Why diving still prevails in football

Diving has become a central topic of discussion amongst football supporters and in the media during recent years. Many see the influx of foreign players in to the Premier League as a major contributing factor to what now appears to be an epidemic spreading throughout the sport. Perhaps there are other reasons behind the continuance of the widely condemned practice of diving, though.

Although there is a substantial presence of cameras at stadiums, capturing the action from every angle possible, a number of professional footballers continue to display naivety and still commit one of football’s most frustrating offences.

So why do players continue to dive? It is because the Football Association does not take any retrospective action against diving. Some footballers are happy to risk a booking in order to win a penalty or a free-kick for their team that can potentially change the game because they know the extent of their punishment is soft.  There are numerous occasions when they escape being noticed and, therefore, being booked, which means that some divers receive no sanctions at all for their actions. Even though there is sufficient evidence to exploit divers after matches, the FA does not distribute punishment. When there are incidents of violent conduct in football matches that go unnoticed by the match officials, English football’s governing body will often hand out suspensions retrospectively.

Why don’t they do the same for diving? The only drawback with retrospective action is that the punishment will not change the outcome of a match where diving has a direct influence on the score line so there is very

little consolation for the victims of this form of cheating. However, the idea of suspensions will undoubtedly work towards discouraging this negative behaviour, deterring the suspects from diving in the future.

Did Suarez dive to win the penalty?

It is a subject that has been the centre of much controversy in the Barclays Premier League this season. Manchester United’s Adnan Januzaj and Ashley Young have both been guilty of diving, with Januzaj being booked three times so far this season for such an act. For a player with such potential and talent, Januzaj’s theatrical nature is beginning to build an unwanted reputation. Luis Suarez’s role in winning Liverpool a penalty against Aston Villa at the weekend has been questioned after  the Uruguayan international was accused of going down too easily, prompting another question…

Is there a difference between diving and going down under minimal contact? A large proportion of players anticipate contact when approaching the goal or try to make the contact themselves as they look for a reason to go down.

Januzaj has been regularly
accused of diving this season

Admittedly, there are incidents when players like Januzaj are booked for diving when they have actually been fouled. It is difficult to sympathise with them. After all, it is players like Januzaj who have established a reputation from their previous behaviour so referees, rightly or wrongly, expect them to dive.

In terms of the referees’ handling of diving, it is fair to say that, in spite of players trying to con officials, their ability to identify the matter has been impressive so far this season, with some officials making fantastic decisions under difficult circumstances.

Video technology used during a game to determine a dive or foul could prevent diving having an influence on the match but this would potentially be too disruptive and time consuming.

As a result of the patterns emerging in football, it seems that retrospective action could be an effective way of enforcing a clear anti-diving policy. Suspensions for three matches have to be introduced. With the money players are earning, the distribution of fines is not a strong enough consequence to deter diving. If players face missing several matches in succession, then it is more likely that players will take note and, more significantly, managers will start to play their part by discouraging diving because they will want to have their players available for selection. 

Who should replace Theo Walcott?

Walcott won't make it to Brazil

Arsenal and England attacker Theo Walcott has been ruled out for six months with a knee injury, meaning that he will miss the World Cup in Brazil this year. For a player who didn’t feature at the 2006 tournament despite being in the squad and who was omitted from Fabio Capello’s team that travelled to South Africa in 2010, this is a hugely devastating blow for the former Southampton player, and for England, too.

Of course, in 2006, Walcott was just 17 years old, lacking international and top flight experience, so it wasn’t exactly surprising to not see him play. However, that won’t ease the frustration he must be trying to contain at this present moment.

Whilst Theo Walcott isn’t England’s greatest asset, he did provide a lethal injection of pace to the side, allowing him to penetrate through defences at alarming speeds, which either created great opportunities for himself in front of goal or to assist other players.

England do have several potential replacements, though.

The Ox can't wait to be back

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, one of Walcott’s team-mates at Arsenal, has demonstrated sufficient ability in that position for both club and country. However, Chamberlain, also a former Southampton prodigy like Walcott, has been injured for the majority of the season so far. With little Premier League experience anyway, Chamberlain’s injury has severely impacted his progress as a professional footballer. Although he is expected to be fit well in time for the tournament, the winger will have to get back in to the Arsenal starting line-up, which won’t be an easy task considering their impressive form this season.

