Is Diving Worse Than Stamping ?

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Is Diving Worse Than Stamping ?

What a stupid question, of course it isn’t, but the nation’s media seems to think otherwise as every newspaper has headlined Suarez’s dive for a penalty, rather than headline Stoke’s Robert Huth’s stamp on Luis Suarez.

Diving is part of football now, and every team has players that do it to gain a free-kick or a penalty. But Liverpool’s Luis Suarez seems to be the only player to gain headlines for his diving antics. There is no doubt Suarez goes to ground easily, but doesn’t Nani, Ashley Young or Gareth Bale, to mention a few, without the headlines Suarez receives.

The attention Suarez receives for his diving is becoming a “witch hunt”, which manager Brendan Rodgers described, and understandably so, when after witnessing an afternoon of thuggery towards his star striker, all the attention is on his man’s diving.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis made strong comments after Sunday’s match about Suarez’s dive and called for the FA to suspend him, without mention of his team’s physical approach to Suarez in particular.

Pulis is not the first manager to target Saurez, and it is becoming a common theme for opposing managers to criticise Suarez for his theatrics and this will and is already having an effect on the protection Suarez receives from referees, last weekend’s penalty appeal against Norwich being a prime example of things not going the Uruguayan’s way.

Diving should be punished in football, but not for one player and not for others which the media seem to be highlighting . Fines are useless as these players have so much money, and I don’t think suspending players will work too well either, but to take points off teams will maybe work and sort out the hypocritical managers who don’t mind their own players diving but vent their frustration when opposition players dive.

But after the events of the Liverpool versus Stoke match on Sunday, the main topic should be about the Stoke tactics and especially the blatant stamp on Suarez by Stoke defender Robert Huth, who could have seriously injured Suarez. Amazingly Huth escaped punishment for his actions and also the headlines as diving is the more serious offence which grabbed the headlines.

 

Diving is part of football that nobody likes but it is not and never will be as serious as seriously injuring an opponent, so Huth’s actions should have been headlined more than Suarez’s dive and he should have been punished.

 

The media in this country need to focus on the nasty challenges that could end a footballer’s career, rather than focus on a “witch hunt” on a player who does what most players do.

25 Comments

  1. The point being made is not as you describe above

    Huth did catch Suarez – though the incident did not fortunately cause serious damage – as Suarez went on to prove

    The point is that serious misconduct can be retrospectively reviewed – as was Huth’s foot into Suarez

    However,diving, not being a serious foul can not be reviewed. That is what is being asked for – it should be left during the game and then dealt with by the same panel which reviews fouls

    Is diving serious, well the diver can get his team a goal via a penalty and an opponent sent off – so it is serious

    Suarez could be a great player but he deneans himself with these antics – and he is not alone

    1. Luis suarez is being used by the madia as a distraction. tThe asault on him and the six yellow cards given to the thugs who are stoke city are ignored,since the charges against suarez last season the Fa have had many problems and they and others think diverting attention from it by highlighting everything luis does will cover them up.I for one hope that soon the yes men of the fa will be forced into taking a look at themselves.

      1. while that belly flop from Suarez was extremely embarrassing, I cringed more at the referees performance that day. The dive was terrible, but it highlighted Suarez’s annoyance towards Stoke.

        Being battered around without any serious action taken, and before the dive he attempted, he was indeed clipped by a Stoke player. Huth had already made it known to Suarez that Suarez isn’t going to have it easy and fact is, the referee needs better glasses or worse, he needs to take off his tinted one.

        Suarez proved the point that led to his diving. Players MUST go down before getting decisions. Trying to stay up won’t win you decisions. Lack of complaining also loses you crucial decisions. That is why offending players often complain even when they have indeed committed the offense.

        While diving is an unethical attempt to cheat the referee, how about the players who have actually hit Suarez but try to escape by claiming he dived? Is that not cheating as well?

        Pulis asks for diving to result in punishment after the game, but Huth escapes punishment with the reason that the referee has already made judgement on that matter, regardless of replays showing he had malice. What a way to keep the human factor in the game, and what a way to protect the humans playing in the game.

  2. I saw something attributed to John Aldridge yesterday which resonated with me as a good mechanism to rid the game of diving. Hit the MANAGERS with a hefty (£100k) fine if they have a player deemed to dive. It won’t take many games before they are more than urging their players to stay on their feet. But lets also ask why has this action crept into our game? For me there is an issue with ineffective/inept refereeing. When a player is caught and they stay on their feet (but lose the initiative) then there is never and free kick or penalty awarded. So by virtue of the referees not picking up fouls which do not result in a tumble, the players then feel as though they have to tumble to get a decision. Of course its now been taken to a fine art! But hit the managers and it will be eradicated quite quickly….

