Rafael Benitez has slated Didier Drogba’s diving antics ahead of Liverpool’s Champions League trip to Chelsea, but perhaps Rafa should have taken a closer look at the behaviour of his own players before launching his hypocritical tirade.
On the subject of Drogba’s predilection for diving, Rafa said:
“With Drogba, it's important to have a good referee.You can't do anything, but I will say it because it was so clear. He is amazing because he is massive.
“It's very impressive. I have a lot of clips of him from over the years and he surprises me. After four years, I expected it. We've played against Chelsea 19 games and every time I have collected some clips of Drogba”
Whilst Rafa is undoubtedly correct about Drogba's tiresome histrionics, Liverpool have a player who is just as bad when it comes to diving, and that player is club captain Steven Gerrard.
I will inevitably be slated and ridiculed for once again casting Gerrard in a negative light, but it sickens me that Liverpool’s captain is such a blatant diver.
What makes it worse is he has the gall to actually publicly criticize other players for diving, whilst doing exactly the same thing himself!
This season alone has been filled with examples of Gerrard diving. Against Everton at Goodison Park earlier in the season, Gerrard dived in the box after minimal contact with Tony Hibbert and Liverpool got a penalty.
What makes this incident worse is that Gerrard moaned at the referee and ended up getting Hibbert sent off. As the video clip below illustrates, Mark Clattenburg had the yellow card ready; then Gerrard walks past him, says something, and Clattenburg pulls out the red instead. Take a look:
Liverpool's recent victory against Blackburn at Anfield was marred by more examples of Gerrard's diving. On three occasions, Gerrard threw himself to the floor looking for a penalty. I’ve only managed to find clips for two of them, but they’re both laughable attempts at simulation.
This first one is embarrassing – Brad Friedel pulls himself out of the way, and Gerrard deliberately pushes his leg into the Blackburn keeper to create the contact, then goes down like a sack of potoatoes:
This second clip shows Gerrard trying to con the referee by diving after an innocuous challenge from Christopher Samba:
Gerrard doesn’t just dive for Liverpool, he dives for England too. Below is a clip of his blatant dive against Andorra, and you’ll notice the Andorran keeper has a go at him afterwards:
Below is a short compilation of Gerrard dives, including the most infamous dive of all, which came against AC Milan in 2005's Champions league final. How anyone can argue that it is *not* a dive is beyond me. Where exactly is the contact?!
Gerrard is a hypocritical diver, pure and simple. The question is, why do so many fans accept it and even praise him for it? Liverpool fans never pass up the opportunity to ridicule the likes of Ronaldo and Drogba for diving, yet when it comes to Gerrard and Torres, they’re conveniently overcome by selective blindness.
Take the Milan dive for example: If Gerrard had not dived, it's conceivable that Liverpool may not have gone on to win the game. Because Liverpool *did* win the game, fans think it's acceptable to overlook the dive and everything is forgotten.
I don't see it that way. As fantastic as the Milan game was, it was a phyrric victory in many ways. I can never take pleasure from blatant cheating, and that's what Gerrard did when he dived.
Of course, my attitude means I can't be a real fan. If I was a real fan, how could I highlight these things about a Liverpool captain? Well, for me, being a real fan is about acknowledging the truth and not allowing bias to cloud judgement.
And if you want an example of what 'real' fans think about Gerrard's diving, take a look at this video clip, where fans on the Kop actually encourage Gerrard to dive. At one point, you can clearly here someone say 'You should have dived there Stevie and won a penalty':
The fact is, many fans and pundits do not have the balls to tell it like it is, lest they be castigated by Liverpool's rabid 'superfans' for not being 'real supporters'. Winning is clearly more important than playing the game with honesty and integrity.
A prime example of this kind of spinelessness is Jamie Redknapp’s defence of Gerrard after the Blackburn game. Instead of being objective and telling the truth, he displayed breathtaking bias in his lame attempt to justify his mate Stevie’s actions:
There's nothing noble about defending a player when they've done something obviously wrong. Refusing to be objective because of bias and personal preference is just weak, and does not make someone a better fan.
Anyone who dives in football is cheat. End of story. There is never any excuse for it, and the diving epidemic is just indicative of the corrupt, self-serving nature of the modern game.
