Topic: Diving, cheating, timewasting & theatrics in football

[Hazell]

Quite.
Was that Cascarino when he said Salah was an insult to the memory of Nobby Stiles?

Just waiting for the outrage over that dive........no nothing to see here.

You couldn't make it up, it's fucking ridiculous now.

Yeah, when he got a penalty against West Ham. Strangely, he's the only player who's been labelled a 'diver' this season. Can't think why that is.

[exiledintheUSA]

Start with the little toe, every time a player dives, lop another off.

[farawayred]

Bruno does not dive to win pelanties. He stamps on defenders to win pelanties.

That is not true. The defender has to apologize for stepping under his foot.

[Son of Spion]

Start with the little toe, every time a player dives, lop another off.

Yes, but where do you draw the line?

This would be Penandes modelling next season's Manc kit if we went down that road.

[Armand9]

im an old fucker, so old school, every fucker playing the game (that i get to see, anyway) goes down too easily, most will take a dive at some point

there are levels to it and some fuckers take the piss even in this era, but the whole outlook on footy is often different depending where you're from (eg south america, italy, portugal), it's not seen as cheating, it's seen as part of the game and unfortunately in a country where once that approach wasn't accepted, it is now and we hear it weekly in commentary from the like of neville et al, 'if he's stupid enough to dangle his leg out a player has every right to make a point of going over it' or words to that effect

maradona never once thought his handball was something wrong, it was clever, in argentina it's seen and accepted as clever, they dont see elements of the sport the same way, it's always been that way in italy as well, it's not just S america, the italians had tons of things they'd do in a game that were nothing to do with playing football as the old english players would see it - patting you on the head as tho apologising for a foul but what they actually did was pull on those little hairs at base hairline to get the player to react, helping you up after they chopped you down but in doing that would dig their nails in, again to get you to react, it was all based around trying to make 'you' look unsportsman like, rile you up, make you look bad in the eyes of the ref etc

diving for me is just part of all this, yes i see it as cheating but in todays modern game im a dinosaur

you'd think VAR was perfect for stamping out wrong decisions (it's easy for a ref to get it wrong, let's be honest) but it's made little to no difference, c*nts are useless

refs also seem more reluctant to book a player for diving (eg the martial dive in the cup derby, if atkinson didn't think it was a foul he obviously saw it was a dive), happens most weekends, rarely see a booking, in other words it's becoming more and more accepted imo and as i said above, with commentary teams spouting the kind of shit they do, im not surprised, as tho a player has a right to try and 'win' a penalty - ffs even that commonly used phrased sums it up, win a pen, win a fucking pen

meh, pussy football nowadays and dont get me started on c*nts holding their face and falling to the floor as tho pollaxed, fucking embarrassing

[Dr. Beaker]

 and dont get me started on c*nts holding their face and falling to the floor as tho pollaxed, fucking embarrassing

....... and never any signs of blood - no matter how hard they look for it!

[B0151?]

Honestly think tactical fouling as it's known is the biggest example of cheating in the game

Yes sometimes players take one for the team and foul someone, get the deserved yellow

But when it's used as a tactic, and some players go through countless fouls before they receive that yellow... It's outright cheating. As big a problem as anything

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

meh, pussy football nowadays and dont get me started on c*nts holding their face and falling to the floor as tho pollaxed, fucking embarrassing

I get what you're saying in the main body of the post.
I'd have less of an issue with it all, if it was treated consistently. But we have the same pundits that call out Salah, praise other players for "clever play". It's the rank hypocrisy that sickens me.

Totally agree with the bit I've quoted though. That and imaginary card waving makes the game unwatchable.

[slaphead]

Martial, Rashford and Pogba are the worst 3 in the league for diving.

Kane, Vardy and Grealish are just as bad. You know who I think is the absolute worst though but he doesn't play much. Daniel James. Deli Ali if he ever plays is another. Bit of a common theme there isn't there

[Fromola]

Honestly think tactical fouling as it's known is the biggest example of cheating in the game

Yes sometimes players take one for the team and foul someone, get the deserved yellow

But when it's used as a tactic, and some players go through countless fouls before they receive that yellow... It's outright cheating. As big a problem as anything

This is where fair teams get fucked over both ways.

For example:
 tactical fouls. Players will take you out to stop your attack and may or may not get a booking, but they've stopped potentially a clear run on goal
diving: press and try and win the ball back fairly, players just fall over knowing they'll get the free kick (WBA the other week did this constantly to disrupt our game)

Poor officiating here just encourages cheating.

[Dr. Beaker]

Kane, Vardy and Grealish are just as bad. You know who I think is the absolute worst though but he doesn't play much. Daniel James. Deli Ali if he ever plays is another. Bit of a common theme there isn't there

Hazard was the worst - I think he invented the girly scream.

[stockdam]

Dogbreath was the master of diving. He would deliberately slow down so that the defender would run into him and then arch his back and fling himself to the ground as if shot.