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling

Another candidate is Raheem Sterling. Although the Liverpool forward hasn’t made as many appearances this season as he would have liked to, Sterling has regularly shown the ability to score goals for Brendan Rodgers’ side and does offer similar levels of pace to Walcott. Again, the only problem is that, like Chamberlain, he doesn’t possess much international experience.




Andros Townsend greatly enhanced the England squad in their final two World Cup qualifiers, helping the side to beat Montenegro and Poland, and even scoring a goal on his international debut. The Spurs midfielder’s performances in both matches were very credible, with the England debutant looking like he had been playing in the side for a long time. Once more, experience is an issue but Townsend delivered in matches where great pressure was on the England side to seal qualification. To show the levels of composure and maturity that he did at a young age in games of such magnitude is a testament to Townsend’s character. Replication of those performances in Brazil, where the pressure will be even greater, would be extremely useful for the England side. Surely Townsend deserves a chance to prove himself at the World Cup. After all, he made a significant contribution to England securing qualification.

One man who does have experience on the international stage is Aaron Lennon. However, the Tottenham winger has not been enjoying regular football at Spurs having been plagued by injury for much of the season, which has subsequently affected his England involvement as well. It is, therefore, difficult to see him being the most suitable replacement.

Wilfried Zaha

Wilfried Zaha, the former Crystal Palace player, is another young star, but one with insufficient international experience. Having not featured on a regular basis under David Moyes at Manchester United this season, it’s difficult to see him being deemed an appropriate substitute for Walcott.

Other, less likely contenders include Blackpool’s Tom Ince and Norwich’s Nathan Redmond. Ince has been heavily linked with a Premier League transfer to Swansea City this January in a move that would undoubtedly improve his chances of receiving a call up, whilst Redmond will also need to have a consistent second half of the season to ensure that he is put up for consideration.


Altogether, the main problem is age and, consequently, experience. Playing for England is a huge responsibility, and intense pressure is placed on individual members of the squad to deliver success quickly. It does seem that Hodgson is going to have to select a younger player anyway and, personally, I would feel inclined to hand the position to Andros Townsend. Out of all of the players mentioned, he is the only one to have made a significantly strong impression on his England debut, displaying confidence and ability in a high pressure environment. Townsend deserves his chance having shown his capabilities on the international stage. Nothing seemed to faze the midfielder, and, if I was Roy Hodgson, I’d certainly choose him. At the moment, it’s very likely that Townsend will be selected anyway so there’s a chance that the other names mentioned will be seriously considered for the squad. Of course, club form needs to be consistent and of a high standard. With a number of games remaining in the Barclays Premier League this season, there’s plenty of opportunity for the potential candidates to earn their ticket to Brazil.

A friendly against Denmark early in March will give Hodgson one final opportunity to assess the different options and experiment with what he has available before preparation for the opening group game against Italy begins.

Brazil 2014: A challenge to relish or fear?

Now over three weeks since the group stage draw took place for the World Cup in Brazil next year, there has been plenty of time to reflect and think about England’s chances of progression at next summer’s eagerly anticipated tournament.



Let's hope it is all smiles in Brazil.

Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica await the Three Lions in Group D and football supporters have mixed opinions over the national side’s chances of reaching the knockout stages. Optimism fills some, who view the group as a fitting challenge to see if England really deserve to go far in the World Cup, whereas others are much more negative. The view that England are already out, though it seems ludicrous, is not a sparse opinion by all means. Even Greg Dyke, the chairman of the Football Association, seems to sense that England will find it extremely difficult to get through after he made a cut-throat gesture following the Group D draw. It is hardly encouraging to see the most senior figure of English football’s national governing body act in such a way.

However, it seems that some supporters are picking out individual opponents to be afraid of rather than the whole teams themselves. Luis Suarez has been a more popular name than Uruguay, which is understandable based on his current form for Liverpool. The controversial striker has arguably been the club’s most consistent performer in the last few years, only seldom being criticised for his footballing performances, and is undeniably enjoying his best ever season so far. If it was not for such negative baggage from the past, Suarez would surely be one of the top three nominees for the Ballon d’Or award, which will be given to Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or Franck Ribéry in January, 2014.