I don't care what Drogba and Ronaldo do - I don't want to see Liverpool players diving, and I definitely do want to see the captain of the club cheating to gain an advantage.
So Rafa - before having a go at other players for diving, why don't you make sure your own players are conducting themselves in a way the befits the history and traditions of Liverpool FC?
Gerrard may not writhe around on the floor like he's been shot a la Drogba, but his diving is still an embarrassment to the club.
And it needs to STOP.
On the subject of Drogba’s predilection for diving, Rafa said:
“With Drogba, it's important to have a good referee.You can't do anything, but I will say it because it was so clear. He is amazing because he is massive.
“It's very impressive. I have a lot of clips of him from over the years and he surprises me. After four years, I expected it. We've played against Chelsea 19 games and every time I have collected some clips of Drogba”
Whilst Rafa is undoubtedly correct about Drogba's tiresome histrionics, Liverpool have a player who is just as bad when it comes to diving, and that player is club captain Steven Gerrard.
I will inevitably be slated and ridiculed for once again casting Gerrard in a negative light, but it sickens me that Liverpool’s captain is such a blatant diver.
What makes it worse is he has the gall to actually publicly criticize other players for diving, whilst doing exactly the same thing himself!
This season alone has been filled with examples of Gerrard diving. Against Everton at Goodison Park earlier in the season, Gerrard dived in the box after minimal contact with Tony Hibbert and Liverpool got a penalty.
What makes this incident worse is that Gerrard moaned at the referee and ended up getting Hibbert sent off. As the video clip below illustrates, Mark Clattenburg had the yellow card ready; then Gerrard walks past him, says something, and Clattenburg pulls out the red instead. Take a look:
Liverpool's recent victory against Blackburn at Anfield was marred by more examples of Gerrard's diving. On three occasions, Gerrard threw himself to the floor looking for a penalty. I’ve only managed to find clips for two of them, but they’re both laughable attempts at simulation.
This first one is embarrassing – Brad Friedel pulls himself out of the way, and Gerrard deliberately pushes his leg into the Blackburn keeper to create the contact, then goes down like a sack of potoatoes:
This second clip shows Gerrard trying to con the referee by diving after an innocuous challenge from Christopher Samba:
Gerrard doesn’t just dive for Liverpool, he dives for England too. Below is a clip of his blatant dive against Andorra, and you’ll notice the Andorran keeper has a go at him afterwards:
Below is a short compilation of Gerrard dives, including the most infamous dive of all, which came against AC Milan in 2005's Champions league final. How anyone can argue that it is *not* a dive is beyond me. Where exactly is the contact?!
Gerrard is a hypocritical diver, pure and simple. The question is, why do so many fans accept it and even praise him for it? Liverpool fans never pass up the opportunity to ridicule the likes of Ronaldo and Drogba for diving, yet when it comes to Gerrard and Torres, they’re conveniently overcome by selective blindness.
Take the Milan dive for example: If Gerrard had not dived, it's conceivable that Liverpool may not have gone on to win the game. Because Liverpool *did* win the game, fans think it's acceptable to overlook the dive and everything is forgotten.
I don't see it that way. As fantastic as the Milan game was, it was a phyrric victory in many ways. I can never take pleasure from blatant cheating, and that's what Gerrard did when he dived.
Of course, my attitude means I can't be a real fan. If I was a real fan, how could I highlight these things about a Liverpool captain? Well, for me, being a real fan is about acknowledging the truth and not allowing bias to cloud judgement.
And if you want an example of what 'real' fans think about Gerrard's diving, take a look at this video clip, where fans on the Kop actually encourage Gerrard to dive. At one point, you can clearly here someone say 'You should have dived there Stevie and won a penalty':
The fact is, many fans and pundits do not have the balls to tell it like it is, lest they be castigated by Liverpool's rabid 'superfans' for not being 'real supporters'. Winning is clearly more important than playing the game with honesty and integrity.
A prime example of this kind of spinelessness is Jamie Redknapp’s defence of Gerrard after the Blackburn game. Instead of being objective and telling the truth, he displayed breathtaking bias in his lame attempt to justify his mate Stevie’s actions:
There's nothing noble about defending a player when they've done something obviously wrong. Refusing to be objective because of bias and personal preference is just weak, and does not make someone a better fan.
