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.