Other notable performers for Uruguay include Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani, suggesting that England will have to deal with a powerful strike force. Those three players don’t make the entire team, though, and England are more than capable of defeating Uruguay. Italy look to be the most dangerous opponents but England competed with them for 120 minutes at Euro 2012 only to lose on penalties. Revenge would be sweet but England’s ambition will be winning for three points in the group, not for personal vengeance. That is merely a bonus.

Costa Rica should, realistically, be three points guaranteed but they are not in Brazil to make up the numbers. They will be as hungry and motivated as any of the other teams in that group so England must not become complacent. After the 2-0 friendly defeat at home to Chile in November, it is difficult to imagine that being a problem.

Yes, it is a tough group and, yes, it will be a challenge for England to get through. But is this not what England supporters want? Huge fixtures against fully competent teams on the international stage, providing stern challenges and, hopefully, thrilling entertainment. I for one eagerly anticipate our opening game against Italy. To win the World Cup you have to beat the best teams in the world, whether you face them in the group stages or later on in the competition. It is best to get on with the competition and play the strong teams from the very beginning. Playing games of this magnitude can only help the England side. They will surely be more determined to win because of the higher incentive value of success. There is a much stronger sense of achievement when the probability of success is reduced, which in this case, albeit to a small degree, is true.

If a top Premier League football club, such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City or Chelsea, is playing against what is considered to be a much lower team, there isn’t as much interest or anticipation in the match compared to when they are playing against each other. Why should it be any different for England?

If England do go through, they, along with the supporters, will be filled with confidence and belief that they can go even further in the competition having overcome talented opposition. If they’re knocked out, it will confirm most people’s views that England are not yet capable of winning the World Cup.

Of course, any fan wants their side to go as far as possible because it means there are more games to look forward to. It is not just a match; it is an occasion, regardless of how stressful it can be watching England. Whether that is having friends round for a few drinks, or going up the local public house to get a sense of the atmosphere, it is an event to be excited about. Having said that, if we are going to endure misery, we may as well be put out of it early on. Otherwise, we can enjoy the tournament and relish the challenge that awaits our nation’s most gifted players.

England can't win

I’m not England’s most vehement supporter but recent events in the media have further encouraged a sense of injustice for the England national side. It seems negative stories about England are compulsory, regardless of how successful they are.

Having ensured qualification for the World Cup in Brazil next year, the British Press had every right to portray the England team with plenty of optimism.

All smiles for Hodgson

Failure to qualify would have been a wonderful outcome for the media, though. Stories of England’s demise and uncertainty over Hodgson’s position as manager would have undoubtedly dominated the back pages of newspapers and made for interesting reading.

Instead, England were to be briefly glorified after coming through two difficult challenges against Montenegro and Poland to guarantee their presence at the most illustrious competition in the sport at the home of arguably the greatest nation to have embraced football.

The England team are highly unlikely to win the World Cup. Quite simply, they don’t have sufficient quality to compete consistently at the top level. Whilst there are a large number of particularly talented individuals, who have the potential to be exceptional players, it’s currently unrealistic to make a comparison with the likes of Spain, Germany and Brazil.

This doesn’t mean we can’t support our nation, however. In fact, this provokes an incentive to increase England’s backing. They’ll need to be able to rely on committed supporters who can provide extra inspiration.

Unfortunately, the British media sometimes fails to gather this concept. After emphasising the significance of making it to Brazil ahead of those final two qualifiers, England would have felt the media owed them some praise after intensifying the pressure placed on them to deliver.

At the Olympics last year, the media made a substantial contribution to the feel-good factor within the UK through the positive representation of British athletes, who were performing so magnificently in London and achieving far beyond expectations.

Admittedly, British athletes work much harder than footballers for much less money so their success deserves to be emphasised. It will be challenging to ever replicate the mood of Britain during those Olympics with so much enthusiasm and excitement widespread throughout the country.

One factor that can be guaranteed is that the enthusiasm and excitement is contagious. People become infected sub-consciously.

