First half against West Ham. Hazard fouled, stays up, no fk. Hazard shirt pull as runs into box, keeps running, no fk. Oscar fouled badly after West Ham have an advantage played, he stays up and tries to run on. I'm thinking a new instruction is taking root. Ivanovic blatant, unashamed dive in pen area *Thwaps Brana* Fortunately, for him, ref doesn't really see it, but we all did. I hate hate hate diving. It makes me sick. No win is worth it. Players need to be banned a game every time they do it.
I once saw a Polar bear dive from an ice flow and I was very impressed. These footballers are hopeless when compared. No style, arms flaying about, a quick roll to see what the ref is thinking. The Polar bear was smooth, elegant and made no splash. No wonder you hate diving footballers, and I'm with you. They're just performing seals out for a free meal.An automatic ban is the answer.
Can't say I noticed those fould mentioned but Valencia clearly dived just before Cresswell got himself in the book. Ivanovic too though, you can see why Mourinho would prefer no retrospective action was taken(even for the most blatant ones) as you guys benefit as much as anyone in being able to throw yourself to the floor with minimal punishment even if you are caught.
when its blatant it is easy to see that a player took a tumble but when there is some sort of contact it is very hard to determine if the player purposefully went to ground, also i think sometimes players need to go over as trying to stay on their feet could lead to injury. I think jose is spot on with his comments about punishing diving.
It's not diving, it's falling over with theatrical intent. But it doesn't matter when you play the top four, even if you tackle and get the ball they'll still get a FK out of it.
One of the most cringeworthy statements pundits make these days, that makes me want to do violence to them is "He was entitled to go down there". Entitled to go down?! The ****...... "Going down" shouldn't be something you decide to do, but something that happens to you, outside of your control when tackled. Entitled to go down.......ffs
100% agree. I thought it was interesting in our game yesterday, Walker did almost exactly the same thing as Carroll on Ivanovic, the player stayed up and then got a freekick when he didn't get to the ball. I personally don't think it's impeding at all to put an arm out and make the opposition player run through it and it sets a very low bar for what level of contact constitutes a foul but it was still good to see a player get a freekick inspite of trying to play on. If you throw yourself to the ground under minimal contact then you're impeding yourself far more than any contact from the defender is so shouldn't get the freekick as a standard. The only problem is when it comes to a clash of legs from behind. It's very easy to completely stack it with only a little contact when your leg gets tapped from behind but it's also difficult to spot the contact and ends up with players getting labeled as divers incorrectly. I don't actually blame the players, diving is a result of weak referees all too happy to give whatever the players make as the easiest decision so try and stay on your feet and you're making it easier for the ref to ignore it. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be criticised for it though, it's still cheating. In the absence of any spines in the referees backs I honestly think the best way for players to defend is to start poking players in the back if they're going past them, the players that want to go down will do so and even the referees should be able to see the ridiculousness of giving fouls for poking someone. Well that's what I think, anyway
If you decide " I am going to go down" then its a ****ing dive. Its a foul when someone brings you down. If you go down of your own volition, then its a dive, regardless of whether there was contact or not. I am not necessarily blaming the refs, because if there is contact, then it is hard to judge, but if you CAN stay on your feet but throw yourself to the ground, then its a dive, even if you are hit with a two footed, studs up, challenge. Its the ****ing players, they need telling!!
that's BS, any team that threw themselves to the floor the way Chelsea have been the last couple of weeks would get rightly slated for it. How Ivanovich escaped a yellow yesterday I don't know, the ref had to either give a penalty or book him, but, the usual top 4 favouritism that saw Cahill stay on the pitch lat week came into play.
It's not really BS because diving goes on all over the pitch on a weekly basis, no one really cares if it is not in the peno area. CBs in the PL are some of the biggest divers out there but they get away with it because they mostly dive in their own area, Vidic was a master of falling over when he was under pressure. The media really do not give a monkeys about a Hull player diving though, players for a top 4 team though. All we are seeing of late is more people gettting caught, they dive just as much as they always do, just maybe.. not as good as getting away with it this season So.. we either cut out diving altogether or stop selectively bitching about diving in one area of the pitch. Simulation happens in I'd say 99.9% of games in all areas of the pitch, defenders about to lose out on a tussle for the ball in a dangerous area dive constantly pretending they were fouled, one wonders why this is not as annoying as doing it at the other end, it's just as bad. Dragging a player down as a team embarks on a dangerous counter attack is just as annoying as a dive imo.
Every team has their divers, but it is no coincidence that the return of Drogba has elevated chelsea to serial divers once more.
I care about any player diving. It is cheating. The pressure is far more than merely trying to win. There is the whole financial implications as a result. If the media were to suggest a link between blatant diving and betting then player's reputations would take a real ha ha dive. If the focus of cheating were moved away from merely trying to win and onto a basis that all cheating represent the chance of cohesion and betting criminality we might start to see some real improvements in the game. It is the same thing for me with dodgy refs. I know a ref can make a mistake, but when the authorities aren't seen to make redress or improvements then questions have to be asked about criminal influence and match fixing. Without that pressure nothing will change.
I don't agree with Jose about a campaign as such against Chelsea. Refs are human, they watch other games and form opinions. When you have someone dive like Brana the previous match the club's integrity as a whole is rightly questioned. We're all bias and have opinions and yet say we can be aware of that and make level judgements, yet if we were to ask friends for an honest opinion about everything we say or do for the one none of us would like it and for another it wouldn't match what we believe.