Anyone who dives in football is cheat. End of story. There is never any excuse for it, and the diving epidemic is just indicative of the corrupt, self-serving nature of the modern game.
I don't care what Drogba and Ronaldo do - I don't want to see Liverpool players diving, and I definitely do want to see the captain of the club cheating to gain an advantage.
So Rafa - before having a go at other players for diving, why don't you make sure your own players are conducting themselves in a way the befits the history and traditions of Liverpool FC?
Gerrard may not writhe around on the floor like he's been shot a la Drogba, but his diving is still an embarrassment to the club.
And it needs to STOP.
17 Comments - Disagree? Add your comment!:
while he can go down easily, much of what you call a 'dive' isn't
Gerrard is running at 100 mph and the slightest knock can throw you off balance
1) Hibbert and Everton is not a dive by any means, he was tugging at him from well outside the box. Also, it is his job as a captain to talk to the ref, he can't ask the ref if hibbert was the last man back? he wasn't all in the ref's face, signalling for a card... so I think you're wrong on that one.
2) The friedel one shows there was contact, and when you're running as fast as gerrard does it can be more than enough. The samba shows again his leg was bumped, and almost ANY player knows if you feel contact throughout the pitch and you don't think you can get the ball you go down... like when players all of a sudden stop running when their shirt is pulled or something like that... 99% of players do that I would say
3) Istanbul: Gattuso catches his leg, again gerrard running full steam, and why would he go down there? he is in with the goalkeeper, I think you assume too much
The andorra clip is harder to argue, he felt contact earlier and when presented with his remaining options decided to go down. While it is embarrassing to see him go down rather easily sometimes, branding someone as a 'cheat' for acouple rushes of blood to the head/ bad decisions is harsh.
More pearls of wisdom from the "I hate Steven Gerrard" site.
Omg to manage a couple of clips you had to go back 3 years and the one i say it was a dive is andorras though there was contact before. A player has every right to fall if there is any type of contact that influences the players balance. Drogba does that much in one game and with no contact at all or a slight push and he hold his leg agonizingly faking injuries!!! Drogba is a disgrace to your club...
Gerrard is a legend
Ryan
I have to admit that your line of thinking is disappointing and exposes the problem with the fans' attitude to diving. You state that 'A player has every right to fall if there is any type of contact that influences the players balance'. Why? What are you suggesting...that a player should just fall over because they get brushed by someone when they're running?!
Shouldn't the player just try and stay on their feet instead of falling *just because* they got a slight touch from another player?
No player has 'the right' to fall over. Such thinking just makes it easier for the cheats to prosper.
If it's a situation where a player genuinely cannot stay on his feet then fair play, but in many cases players wait for the inevitable contact - even if it's just a slight brushing of shoulders - and fall over deliberately.
Gerrard is a master at this, and the clips above prove that.
And there are *many* other examples of Gerrard blatantly diving, including laughable recent incidents against Bolton and Sheffield United, but I couldn't find any clips.
Andy why when we discuss diving do we have to bring other players into the mix? What has Didier Drogba got to do with Gerrard diving? Nothing. It's like fans are saying, 'well, Drogba does it, so it's okay for Gerrard to do it'.
What a load of crap. Gerrard is a diver, just accept it. Whatever the ssupposed justification is, it doesn't matter. He's a diver and should be condemned for it, just like any other player who dives.
It's just sad that so many great players are divers.
Jaimie, you seriously need therapy mate.
Yes, you're right. Because I tell the truth about Steven Gerrard, there must be something wrong with me! Old Stevie is beyond reproach and can never be questioned or criticised. And anyone who has the audacity to see the truth about him must be deranged.
I see your point ;-)
I agree with some of your posts and this being one of them to a certain degree. But your views are always so righteous! Plus you never highlight any good points just always the bad. I'm pretty sure (could be totally wrong) you arent a LFC fan at all.
No Jaime, it's just you who's deranged.
Even Sir Alex Ferguson says a good word or two about Liverpool every now and then.
