Honestly, not at all. I'm as critical of divers as the next person. I just don't accept that Mane dives at every opportunity within the danger area. I think he used to a lot, and he still goes down easily and leaves it to the judgement of the referee, but actual clear dives, no, he hasn't done one for a while. Whether he has a reputation or not, we don't just cast that opinion in stone. For example, can you be 100% certain that Koeman has not told him to cut it out and that he isn't actually diving anymore.?
Last season Mane went down far too easily, but I thought he had come through that "stage" and was far less likely to do so now. I am surprised that some see him in the same light as Ashley Young, TBH.
I can't think of it off the top of my head, I'm not on about just for pens/FK's near the box, all over the pitch he does. He doesn't seem to be as bad as last season granted, I remember for his first goal v Villa he probably could of gone down but didn't n scored, I was hoping that would be the end but he still does it.
Slightly off topic but I was wondering whether or not refs looked at the TV footage at halftime. It could certainly influence their second half performance if they did. I agree that he has improved. Actually, he is both very strong and has terrific balance when he chooses to employ it. I actually can't think of a better player at out-muscling bigger opponents and at staying upright when hacked.
OK. Tell you what, let's make a compromise here. From here on let's appraise his diving reputation on a foul by foul basis. Wipe the slate clean, and see how many times he dives during the rest of the season. Fair enough.?
Really? They're both very similar in the way they play for FK's - even if it's not what you would call a 'dive' they both use their pace to knock the ball away n run into the opponent with no intention of chasing the ball, just wanting the FK. To be honest I didn't really expect this to escalate this far, the point I originally was trying to make, is the reason he got booked v Chelsea is probably because he has a reputation for diving already which means he is less likely to get fouls nearer the box unless ref is 100% sure - I then compared that to what we've seen with Bale/Young over the years who don't get legitimate fouls because they're known to dive. I'm absolutely staggered that there are so many who don't consider Mane a diver. EDIT: Another good example of above is Sterling, now I'm sure if I went back I could find plenty of comments calling him a diver or saying he goes to ground too easily. Same as Mane
If you want sounds good I doubt I'll get to watch every minute but I'm sure plenty on here do. I'm willing to bet he dives at least once a game somewhere on the pitch. I wasn't really trying to turn this into a Mane debate as explained above.
No, that's OK. What I'm trying to establish is if his reputation is as deserved this season as it undoubtedly was at some point last season.
Fair enough, like I said earlier it definitely seems to have improved on last season, but not to the extent where he doesn't do it anymore imo. Will be interesting to see.
