Gerrard Diving AGAIN

[Batman]

He really is getting bad at it now.

Fookin cheating hypocrite.

[Bruce Rioja]

Did you hear the fat Spaniard? When asked about Gerrard's diving on the first penalty he said "The second one was definitely a penalty".

What an absolute cock that man is. Do they not answer simple questions in Spain? Is that what it is?

[Batman]

oh, and Andy Johnson of course.


A pair of diving regulars

[hisroyalgingerness]

what Gerrard did for the first one was ridiculous

[bobo the clown]

what Gerrard did for the first one was ridiculous

I agree & though he's a very, very fine palyer he's certainly not above diving, fouling, & going in two footed &/or over the ball.

That said, the whole thing of defenders at corners acting like they're playing basketball needs sorting out. It's developed over the past couple of years in particular. But the inconsistency shown here is typical of the "big club" thing. I bet that happened 20 times a game in every match this week. Stop it or allow it, but don't decide, once every blue-moon, to penalise it.

[Soldier_Of_The_White_Army]

what Gerrard did for the first one was ridiculous

I agree & though he's a very, very fine palyer he's certainly not above diving, fouling, & going in two footed &/or over the ball.

That said, the whole thing of defenders at corners acting like they're playing basketball needs sorting out. It's developed over the past couple of years in particular. But the inconsistency shown here is typical of the "big club" thing. I bet that happened 20 times a game in every match this week. Stop it or allow it, but don't decide, once every blue-moon, to penalise it.

The fxcker even shouted over to the referee, just to make sure he saw what he already had in his mind to do.

[officer_dibble]

dirty english cheat

[blurred]

Can't blame him, or the ref, really. Before the ball's been kicked he's told the ref that the defenders got a hold of him, and when the kick's taken he's still stopping him. Yeah he goes down too easy, but the defender's a mug for letting it happen, especially given a) the proximity and clear view of the ref, and b) the fact that he's just heard Gerrard point it out to him (some of you would probably add to that c) that it's Gerrard and at the Kop end).

I'm all for footie being a contact sport, but agree with Bobo above when he said it happens 20 times a game. It does piss me off, and I've always said that if any ref reffed a game to the letter of the law you'd see about a dozen penalties and several red cards. The ref happened to see this one - yes, it was soft, but you can't say that the defender wasn't fouling Gerrard, despite Gerrard's reaction to it being OTT. If he'd stayed on his feet and just been impeded it'd've been interesting to see if the ref would have given the penalty anyway, but we'll never know that.

[susstudio]

I like Gerrard, but his diving antics are just as bad as Drogba's!!

[hisroyalgingerness]

Can't blame him, or the ref, really. Before the ball's been kicked he's told the ref that the defenders got a hold of him, and when the kick's taken he's still stopping him. Yeah he goes down too easy, but the defender's a mug for letting it happen, especially given a) the proximity and clear view of the ref, and b) the fact that he's just heard Gerrard point it out to him (some of you would probably add to that c) that it's Gerrard and at the Kop end).

I'm all for footie being a contact sport, but agree with Bobo above when he said it happens 20 times a game. It does piss me off, and I've always said that if any ref reffed a game to the letter of the law you'd see about a dozen penalties and several red cards. The ref happened to see this one - yes, it was soft, but you can't say that the defender wasn't fouling Gerrard, despite Gerrard's reaction to it being OTT. If he'd stayed on his feet and just been impeded it'd've been interesting to see if the ref would have given the penalty anyway, but we'll never know that.

can't blame him? for telling the ref to watch him, pushing the defender and then falling over him. why couldn't he try being an honest professional, stepping to the side and make an attempt to head the fecking ball? there was no attempt by gerrard to get involved in the play, just to convince the referee to give a penalty. that is as bad if not worse than some of the "diving" we see week in week out

[blurred]

can't blame him? for telling the ref to watch him, pushing the defender and then falling over him. why couldn't he try being an honest professional, stepping to the side and make an attempt to head the fecking ball? there was no attempt by gerrard to get involved in the play, just to convince the referee to give a penalty. that is as bad if not worse than some of the "diving" we see week in week out

Why should he make an attempt to head the ball when he's being fouled? As it happens the ball fell far short of his position in the box, so he couldn't have 'made an attempt to head the fecking ball' anyway. Or should fouls only be given if the player's in reach of the ball?

Yes, he went down easy, yes it was soft, but the fact of the matter is the ref wouldn't have given the penalty if whoever the defender was didn't have his arm wrapped around Gerrard and wasn't impeding his progress in the first place. Fairly simple. That's why I say you can't blame him. Or perhaps he should ignore those infringing the laws against him?

No, balls. If he's in a white shirt with 'Davies' on the back you're crying for a penalty there as well, and don't pretend you'd say 'C'mon Kevin old chap, why don't you just make a fair attempt to head the ball old bean and don't worry about that naughty person fouling you...'

[Zulus Thousand of em]

I'm just trying to think when Davies last got a penalty in similar circumstances Blurred.

Anyway I wouldn't worry too much. Stevie will be mounting his annual "I want to play for Chelsea" routine any time now. Somebody will just have to threaten his family again, I guess.