You just seem to loathe this club and anything positive that could possibly come from it and then try to justify that revilement as objectivity. And objective person is capable to seeing both sides of the coin and so far it only seems that as far as the current Liverpool squad is concerned, Rafa Benitez and Stevie G are concerned, there's only one side on that coin.
As always, just sad.
Now you can go ahead and delete this post as a dissenting opinion as is in your "objective" nature to do so.
It's a pity JK is putting up this crap just a day before the big match.
No way he can be a Liverpool supporter.
Hillarious title to this article. Its like comparing a ferrari and a mini cos they are both cars. Some of the clips show gerrard diving some do not. So it is correct to say he dives. The consistancy and volume to which he dives is minimal at best. Most damning against drogba and what sets them so far appart is the inability for drogba to whitstand and physical contact on any part of the pitch from any angle. This greatly differs from gerrard. for headers drogba leans backwards into players while in mid air, feels contact and howls like a baby. he also falls towards players in a different direction than the ball is going in a way that alters the natural direction he should be going. He brings diving to an art form. Gerrard as i said has dived and may continue to do so but at a rate of once every 5 games (a random number) versus brogba who does so 8 or 9 times per game.
Get a sense of perspective
Most players, coaches, referees and fans appreciate the significant difference between diving and taking advantage of contact.
Drogba atrocious showing last Tuesday in the CL match was an extreme example of diving, where there was no contact or, worse, where he created contact to force the referee into a decision. He could've been sent off. It was a reckless, embarrassing display.
Your clips of Gerrard mostly show the latter - taking advantage of contact - a facet of the game for longer than you and I have been alive.
Your own appreciation of the difference, regardless of your opinion of Gerrard, would be more tolerable.
You're on the verge of journalistic diving.
Jamie, addressing something you said earlier:
"You state that 'A player has every right to fall if there is any type of contact that influences the players balance'. Why? What are you suggesting...that a player should just fall over because they get brushed by someone when they're running?!"
I disagree with you on this. If you are FOULED, you have the option of going to ground. Whether you choose to or not depends on what you think is in the best interest of your team. This is NOT cheating. It is not cheating because you have been fouled.
If you haven't been fouled, then yes it is cheating.
You also said:
"Shouldn't the player just try and stay on their feet instead of falling *just because* they got a slight touch from another player?"
That depends on the circumstances. A player might try and stay on their feet, but they might not. If they have been fouled, they have the option of doing either.
You also said:
"No player has 'the right' to fall over. Such thinking just makes it easier for the cheats to prosper."
You miss an important counter-point: no player has the "duty" to stay on his feet when his opponent has made a stupid mistake.
You seem to criticise people who are willing to go to ground, but hang on! What about those players who through cynicism or lack of skill FOUL the attacker in the first place?
A player has EVERY right to act in the best interest of his team, within the rules of the game. Conversely, no opponent has the RIGHT to NOT have his poor/dangerous/cynical play rewarded by an "honest" attacker trying to stay on his feet (in 99% of such occasions the referee will not call play back for a penalty anyway, for example).
Remember the rules don't just say that contact has to be paid. They also state "the intent to foul a player".
E.g.: you're running through one-on-one with the keeper. Some leaden-footed talentless defender isn't good enough to stop you, so just throws his legs at you. You lose your balance and may be able to stay on your feet.
Whatever you choose to do, you have absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITY to do the fouling player a favour! If you go down, you draw the referee's attention to the foul. If you go on, you might score or you might miss, in which case the defending team neither concedes a goal nor loses a man from a red-card challenge. Your choice. But the decision is based on what's best for your team WITHIN THE RULES OF THE GAME, not based on doing the fouling player a favour!
This is the difference between cheating and good play.
Now, Steven Gerrard DOES dive. But I'm not sure all the examples you've given prove that. (The ones against Blackburn for instance, ARE fouls.)
Matt - I'm aware of the dinstinction between diving and taking advantage of contact, but in practice what's the difference? Example 1: Player A dives without contact in a blatant attempt to con the referee.
Example 2: Player B is through on goal, is brushed by a defender and takes advantage of the contact by diving.
What exactly is the difference.
The intent is still to con the referee and cheat to get a free-kick or penalty.