  3. The referee is there to ref the game, not to give it to the team with the best reputation. The fact that Suarez was not hurt is hindsight. Huth should not be allowed to do it because it is dangerous play and could have hurt him. Suarez took a battering all through the game, half the stoke team were booked. This witch hunt makes players think they can do what they want and get away with it because the only have to claim that he dived, the ref is responsible for not letting them cheat too. Get over it, he is not the worst diver but he is so fast that he embarases less skilled players, and there are very many of them. He needs protection from these cheats just as much as anyone.

    1. I agree mate, you notice Tony Pulis coming out now in the media to claim Suarez is a diver and a cheat…..and a stoke player made a comment about needing to STAMP out diving, naming suarez…… all this is aimed to divert attention away from the real guilty party(STOKE) and push it on to the already vulgar media snowball that is gathering pace with each game.
      Suarez IS one of if not THE most talented all round player in the premier league, the fact he chose Liverpool over United or city or Chelsea, has alot to do with the continued campaign against hime……. Ashley young Gareth bale Danny Wellbeck….they all dive as much if not MORE than Suarez….yet they’re practically defended by the fa(via a wall of silence, and refusal to look into or give a talking to ferguson)

  4. I think diving for a red card, making gestures like you are hurt when you are not is way worse than a Huth’s foul. Huth is a giant, and if he put weight down on this stamp, Suarez would have really been hurt. Suarez has a ton of talent, but his theatrics are starting to hurt him, whereby when he is fouled refs are not going to believe it like the boy who cried wolf. I have always hated diving, and think there is no place for it English football, and if highlighting it will momentarily hurt Suarez, so be it. It needs to stop and I am in agreement with Pulis that a 3 game ban needs to be implemented. Players will stop diving if they know that will happen. But I also agree the media is all over Suarez while there are plenty of others that bring disgrace to the game with these theatrics

  5. Why fine the manager instead of the players? Hit the player with a months wages fine where it is a clear-cut case of diving but physical assaults such as stamping, elbowing and two-footed tackles should be 3 match bans.

  6. This is the big mistake everyone makes. It doesn’t depend on what YOU think, it depends on the rules. That is what makes it a game of football. And actually it is other players who are hurting him most because they are getting away with cheating on him when they like. If suarez should get a three match ban, what do you think about a team that has half of their players booked for cheating in one game?

  7. Surely the point should be that diving, in the same manner that stamping on an opponent, shouldn’t have any part in football.

    The simple fact is that Suarez has a higher profile than Huth at the moment, due to the debate about whether or not he gets referee decisions because of his reputation for diving. Therefore his blatant dive in the game on Sunday will get far more media attention.

  8. It’s about time all the fans of LFC what ever your divide on managers and who should stay go or w/e…….We all need to sign a petition and it needs to be taken to the English fa headquaters, and it needs to be seen by a media source when its delivered so theres more pressure and more publicity behind it….
    Famous LFC fans in the media need to put their weight behind it……Along with a copy of all the points that need looking at in the 7 games this season, Liverpool fans are renowned for their humour and creativity…… it needs to be spoken about during the match at half time to organise a serious movement, and it needs to be seen and answered.
    Im sick of seeing my club and my players villified by other managers and having disgusting assaults and referee bias completely ignored by the fa.
    Its time to act people, otherwise its going to ruin our season worse than any slump on the pitch, its going to create added tention from the owners down to the players.

  9. Hi HopefulStokie,
    What do the rules say?
    It Doesnt matter what you think the point is, you should read what people write and try to understand it. Its the rules that make it a game of football. They are written down before the game starts for both teams to read.

    Hi Jack,
    Some would say unfairness doesn’t happen but the hillsbrough tragedy just showe how high up the corruption goes.

  10. Christiano Ronaldo………Nani….Both compulsive Divers….and what happend,? Ferguson made a public plea to the FA to ensure his players were given greater protection…..Now no one dares mention United players diving

  11. The FA could stamp this out with ease.
    No need to fine anyone, because as we all know, these footballers earn so much money you fine them 200k and they’ve made that back in 3 weeks.
    The only sure way to cut out diving is to make Diving an offence that can be reviewed by a select panel, and a panel that are not chosen by the fa or by United or Liverpool or Chelsea, but are selected by the public, and this panel can decide if a person has dived, and can notify the fa of their decision, and an immediate 3 game ban can be served which effects cup and league games, when United are without their star players as are city chelsea spurs Liverpool, then the clubs will be forced into action, because a few hundred(k) doesnt shout as loud as the loss of 20+ mill for failing to qualify into the champions league because of loss of players, and points.

