Gerrard "is a diver"

[Joe King]

'Going down easily' is, in my eyes, diving. It's choosing to go to the floor - that is a dive. It's cheating.

When I played a lot of 11-a-side football, you only went down when you were knocked down.

(Except for when I started diving when I stepped up to the men's league - won a couple of massive last-minute pens )

It depends how you go down. If you are running with pace and the smallest clip can make you fall and it looks rather dramatic, is that going down easy?

Was Hleb going down easy two weeks ago?

Did Babel go down easy last week?

[fred_plasticine]

It depends how you go down. If you are running with pace and the smallest clip can make you fall and it looks rather dramatic, is that going down easy?

Was Hleb going down easy two weeks ago?

Did Babel go down easy last week?

you can see when a player is knocked off his balance due to running a full speed and falls down. you can tell the difference.

babel vs blackburn was the perfect example of what refs should do: he was knocked off his balance and could have gone down. instead he tried to keep it going but the advantage was gone. 99% of the refs wouldn't have given the foul then.

[Shaggy]

It depends how you go down. If you are running with pace and the smallest clip can make you fall and it looks rather dramatic, is that going down easy?

No I don't think it is - a clipped heel or a shirt-tug can knock you down when running at pace. I used to be pretty quick!

Was Hleb going down easy two weeks ago?

Yeah I think so. I think he chose to go down rather than get a shot away.

Did Babel go down easy last week?

Tougher one to call - Babel was running at great pace and clearly, to me anyway, tried to stay on his feet.

Maybe I'm a biased **** but that's how I saw those two incidents.

[El Jefecito]

'Going down easily' is, in my eyes, diving. It's choosing to go to the floor - that is a dive. It's cheating.

When I played a lot of 11-a-side football, you only went down when you were knocked down.

(Except for when I started diving when I stepped up to the men's league - won a couple of massive last-minute pens )

When there is contact. To me diving is going down with no contact. Either way they are both dispicable and the FA / EPL need to take steps to eliminate it. Even in the mens league you cheating barsteward

[Shaggy]

When there is contact. To me diving is going down with no contact. Either way they are both dispicable and the FA / EPL need to take steps to eliminate it. Even in the mens league you cheating barsteward

They were both big games and on both occasions we needed a goal. So I dived in the box.

Yeah I should've emphasised that - choosing to go down when there has been contact is just as much a dive as choosing to go down when there's been no contact. It's a contact sport. I hate this notion of "oh well there was contact - it's a penalty..."

NO NO NO!

[El Jefecito]

They were both big games and on both occasions we needed a goal. So I dived in the box.

Yeah I should've emphasised that - choosing to go down when there has been contact is just as much a dive as choosing to go down when there's been no contact. It's a contact sport. I hate this notion of "oh well there was contact - it's a penalty..."

NO NO NO!

Shaggy, Off off off!

BTW semantics aside, both need to be stamped out.

[pezzzer]

going down easily is just a way of showing the ref that you have been fouled/contact made which can effect your run/goal scoring opportunity imo.

its up to the player to decide whether to keep going or go down due to being fouled, diving is diving with no contact from any other player, going down easily is highlighting the fact you've been infringed.

[El Jefecito]

going down easily is just a way of showing the ref that you have been fouled/contact made which can effect your run/goal scoring opportunity imo.

its up to the player to decide whether to keep going or go down due to being fouled, diving is diving with no contact from any other player, going down easily is highlighting the fact you've been infringed.

SG hung his trailing leg out to ensure that Friedel made contact. Is that a dive?

I like Babel, he tries to stay up regardless, that should be the benchmark. If the player can stay up, he should.

[einar]

Lets not forget that an attempt to foul a player is still a foul. There is no contact needed to make a foul.

[AFII]

SG hung his trailing leg out to ensure that Friedel made contact. Is that a dive?

I like Babel, he tries to stay up regardless, that should be the benchmark. If the player can stay up, he should.

No, it's play acting, making something worse than it really is.

The refs need to take a part of the blame to why the players dive/play acts. They should give more freekicks when the player don't go down, as it's now the player more or less must go down to get a freekick.

It's a very complicated situation.

[El Jefecito]

Lets not forget that an attempt to foul a player is still a foul. There is no contact needed to make a foul.

You sure, that sounds unlikely and I've never heard that before. Why do you think so?

[AFII]

You sure, that sounds unlikely and I've never heard that before. Why do you think so?

There has been a few sending offs without any contact because the player made a very dangerous tackle and if it had hit the player then it could mean a serious injury.

A two footed tackle showing your studs for example should always be a sending off even if it don't hit the player.

[Steve101]

You sure, that sounds unlikely and I've never heard that before. Why do you think so?

Tis true apparently. according to the rules (im told, havent checked) thats all you need. in fact that was the refs interpretation for the penalty we got a sheff united a couple of seasons ago, sounds reasonable to me.

Kenny D was often accused of diving, but Jimmy Hill once pointed out that he was very good at getting into situstions where the defender had no option but to foul him. surely thats a skill in its self, you fould him its a pen, you dont and he's free in the box.

[Shaggy]

SG hung his trailing leg out to ensure that Friedel made contact. Is that a dive?

I like Babel, he tries to stay up regardless, that should be the benchmark. If the player can stay up, he should.

Re your question, yeah, I think that's a type of dive. He could and should get out of the way - carry on in his natural motion rather than flinging a trailing leg out to ensure contact.

Imagine if players did that all over the park? FFS!

Robert Pires did exactly the same a few years ago against Pompey (I think) and rightly got slaughtered by the media.

Gerrard dived and the fact he never asked for a pen, IMO anyway, was a sign of his guilt.

Lets not forget that an attempt to foul a player is still a foul. There is no contact needed to make a foul.

Agreed. A defending player can come steaming in with a reckless tackle, miss the ball and miss the man, but only by virtue of making the man have to break his stride or jump to get out of the way...and consquently lose control of the ball. That's a foul, but IMO it shouldn't require the attacking player to collapse in a heap for the ref to give a foul.

Sadly most refs only seem to blow when the man hits the deck.

[RhylRed]

Steven Gerrard - "I don't think there's anything worse than a player diving when no one's been anywhere near him. It does ruin the game. If I saw a team-mate doing it, I would definitely have a word" (The Daily Mail, April 1st 2006)

Steven Gerrard is a hypocrite!