Garth Crooks was critical for Luis Diaz over his part in the incident which saw Ashley Young sent off in Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.
The Toffees veteran received a second yellow card shortly before half-time when he clipped the £55,000-per-week forward (Capology) from behind.
In selecting his team of the week from the Premier League for BBC Sport, the 65-year-old admonished the Colombian and urged Mo Salah to reprimand his teammate over his apparent theatrics.
Crooks wrote: “Referee Craig Pawson’s inability to show some discretion in the Merseyside derby exposed him once he failed to exercise any consistency. Neither was it helped by Luis Diaz who rolled over at least five times for dramatic effect after Young had fouled him.
“Meanwhile Mo Salah is back to his brilliant, unselfish and supportive best and has erased the sort of antics now effecting Luis Diaz. It’s time Salah had a word with Diaz.”
We obviously don’t condone any player, including those from Liverpool, indulging in theatrical behaviour to try and get opponents into trouble. However, while Diaz did roll over a couple of times after being caught by Young, it was a clear foul from behind by the Everton player.
The incident probably merited a yellow card in its own right, even if debate persists as to whether Pawson could’ve issued a final warning given how the 38-year-old was already in the book.
We’re very much in agreement with Crooks’ verdict on Salah, although the Colombian ought to have been applauded for his performance rather than solely being castigated over his response to the tackle which led to Young’s dismissal.
We’d like to see the 26-year-old removing any theatrics from his game completely so that pundits will only have reason to discuss how magnificent a player he is.
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