  12. Labelling Stoke is no different than labelling Suarez

    Sunday was a poor day for Stoke in terms of yellow cards. Check out the stats for the past few seasons and you will find that Stoke are no better or worse than most teams. Last season Stoke had 23 yellows compared to Liverpool on 20 and Chelsea 32 with zero reds compared to Liverpool’s 2
    This despite the fact that Stoke defend more than most teams

    The fair play league is irrelevant in this context as it introduces opinions on style

    1. Hi Paul,
      If you read my comments, I think appropriate action is defined by the rules. I’m not labeling Stoke, i’m asking someone who is labeling suarez does he think that having 6 booking in a match is not cheating too. Im not saying that Stoke are a dirty team any more than others overall, but they were dirtier than Liverpool in this game. But somehow its all suarez’s fault for taking a battering and trying to get something back. I do think it was a bad dive, but I have seen many many more that were worse. Ill advised I would say but interestingly the ref didn’t book him, because he had seen loads of it all game from both sides.

  13. I agree with everything everyone has said – Pulis out of order, FA inadequate and useless, Stoke were undoubtedly a dirty side and this was ignored, Huth did stamp regardless of whether he injured, Suarez had a lot of crap dished on him in the match and late on was even pushed in the penalty area which was also ignored even though very obvious, and diving needs to be eradicated from the game, BUT regardless of all of this there is only one way to stop the press vilyfying Suarez who is undoubtedly one of the world’s best players and that is for the player himself just to stop diving!!!!!!!!!!!! Surely someone in the club has talked to him about this? It is very obvious – he did a second dying swan impersonation in the match. He understands plain English – why can’t he stop it? It is cheating and he doesn’t need to do that. It is becoming an embarrassment for the club as well as the player, regardless of all the rest of the issues highlighted, and the club could do football in general a great deal of good by doing something positive about our player who dives. Bad for the club, bad for the game. Someone show him these postings and let him know what his own fans think – that’s a start!

  14. Diving is cheating – everyone agrees, but it is NO different to players calling a throw in, corner kick etc when they know the ball has gone out off them. They’re trying to fool the referee in every case.

    Suarez won no advantage by diving on Sunday – Pulis simply managed to divert attention from his own team of hacking scumbags onto an opposition player.

    Have also heard people criticising Suarez because his dive was so over the top, so is different to other players dives, which are more ‘subtle’. Theres absolutely no difference. Theres also very seldom as much racket as there has been over Suarez – even Gareth Bale’s dive on the same day has had relatively little attention.

    As it happens, I don’t have an issue with restrospective action – but what if the dive wins a penalty for a winning goal? The losing team have still lost the match, and the dive has still got the advantage as intended – even if the player then misses a few games.

  15. The ref saw the ‘stamp’ (it was actually a light tread – he took his weight off) and only because, I believe, Suarez was all over his back trying in vain to get the ball. No action was taken as the ref did not see it as a foul – no malice intended. The ref saw the incident as no retrospective punishment was possible on video evidence. Pulis also banged on about Ivanovic diving the week previous to this fixture so no axe to grind about Suarez in particular, just about diving – and you have to agree it was embarrassing. Stoke players are no Saints at times but got punished, by yellows, during the game. Suarez also put himself about a bit and so is no innocent. Please get some perspective on games?

  16. what if the player doesn’t dive and he actually got sent off and banned for 3 games, the way we arguing right now can also be an argument if the ban implemented on players that dive. just give it a thought.

  17. Diving is way worse than stamping… not even close.. diving costs teams games..I have yet to see a stamp cost a game or even put a player out of a game… diving is a cancer that is widespread.. stamping might happen a few times in a season and the for some idiotic reason that only the human garbage at the FA know.. stamping can be reviewed and punished.. diving cannot.. we get it.. you’re a die hard LFC fan so anything other players do is always way worse that what our players do … it’s disengenuous at best.. hypocrital and pure garabge at worst…

  18. I believe the stamp was intentional. Not to hurt, but an act of annoyance or warning or perhaps, bullying. If it was accidental, there would be more damage. He took the weight off his stamp despite the fact that his leg hovered midair for a split second before going down on Suarez’s chest. It was to say, ‘Watch out buddy, I am not taking your crap today.’

    I guess during the course of the whole match, Suarez, Gerrard and perhaps others were asking the ref to keep Stoke players from playing bully, but of course, alot of those roughin’ around went unpunish, Suarez, the main receiver.

    Right before his dive, Suarez might that thought, ‘Bloody hell, that guy just clipped me and the ref ain’t giving it, hell, I’ll have to go down for him to notice me.’ Well, he was right, rather than the ref, the whole world took notice of him.

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