Your manager is always prepared to point out when someone 'dives' against United,but when its one of his own involved in diving he swerves calling them divers etc and justifies it,considering his stature in the game he should publicly make a stance at his own club to stamp it out and invite other clubs to follow suit.
Pretty sure hes publically commented on Ronaldo and Nani in the past. Hes also reported to be pretty hard on players behind the scenes who do it. In general though he deals in house as what he says to the players is his business not the press'. and of course hes going to point out other teams do it, its part of the battle. It will get to some clubs more than others. It certainly got to Liverpool big time this season. Well done SAF. Next year maybe Kenny has a trick up his sleeve?
Anyone can point out flaws in each others managers Page. After the Wigan game Kenny called on the FA to protect Suarez from rival fans abuse and booing and he then condoned Liverpool fans booing Evra and friendly banter. we could both dig up more but to suggest it's only Fergie who has doubled standards in laughable.
Its because Fergie wins these little battles. Thats all they are, mindgames, little ways of gaining the smallest advantage over your opponents. Fergie is the master of it.
Im saying his stature within the game would come in handy if he was to use it in a constructive manner which would benefit all clubs. After all isn't that what 'statesmen' within the game are supposed to do?
He did condem diving, very strongly When Suarez did it Too be fair SAF has done this before but doing it with 4 games to go in the middle of the title race probably isn't the first thing on his list of priorities Equally though, Kenny could do it, he's manager of the second biggest club in Britain but I don't think I've heard him speak out when his players have done something wrong on the pitch ?
Wouldn't expect Fergie to do anything else publicly. As UIR says these things let him win little psychological battles and he's a past master at it. In private though, he should be expected to put his weight behind any campaign to stamp it out.
That and everything. Was meaning it to sort of debunk your argument. Dalglish backs his players as its his job. Fergie does the same. AVB did is with Terry and Torres. Privately I am sure things are done differently but for the cameras...... its all a show at the end of the day.
But im sure you'd agree that no matter what the FA do or the officials,diving should be stamped out by clubs themselves and guilty players punished at club level.
Of course. I also suspect the manager and other senior players will have had words with Young about the manner in which he goes down but they will do this in private
But what is diving? Charlie Adam spoke about how looking back at the Rio tackle he couldnt believe how bad it looked but at the time it hurt like hell.... The only way we can be 100% sure is if we only punish those where no contact at all is made. That would mean Ashley Young didnt dive and the whole argument against him should stop. Over did it, yes, without doubt, dived, no.
He dived. Looking for contact, falling at the slightest touch, exaggerating a fall, deliberately running into a defender, letting your leg dangle when you could hurdle a tackle- they're all variations on a theme. He dived.
He didnt. See, this is the problem. There is no definition of diving and even if there was, how do you enforce it. Different players will take different forces to be taken down. Pace becomes a factor and much more. Very very difficult. Its only easy when its insanely obvious.....like Carroll v Newcastle ( im using this example alot as its very recent and a great example ) I also hear Ian Rush was a master at what Young does, is this true?
Well, if I keep saying he did and you keep saying he didn't this place will end up even more like a pantomime than usual. Suffice it to say I stick by my original statement and we'll agree to disagree. Did.
Surely diving is going down when the contact isn't enough to warrant going over. It's meant to be a semi-contact sport, players should be encouraged to stay on their feet and not go to ground as soon as they feel a brush of hair on their arm. Referees need to get assistance from the 4th official via replays during every game. The FA should make a 3 (or 5) man pannel of ex-players to look over the decisions. They know from experience what constitutes 'enough contact' and can judge accordingly. Also UIR, I never condone diving/cheating - especially from my own team. I don't know why you felt the need to bring up Gerrard/Suarez/Carroll other than to try amount some kind of foothold in your defense of Young. I criticised Carroll heavily for his act against Newcastle and I've always cringed watching Suarez early on in the season playacting - to his credit he's improved immensely now. Ban them all if they dive, I don't really care which team they play for. Diving is the problem, not the team for which they play for.
In bold... Eaxtly my point. Who decides what warrants going over? Who is the base player we set all other examples by. Do we find the smallest and weakest player? Maybe their small stature gives better balance. Do we use a skinny tall player like crouch who could easily be knocked over by the slightest touch if he was running. To make the rule you first need the guidelines or the referee is unable to make fair decisions. Its no easier for a panel either. Fast players are easier to knock down, they are like fighter jets in the sense that everything is aimed towards going as fast as you can, the smallest change can have huge impacts. Their centre of gravity is smaller than that of a larger player, a slower player who will take more to go down. Thats just a tiny part of it. When there is contact its too hard to make 100% correct decisions.