Vardy and Kane have mastered the “leg drag” which they use like an Angler fish to catch their bait. Vardy trails his foot along the ground hoping to contact the defender or keeper then dives over an imaginary box. It’s so obvious yet he gets away with it almost all the time.

Kane has perfected the “look at the referee and hold your hands up” as he is in mid-fall. When I played all I remember is the ground smacking me in the face when fouled. I had no time to jump over an imaginary box or look towards the referee mid-flight.

Oh and there there’s the Manc’s darling “Bruno” Fernandes (it’s rude to just call him Fernandes). The guy let’s out a pathetic roar even before he is tackled.

[redgriffin73]

Was so nice last night to watch young lads who just want to play instead of looking to dive and cheat and fall over all over the shop. Luckily looks like none have been influenced by Grealish yet.

[macmanamanaman]

Was so nice last night to watch young lads who just want to play instead of looking to dive and cheat and fall over all over the shop. Luckily looks like none have been influenced by Grealish yet.

One might be tempted to be lenient: "There's plenty of time, they're only young"
...so is Ashley, and he dives excellently,
so no excuses really for the disgracefully honest performance yesterday.

[Agent99]

Look at this fanny screaming like he's had his leg snapped in half. Ridiculous.

[stockdam]

Look at this fanny screaming like he's had his leg snapped in half. Ridiculous.

Who was that?

[Agent99]

Who was that?

The tackle from Smith Rowe on Sean Longstaff.

[stockdam]

The tackle from Smith Rowe on Sean Longstaff.

Ok didn’t see it. I do find it embarrassing how some players howl, squeal and roll around as if their leg was broken then they are sprinting at full speed seconds later. The ref should insist that they go off for 2 minutes to be assessed by a doctor.

[Ratboy3G]

Can anyone explain why diving is seen to be worse than other types of cheating which are common place in the game and deemed 'clever' and completely acceptable?
Also, what happened to obstruction? You regularly see players obstructing another player from the ball (normally defenders shepherding it out of touch) yet its never given as a foul and called clever defending.

[Naby Lad]

Genuinely don’t care. Does my head in when people bitch about it like it’s some sort of disgraceful act. It’s a game of footie. Someone went down easy to get an advantage. Big deal. Exact same as asking for a throw you know isn’t yours. Do what it takes to win.

Used to piss myself laughing at Luis Suarez. Loved him even more for his anything to win antics. Genuinely the funniest thing i’ve seen on a field was away to Norwich in 13/14. He got tackled, went down screaming and flung himself round like he’d had his leg broken, but then saw the ball had bounced to one of our lads and we were 3 on 2 on the counter and in a great position and he literally jumped back up instantly and sprinted forward 

Also throw in the fact players are actively punished for staying on the feet and what do you expect? Mane had his leg wrestled by the Newcastle keeper in a clear pen. Doesn’t get it. Look at Salah, seen him wrestled by grock CBs in the box loads, stays on his feet and gets fuck all. Then other times he goes down on minimal contact and gets the penalty. Players are rewarded for going down and punished for staying up so why would you not go down? Literally any time Mane and Salah get touched in the box and don’t go down I go mental. You’ll NEVER get a thing unless you go down. Thankfully Salah wised up to that a bit after his first season here when he would literally never go down and thus never got a fucking thing.

Perfect example is the pen against us at Brighton. You think that’s getting given if Welbeck doesn’t go down? Not a chance.

[Ratboy3G]

Genuinely don’t care. Does my head in when people bitch about it like it’s some sort of disgraceful act. It’s a game of footie. Someone went down easy to get an advantage. Big deal. Exact same as asking for a throw you know isn’t yours. Do what it takes to win.

Used to piss myself laughing at Luis Suarez. Loved him even more for his anything to win antics. Genuinely the funniest thing i’ve seen on a field was away to Norwich in 13/14. He got tackled, went down screaming and flung himself round like he’d had his leg broken, but then saw the ball had bounced to one of our lads and we were 3 on 2 on the counter and in a great position and he literally jumped back up instantly and sprinted forward 

Also throw in the fact players are actively punished for staying on the feet and what do you expect? Mane had his leg wrestled by the Newcastle keeper in a clear pen. Doesn’t get it. Look at Salah, seen him wrestled by grock CBs in the box loads, stays on his feet and gets fuck all. Then other times he goes down on minimal contact and gets the penalty. Players are rewarded for going down and punished for staying up so why would you not go down? Literally any time Mane and Salah get touched in the box and don’t go down I go mental. You’ll NEVER get a thing unless you go down. Thankfully Salah wised up to that a bit after his first season here when he would literally never go down and thus never got a fucking thing.

Perfect example is the pen against us at Brighton. You think that’s getting given if Welbeck doesn’t go down? Not a chance.

I wouldn't say that I don't care, I just dislike diving as much as every other form of cheating and don't understand why it seems to be regarded as being worse than others.
I get what you mean though...

[Naby Lad]

I wouldn't say that I don't care, I just dislike diving as much as every other form of cheating and don't understand why it seems to be regarded as being worse than others.
I get what you mean though...

