is what the referee has).
You may have point, amazingly. Jaap Stam said in his book that United players were encouraged to use gamesmanship, because the foreign teams would do to it us. A kind of, "if you can't beat them join them" sort of attitude.
Other teams in the Premier League have players who constantly dive. For example, Torres and Drogba are a obvious pair who do it on a regular basis.
It is the name of the game nowadays. So many players do it Messi does it Di Maria does it Nani does it Ronaldo does it Rooney has done it Gerrrard Drogba Hernandez Walcott Ozil Bousquets Villa Pedro Bale List goes on and on and it is time we either accept it (best option) or reject it and get annoyed
I'm not sure how much gamesmanship is outright encouraged, but I doubt most managers will discourage it as long as it keeps working. If a player was constantly diving every week then the manager would probably have a word and tell him to stop being such an embarrasment, but if a player blatantly dives and still wins a crucial penalty then no manager in the world will tell them not to do it. But then in most dives there is a little bit of contact - there was slight contact for Hernandez' dive against Newcastle and for Torres' second against us. Most likely managers encourage players to go to ground whenever there's contact in the box and they don't think they can score. The chance of getting a potentially game winning penalty is balanced against the fact that refs often don't book players for their first (or the team's first) dive. I think Torres only got booked against us cos of his earlier dive and Hernandez only got booked cos Nani had dived earlier. Like you say, we need stronger punishments for divers to cut out the simulation, but very few refs are willing to risk being criticised for getting the penalty decision wrong and also for wrongly booking a player if he deserved the pen. Jip, re the Jaap Stam comment, I remember hearing that too. I believe it too - back in the 90s Italian and Spanish players would go to ground under the slightest contact, whereas our players would often try and carry on, only to lose possession. In fact, I think it was the rise of the CL, and the larger number of teams in Europe, that started the general diving trend in the PL.
As much as most people British football fans abhor simulation, I think it's hard to disagree with Sir Alex on this one. You either fight fire with fire and compete on a more level footing with your opponents - albeit sacrificing your morals, or you go on some moral crusade, play whiter than white and most likely win **** all. Even the mighty Barcelona have several players who go down like they've been shot at the slightest touch, and they are lauded as football deities that the rest of us can only admire zzz