If the media generated similar levels of hype when it comes to the England football team, there could be a considerable impact on the positivity and potential of the squad and would encourage an influential contingency of football supporters.

Yes, they’re paid unjustified amounts of money and should feel honoured to don the England shirt. Yes, pressure is part of the sport, increasingly so at international level, but there’s nothing to say they don’t deserve praise when they are victorious. Whilst the newspapers did give credit to the England side afterwards, the stories that followed the Poland match quickly extinguished the success.

This is where I get to the point I’m referring to when I say ‘England can’t win’. You may see this title as a reflection of their chances at the World Cup. That, although it may be true, is not the case. What I mean is that, even when England are successful, the media has a tendency to find a way of overshadowing times of celebration.

Townsend- centre of attention

This was demonstrated in the aftermath of the Poland match, which England had won 2-0 to finish top of their group. Andros Townsend, who has been the focus of attention in the footballing world after producing remarkable performances in his first two England games, has now become the centre of an apparent ‘racist’ incident during the half-time team talk of the Poland game. Roy Hodgson, the man who deserves credit for bravely selecting the young Tottenham Hotspur winger, used the expression ‘feed the monkey’  from the punch line of an old joke when instructing his players to look for Townsend to create more opportunities.


Toure was the subject of racist abuse in Russia

The term ‘monkey’ has been used to direct racial abuse at black players in football. There have been several cases of monkey chants inside stadiums and such despicable behaviour was evident in the recent Champions League Group D game between CSKA Moscow and Manchester City, where Yaya Toure was the subject of monkey chants from CSKA supporters. One of the most unfortunate ironies about this is that CSKA have black players themselves. The Russian club have since denied the allegations made by Toure, insisting that no racist behaviour took place, despite clear video evidence showing the monkey chants from supporters.  UEFA have now officially punished CSKA for the incident by proposing to close one section of the stadium for their Champions League tie against Bayern Munich in late November. Further punishment will be issued if the behaviour is repeated, with full stadium closure being a serious threat from Europe's football governing body, along with additional fines. There’s a theory that this incident has been exaggerated because we are bitter about the fact that Russia won the bid to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of England. Of course we are bitter. Look at the level of racism and the standard of stadia in Russia compared to England. Why wouldn’t we be bitter?

Going back to the Townsend situation, any civilised football supporter will know Hodgson didn’t say the joke with any intention to cause offence racially. Surely the fact that Townsend has said Hodgson was paying him a compliment removes any suspicion of the England manager being a racist. A pressure group known as Race for Sport didn’t understand this, and decided that the apologies from Hodgson and the FA were unsatisfactory. Sending a complaint to the FA, they advised that all football managers should receive cultural intelligence on the matter. Up until this complaint, I didn’t think the matter could be taken further out of context. Up until this complaint, I had never heard of ‘Race for Sport’. Therefore, it seems that this was a desperate attempt to raise the awareness of an organisation that is in need of recognition and status.

Kick Racism out of Football, the established campaign committed to ending discrimination in British football, haven’t responded to the issue, reiterating the idea that Hodgson wasn’t being racist.

It will be interesting to see how the next 8 months go for England on and off the field.

Friendlies against Chile and Germany await them in November, marking the beginning of preparation for the 2014 World Cup.

Shrewsbury Town 2-2 Carlisle United

Three goals in 10 minutes provided an unexpectedly entertaining end to what had been a frustrating afternoon for Shrewsbury Town, who continued their winless run with a 2-2 draw against Carlisle United, and they were close to taking no points at all.

Town goal scorer Bradshaw

Tom Bradshaw gave Shrewsbury supporters something to cheer about in the first half with a goal in the 40^th minute. It seemed to come from nothing. Carlisle cleared the ball from a Town corner only for it to fall to Paul Parry, who managed to hook it back in to the opposite direction, finding Bradshaw clear and, crucially, onside. The Welshman executed the finish neatly to grab his second goal in as many games.

Carlisle had started brightly, whereas Town seemed to be  lacklustre and slightly off the pace at the beginning of the game. Amoo, in particular, looked a threat for the visitors. However, despite demonstrating good control, footwork and pace, his deliveries were frequently blocked by Joe Jacobson and the winger struggled to create opportunities for Carlisle’s attackers. On one rare occasion, Amoo found Matty Robson in the box, but he could only glance his header wide of the post.