It genuinely doesn’t bother me even in the slightest. Like, obviously I’m pissed off when someone dives against us and wins a penalty, but I’m pissed In the same way I’d be pissed to concede an offside goal or have a corner that isn’t a corner get given against us rather than the moral aspect of it.

Endangering an opponent is the stuff I take seriously and get angry at. Kane’s leaning under opponents who are jumping for example.

[wenlock]

Start with the little toe, every time a player dives, lop another off.

Well actually I have observed what looks like a disturbing trend already on this topic, some think tank needs to seriously look in to it. 

I do believe we need our toes for balance and there have been whispers of some clubs mutilating their own players to gain an advantage. Obviously no one took the whispers seriously but are the players blameless in all this because they are toeless?

I don't really know how long this has been going on for. If we have the tech to look now maybe we should compare players boot sizes throughout their careers to see if we can see when they had their toes removed.

The pen count at man utd has really risen over the last 2 seasons so maybe we should start looking there? Their players have not exactly been weeble like in the box I presume, do their players have smaller feet and have they always been little?

Is it just their attackers? Were they doing experimentation as far back as Phil Jones? I remember seeing him trying to chase back after someone and he was having a real problems staying on his feet, he was having to crawl at times.

Is this all recent and linked to VAR? They do draw the lines from their feet weirdly so saving an inch or two could be very important.

[Crosby Nick]

I’m going to stick my neck out and predict this thread will be quite busy for the rest of the month.

[FiSh77]

I’m going to stick my neck out and predict this thread will be quite busy for the rest of the month.

Get on Nostradamus 'ere

[farawayred]

Get on Nostradamus 'ere

Big Dick Nickostradamus

[Jwils21]

I’m going to stick my neck out and predict this thread will be quite busy for the rest of the month.

Think i'll just make some pre-emptive strikes and then give it a miss for the rest of the month.

• He's a cheating bastard that Fernandes
• He's a cheating bastard that Pogba
• He might be an absolute saint when it comes to feeding our kids but he's a cheating bastard that Rashford
• Hahahahaha get in, 4-0 and we haven't even got out of second gear
• Salah's just made Maguire look like a fucking aircraft carrier there

[farawayred]

Diving and cheating ain't gonna go away. Remember the Gentleman's game? Who needs a referee? No one is going to cheat, right?

[slimbo]

Unless it's a clear and obvious foul refs should just ignore it. Err on the side of it's not a foul. Ultimately players will pay the price for feigning a dive. Origi against United was an example. Was he fouled? Probably, yes I would say. But if he'd stayed on his feet he probably could've played on.
I've seen it in some CL matches with the foreign refs where they just ignore the dive's initially and eventually the game settles into a more free flowing competitive contest.

[Black Bull Nova]

How is treated in the workplace, within the household or with friends?

[Bjornar]

Where's the thread dedicated to defenders holding the attacker's shirt just enough to make him lose his chance and being made to look like a cheat if he calls for the foul (like Mane against WBA)? That's apparently not "cheating" though, just clever defending.

Have no idea why VAR isn't used to get rid of shirt holding from defenders, it's a far worse plight on the game than diving IMO.

[latortuga]

Where's the thread dedicated to defenders holding the attacker's shirt just enough to make him lose his chance and being made to look like a cheat if he calls for the foul (like Mane against WBA)? That's apparently not "cheating" though, just clever defending.

Have no idea why VAR isn't used to get rid of shirt holding from defenders, it's a far worse plight on the game than diving IMO.

The obvious solution here is to play shirtless. 

IIRC Sepp Blatter was encouraging this in the Women's game, a man well ahead of his time. 

[Bobinhood]

Funny, i was going to say just buy a Manc shirt, those things come with anchors sewn inside. Gravity can be your friend. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The SAF Memorial Old Trafford Box's, places like these are famous gravity attractions.   

[macmanamanaman]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55670445

I admire the honesty,  really.

Rashford is not even covering it up: He's saying he WILL most definitely dive on the weekend.

[redgriffin73]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55670445

I admire the honesty,  really.

Rashford is not even covering it up: He's saying he WILL most definitely dive on the weekend.

I wouldn't say most Manc penalties look particularly savvy, they just have to fall over really.

[Nitramdorf]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/55670445

I admire the honesty,  really.

Rashford is not even covering it up: He's saying he WILL most definitely dive on the weekend.

I only got a few lines in but the line that stood out for me was when it said that - Jurgen "suggested" that these cheats get more penalties than us. As if it's some sort of myth out of a fantasy novel. Tossers.

[Medellin]

No contact, blatant dive.

1 match ban first offence.
2 match ban 2nd offence..
3 match ban 3rd offence..and so on.

Rules reset after 25 years..

[eddymunster]

Is competent reffereeing an option?

[Slippers]

Is competent reffereeing an option?

Only in our dreams.

[macmanamanaman]

Is competent reffereeing an option?

It is an option yes.
But it is disabled at the moment. Grayed out. Unclickable.

But it is an option, for sure.