Gerrard, like so many other players, has mastered the art of taking advantage of contact. Instead of staying on his feet, which I argue he *could* most of the time, if there is any contact in the box, he well just dive to the ground with the intent of winning a penalty.
IMO, the clips above prove categorically that Gerrard is a diver. He may only be diving after taking advantage of contact, but it's still a dive.
Gerrard's worst divinng offence against Bolton is not even there, but in that game, Gerrard dived without any contact at all, which shows he is just as bad as Drogba on that front.
For me, it's black and white: There is never any excuse for diving, even if someone is merely taking advantage of contact. The player should stay on his feet *unless* it is physically impossible to do so.
Excellent commments, Tim.
You stated: "If you are FOULED, you have the option of going to ground. Whether you choose to or not depends on what you think is in the best interest of your team. This is NOT cheating. It is not cheating because you have been fouled.
I disagree with this. Even if a player has been fouled, if they can stay on their feet, they should do so. Besides, how can you be sure a player has been fouled unless the referee *gives the foul*?
You and I might think from watching that the player has been fouled, but unless the offence is given, then it's a moot point.
You state that Gerrard was fouled in the three incidents against Blackburn. if that's the case, why were all three incidents ignored by the ref? We can argue ref incompetence or say the ref got it wrong, but it's clear from the clips that Gerrard - as Matt highlighted above - took advantage of the contact.
He didn't just take advantage - he took the piss! He was looking for contact and looking for an excuse to go down. In one of the clips, you can clearly see Gerrard move his leg towards Friedel to *create* contact!
This is cheating of the worst kind in my view.
Remember the rules don't just say that contact has to be paid. They also state "the intent to foul a player".
E.g.: you're running through one-on-one with the keeper. Some leaden-footed talentless defender isn't good enough to stop you, so just throws his legs at you. You lose your balance and may be able to stay on your feet.
Whatever you choose to do, you have absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITY to do the fouling player a favour! If you go down, you draw the referee's attention to the foul. If you go on, you might score or you might miss, in which case the defending team neither concedes a goal nor loses a man from a red-card challenge. Your choice. But the decision is based on what's best for your team WITHIN THE RULES OF THE GAME, not based on doing the fouling player a favour
Interesting points. You seem to be suggesting that in order to draw the referee's attention to a foul, a player who is capable of staying on his feet should just take advantage of whatever contact there may have been and just fall to the ground.
I just can't agree with that because it's a fundamentally negative approach to football: Attack and try to score, but if you can go down in the box under minimal provocation - even if you can stay on your feet - then do it, because you bring the ref's attention to your foul.
Can't you see how this approach can be seriously abused? This approach is destroying football. So many players prefer to go down in the box to get a definite penalty instead of staying on their feet and taking their chances.
If it was down to me, Refs would be tough on players taking advantage of contact. Players are always going to bump into each other in full flight when chasing for the ball. Falling over at the slightest touch (as Gerrard frequently does) should not be what football is about.
Jaimie
Going against the grain slightly I don't disagree with everything you say. Gerrard has been known to dive, Gerrard isn't perfect but I am sure plenty of other top players have taken dives from time to time and he is a top player!
However, looking at your site there are now 3 or 4 negative Gerrard related articles on the front page and I would suggest (and I know you will ignore me but I will suggest it anyway) that this could well dilute any solid points that you have to make regarding him.
Just a thought.
R
R - thanks for your comments.
I agree with you when you say that plenty of top players have taken dives, but that doesn't mean it should be condoned, surely?!
You seem to be suggesting that because top players dive across the world then it's okay for other players to follow suit. I cannot agree with this attitude, and in my view, such views are the reason football is in the gutter.
I take your point about my articles re Steven Gerrard, but to be honest, I am not concerned with how people view what I write. I'm not trying to please anyone or convince anyone. I just tell it like I see it, and in recent weeks, there has been alot to discuss re Gerrard. The difference is, unlike most people, I'm on the other side of the ' Gerrard is God and can do no wrong' fence.
I disagree that my points are diluted, as you suggest. And I seriously doubt that if I had a similar number of articles praising Gerrard that you would be saying my points were being diluted....
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