Town enjoyed long periods of possession but, for the majority of the time, it was meaningless and the home side seemed to lack ambition to go forward and cause problems for their opponents. Jon Taylor looked promising on his return from suspension, and occasionally made darting runs on the left hand-side, leaving Carlisle’s comparatively slow defenders far behind. Adam Reach enjoyed similar success when running down the left and, like Taylor, managed to get in to good positions, allowing him to cross the ball in dangerously. It was pleasing to the eye, and there were some genuinely impressive movements of play, but Salop lacked a cutting edge, failing to create any clear cut chances.

Carlisle had a number of chances themselves. They struggled to utilise the height of striker Mark Beck to their full potential. Although Beck presented physical prowess and physique, the Carlisle attacker did not make as significant an impact as expected.

Bradshaw’s solitary goal separated the two sides going in to half-time. Though leading the game, Town had not been convincing and appeared to be reluctant to go for a more direct approach.

‘Frustrated’ best describes Shrewsbury supporters in the second half. Winning 1-0, the expectation was that Shrewsbury would attempt to kill the game off, particularly with them being at home. With all due respect to the visiting team, they were up against a Carlisle side that, for most of the first half, had looked average. There were no doubts that this was a winnable game.  Carlisle hadn’t threatened Shrewsbury as much as they would have hoped to.

Despite this, Shrewsbury came out and displayed a performance that implied they were playing for statistics instead of three points. Credit to them, they managed to play some close and tidy football at times, which was encouraging. Frequently, the defence and midfield used the wingers as outlets, finding Taylor and Reach in ideal positions to deliver the ball in to the box. Did they deliver though? No. Almost every time they were in these positions, the wingers decided to play it back to the defenders. The defenders would then often opt for goalkeeper Weale, taking the ball further back.

Having worked hard to get in to these productive areas, where they could cause Carlisle serious problems, they let the visitors off the hook. Not only did this largely negative style of play lead to a severe breakdown in momentum when they managed to gather some, it invited Carlisle to attack and pressure them.
Carlisle had already had a couple of chances in the second half. There wasn’t necessarily a need for an invitation. Amoo had come close 10 minutes in when his header was cleared by Aaron Wildig on the line. Just five minutes earlier, Dave Symington looked to have created a certain goal, but Robson volleyed Symington’s cross straight over the bar from close range.

Jon Taylor nearly doubled Town’s lead when his 25 yard drive was superbly saved by Gillespie on 71 minutes and Adam Reach should have given the Carlisle goalkeeper more to do when he cut in on to his left foot, 16 minutes from time, to release what proved to be a tame effort.

Shrewsbury paid the consequences of trying to close the game out at 1-0 when Amoo found his way in the box.  He managed to score on his second attempt when a neat cut back led him to smash it in to the roof of the net.

Carlisle weren’t finished there. In the space of five minutes, the game had completely turned around as Sean O’Hanlon rose from a corner to head Carlisle in to the lead in the 90^th minute.

Suddenly, Shrewsbury had gone from looking likely victors for the first time in over a month, to fighting for a draw.

Salop did fight back to rescue a point, bringing the temporarily delirious Carlisle supporters back to normality. A breakdown in Carlisle’s defence and concentration, probably due to the euphoria of taking the lead so dramatically, allowed Paul Parry through on goal to calmly slot home an equaliser.

Graham Turner had mixed feelings about Shrewsbury’s result after the match, saying "I don't think it was a bad performance by any means but overall it's two points lost and certainly not one that deserved a defeat.

"We have a reputation of conceding late goals and we need to stop that. But, when you go 2-1 down, you have to think it's a point gained.”

Turner’s side will look to bounce back from their recent disappointment with another crucial home match on Saturday, this time against 16^th placed Gillingham. The Gills are one place behind Shrewsbury and are currently on the same amount of points so this has the makings of a highly competitive League One fixture with large significance for both sides.

Bradford City 2-1 Shrewsbury Town

Newly promoted Bradford City came from a goal behind to clinch a 2-1 victory against Graham Turner’s Shrewsbury Town thanks to a last minute winner from James Hanson.  Victory for the Bantams sees them climb up to 5^th place in the League One table whilst Shrewsbury drop to 15^th after a second successive defeat.