[bobo the clown]

can't blame him? for telling the ref to watch him, pushing the defender and then falling over him. why couldn't he try being an honest professional, stepping to the side and make an attempt to head the fecking ball? there was no attempt by gerrard to get involved in the play, just to convince the referee to give a penalty. that is as bad if not worse than some of the "diving" we see week in week out

Why should he make an attempt to head the ball when he's being fouled? ...

Yes, he went down easy, yes it was soft, but the fact of the matter is the ref wouldn't have given the penalty if whoever the defender was didn't have his arm wrapped around Gerrard and wasn't impeding his progress in the first place. Fairly simple. That's why I say you can't blame him. Or perhaps he should ignore those infringing the laws against him?

No, balls. If he's in a white shirt with 'Davies' on the back you're crying for a penalty there as well, and don't pretend you'd say 'C'mon Kevin old chap, why don't you just make a fair attempt to head the ball old bean and don't worry about that naughty person fouling you...'

The very thought that Davies, of all people, would dive is laughable.

Diouff, on the other hand, would look to hit the deck the moment he's brushed ... & you know what, it pisses most of us off, no matter how much we admire his skill. Vaz Te took to flopping about last year & he got stick for it. As did Stelios. Campo used to do it (indeed, tried it against Arsenal last week) & he gets laughed at/with.

Personally I'm fed up of pundits, coaches & all & sundry saying

"if you touch him, he's entitled to go down".

The arm that the Sheff Utd defender had out would not have prevented a toddler with a full nappy making progress. To launch yourself at an ineffective obstacle & then hit the ground like a sack of shit, is faking ... simulation ... cheating ... call it what you will.

if the defender didn't have his arm wrapped around Gerrard and wasn't impeding his progress in the first place.

. But he didn't !! He had his arm out & Gerrard dived into it. The 'wrapping around' was a function of Gerrard almost pulling the guy round him.

Even Benitez was embarrassed at this one.

It was a dive, it's wrong & if it had gone against you you wouldn't be trying to defend it. Just be honest.

He's too good a player to need to do this.

[Dr.Karl]

FAO Blurred

Steven Gerrard admits to leaping off the sofa when he sees a fellow professional conning a referee and today becomes the first A-list England player to take a stand against dishonesty. Gerrard is maturing into a statesman of the English game...it is safe to say that footballers with a conscience have found their spokesman..."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"

HYPOCRITICAL C*NT. The first penalty was plain embarrassing but I actually don't mind diving, its up to the ref to spot it. And lets face it, it was a dive. But its the attitude that Gerrard portrays as a clean cut honest footballer that winds me up when he is one of the worst divers in the league.

[keveh]

I wouldn't say he dived for that second penalty, he was clearly being pulled back.

His goal was absoloutly world class.

Nobody on here can call blurred a hypocrite when everybody on here praises Diouf week in, week out, and are saying he's our player of the season.

[hisroyalgingerness]

I wouldn't say he dived for that second penalty, he was clearly being pulled back.

His goal was absoloutly world class.

Nobody on here can call blurred a hypocrite when everybody on here praises Diouf week in, week out, and are saying he's our player of the season.

you're worse than Benitez

And Diouf gets stick when its deserved. I think we’d all like him to stay on his feet more often, but that’s not what we’re looking at. We’re looking at a top England international blatantly enter the box with the sole intention of winning a penalty.

Blurred, lot of time for you but take off your blinkers. The ball went nowhere near him… so why did he need to go down? The player had his back to Gerrard, albeit with his arm out. But would your forearm stop an 11 stone 6 footer barging through it? I doubt it, even Popeye might struggle after some particularly potent spinach. Gerrard was stood there looking at the referee, it wouldn’t have mattered where the ball went. He only had one thing in mind. And as long as Bennett and co let him get away with it he will. The outcome of that should have been a yellow for simulation. The muppet Sheff Utd player wasn’t even watching, Gerrard could have got to the goal line before he noticed.

As for the Davies comment, give us a break. Ronaldinho he may not be but very rarely does that boy take his eyes off the ball

[Soldier_Of_The_White_Army]

I think it's a lot worse when it comes from the Captain of your team!

[officer_dibble]

The very thought that Davies, of all people, would dive is laughable.

I can think of a couple occasions he has taken a tumble this season actually

Pompey at home, right in front of my seat in the EL sticks in my mind

[Batman]

There is no defence for the first one.

None whatsoever.

[FaninOz]

Its the inconsistency that gets me and in this case the blantant way that Gerrard looks and speaks to the Ref before he goes down. Looked like a deliberate decision on Gerrard's part to put himself in a position that would ensure that the defender would block him. He made no attempt to get around the defender infact he deliberately pushed into him.

Similar contact happens at every corner and freekick into the box in every game played these days and goes unpunished or more likely the freekick goes to the defending team. It is rare for such contact to result in a penalty and even rarer for the attacker to tell the ref before it happens what he intends to do. So as said in earlier posts ref's should be more consistent and either allow such contact as normal play or give a penalty every time or as is more within the laws of the game give an indirect free kick for obstruction.

It would be interesting to know how many freekicks into the box or corners result in freekicks given to the defending team and how many result in penalties. If available I'm sure that the statistics would show a very high percentage of the former and a very very low percentage for penalty awards.

But with respect to the thread title yes I believe Gerrard manufactured / created the contact himself which consitutes a dive in my view as did Johnson in the Everton game. Bolton players sometimes do the same but that doesn't make it fair play!!