Defeat was hard to imagine for Town after such a positive start to the game, with an early goal inside the opening two minutes. Tom Bradshaw gave the visitors the lead, meeting a Ryan Woods cross to head Town in front. However, as is said on so many occasions, it can be dangerous to score so early on, which is due to the fact that there is such a long time for the team to defend that lead.

Despite this, Shrewsbury managed to sustain their 1-0 advantage for the rest of the first half.

Although Salop started the second half resiliently, Bradford equalised with half an hour left of the match. Mark Yeates delivered an impressive cross and winger Kyel Reid equalised, intensifying the atmosphere at the Valley Parade Stadium, which has enjoyed a significant increase in match day attendance since the home side’s promotion to League One.

For the second game in a row, Shrewsbury were reduced to 10 men. After Jon Taylor’s dismissal against Wolverhampton Wanderers a week earlier, Dave Winfield received his marching orders with just three minutes of normal time remaining. Having already received a yellow card earlier in the game, which was for an incident in the 62^nd minute , Winfield was given a second yellow card for handball. He had actually taken Bradford striker Nahki Wells out of the game in the first half with a late challenge, forcing the player to be substituted. Winfield managed to escape with no punishment on that occasion.

With an extra man, the hosts gathered momentum and James Hanson picked up a loose ball on his way to executing a powerful strike with his right foot, that went past Shrewsbury goalkeeper Chris Weale, to grab victory in the 90^th minute.

Town manager Graham Turner said "It was a harsh red card for David Winfield. To pick out the incident and send him off is beyond my comprehension.

"But we should have been capable of holding on to 1-1. We are lacking the knowhow and mental toughness required to win these games - and find that second goal. We need to look at ourselves and ask the question of why we are losing games like this.”

Shrewsbury have two consecutive home games to look forward to as they look to bounce back from two disappointing league defeats and return to winning ways. Carlisle United travel to the Greenhous Meadow this Saturday and Town host Gillingham a week later.

Bradford City vs. Shrewsbury Town Preview

Nahki Wells

Graham Turner’s side travel to the Valley Parade Stadium to face newly promoted Bradford City in League One this afternoon. Shrewsbury will be looking to recover from their unfortunate 1-0 loss to Wolves last weekend by claiming a first win since defeating Swindon 2-0 in August.

Last year’s Capital One Cup finalists, Bradford, have made an impressive start to their campaign in League One. Currently, they occupy the final play-off place in the table whilst Shrewsbury are placed in 14^th position,  7 points behind the home side.

The Bantams are unbeaten in their last five league matches, enjoying three victories and two draws. Adding to these rather concerning statistics for Shrewsbury is the fact that Bradford are unbeaten at home so far and have kept three clean sheets in the process of maintaining this successful home record.

Two teams, Brentford and Carlisle, have been hit for 4 at the Valley Parade so the visitors will have to demonstrate strong resilience at the back to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

On a more positive note for Town, they have won on two of their last three visits to Bradford meaning that this fixture is an ideal opportunity to earn their first away victory of the season.

Having performed to a high standard against Wolves, Salop were unlucky to endure such a late goal as Bakary Sako converted an 84^th minute penalty in last week’s match. However, aesthetically pleasing performances will not satisfy Shrewsbury supporters unless they’re gaining results and, therefore, victories need to come quickly.

Shrewsbury will be without suspended Jon Taylor. His alleged handball on the line, which led to Wolves’ late penalty at the Greenhous Meadow, led to a red card.

Bradford have no injuries or suspensions to worry about ahead of the visit of Shrewsbury, and Nahki Wells will be looking to increase his goal tally after scoring six goals in four home matches.

Altogether, this should be a competitive fixture with Bradford looking to close the gap on the automatic promotion places and Shrewsbury in search of three points that could potentially take them back in to the top half of the table. Town have drawn all but one of their away league games this season and the only exception was the 3-0 defeat to Leyton Orient, who are the only side to still have a 100% record in England.

Prediction: Bradford City 1-1 Shrewsbury Town.