It was nice to see UEFA wake up and reverse itself on the harsh two-game suspension it handed out to Arsenal’s Edu Silva for diving. His fall appeared overenthusiastic, so much so that the immediate reaction was that he needed to pay a penalty.
Now, however, UEFA has come to its senses. A two-game ban for something that would have only warranted a yellow card if seen by the referee seemed extreme. At least it would unless UEFA followed it up with a two-game ban for FC Cologne’s Petit when the Portuguese midfielder got away with a sliding cross-body block in the penalty area against Hamburg a few days later.
And then, the halls of justice could have handed out more two-game penalties for every shirt grabs and all the rest of those goal mouth pushes and pulls that defenders get away with on every corner kick. By allowing those offenses to go unpunished, referees are actively encouraging attackers to “embellish” the infractions by diving.
Initially, I believed that something needed to be done to punish Edu – and maybe the soccer gods could come up with some sort of double-secret probation that would lead to consequences if it happens again.
However, there are areas where the authorities should go to the tape right now. While Edu’s theatrics hurt Celtic in the pocketbook, it involved a bit of bad luck and human interpretation. However, reckless challenges in the run of play can end careers.
A two-footed cleats-out lunge at a streaking player not only disrupts the attack and endangers the player. It shows a blatant lack of respect for the game, the rules and the participants.
Even though the referee might not have the right angle, if it’s serious enough – a quick look at the video tape a few days later should decide whether punishment is warranted. If necessary, show the incriminating angles to the match referee and let him be the one to decide if it was worthy of an ejection.
Missed penalties can affect the game, but allowing the thugs to take charge could cripple it.
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Time is running out on several MLS teams in the race for the post-season. At this point, only New York is out of the running.
Taking a look at the standings based on points-per-game extrapolated over the entire season and Columbus, Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago would earn the top two spots in each conference. Chivas USA, Colorado, Seattle would win wild card berths from the West, while only New England would grab a wild card from the East.
That could all change though as DC United, Toronto and Salt Lake are all just one good weekend away from leapfrogging into the picture. Kansas City’s comeback against Dallas kept the Wizards hopes alive while doing serious damage to the hoops chances of extending their season. San Jose has several games-in-hand, but would pretty much have to run the table to make the playoffs.
Houston has only three games left in the regular season, San Jose has seven. Most teams have only four or five matches to lay claim to a playoff berth. The Dynamo and Crew seem to be the cream of the crop. However, a vastly improved Galaxy has to be considered a favorite as well, especially considering the amazing accomplishment of only one road loss all season – and for that reason alone I give them a serious show at winning it all.
September 21st, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Nice Article. I love watching you and Ray on GolTV. Diving is definitely a problem in football, and its unfix able. People will continue to embellish as long as they can occasionally get the call. Also, if FIFA starts suspending players, they will lose popularity and it will affect football in a negative way. The only solution would be for the players to come together and for them to not just dive anymore. However for me that isn’t a good thing because diving has just become a natural part of the game. MLS has been interesting this year. The Red Bulls are opening a new stadium but they probably won’t fill any seats with the team they have. I hope Seattle ends up winning with their new team. and GO BARCA!
September 22nd, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Diving has become inherent to our sport. There is no other sport that a participant can be in a position to con the referee and benefit so much from it. In basketball or hockey, the closest sports to soccer that have a flow to the game, conning the ref will get you two free throws, potentially 1/50th of your total score, or a power play with an opportunity to score. A foul in the box in soccer will have a much more significant impact on the game, making the stakes so much higher. It has become such an art form of losing balance when even the most minimal contact is made it has become an integral part of an attacking players skills.
I almost think that it is a seperate issue from the heavy handed defensive tactics that you site. The game as a whole would benefit great from initiatives to curb both.
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Thank you so much, Phil, for bringing some sanity into this discussion. Yes, diving is cheating, and shouldn’t be done. However, it harms no one. I do not even think it should be a yellow card offense, it should merely be ignored. According to the players themselves, the main reason they dive sometimes is that they feel they are not being protected by the referees. Fouling is just as much cheating as diving is, and it is much more harmful! Personally, I agree with the great soccer writer Paul Gardner, who has suggested that after the first yellow card given for a so-called “professional” foul, that any player committing such an offense afterwards should be given a straight red. This would clean up the game real quick. Brutal tackles are a far worse blight on the game than a mere dive. It made me sick at the beginning of the season when I think two different players around Europe had their legs broken, and the only thing the talking heads were talking about was diving. Priorities are mixed up here! The worst offense was only given an eleven game ban, I believe. Personally, I think a player committing such a horror tackle should be banned not only for the rest of the current season, but the next one as well.
September 23rd, 2009 at 8:14 am
[...] Diving is a Symptom, not the Disease [...]
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Jack,
Thanks for the compliment. I know you think that if FIFA gets too stiff it could hurt the game. The problem is that if FIFA does nothing, it could eventually kill the game, or at least put it on life-support.
Diving is a problem and needs to be addressed – however, I believe that the soccer lords need to deal with the rough play first – and then the diving becomes relatively unnecessary.
Phil
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I agree with the relative importance that diving in soccer has compared to the other sports – however while diving has developed into an ‘art’ in and of itself, I believe it is more an answer to the inability of skill players to do their thing inside the area because the defenders are allowed to use almost every trick in the book against them – without punishment.
I do agree that ending both problems would be a big help to the future of the sport.
Phil
September 23rd, 2009 at 6:10 pm
While I do agree there are more important things in the game, but diving is cheating and that should never be condoned in any sport or it risks alienating it’s fans.
Still I agree that the dirty play is much more important, and easier to address immediately.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Diving might just be killed off by Messi. If you ask me, that would just be the legacy that I’d like him to scratch into soccer’s history.
Meanwhile, based only on the new La Liga season, I don’t quite understand why (CR vs Messi and) Real Madrid is considered a worthy opponent for FCB. On purchase choices RM certainly fumbled on the benched Benzema (and probably Kaka) vs Barcas Ibra. Points thus far may tell else, but team-wise FCB is eons ahead of RM. Meanwhile the FCB fulcrum is twice or thrice (yet again) as diverse as RMs which is only based on CR at the moment. You guys are the experts but I feel that Villareal played a better game than RM tonight.
Thx and do keep up the good work.
September 23rd, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Phil, great article. Honestly, I can’t stand people that dive as well as those that play dirty and hurt others. Somehow FIFA has to keep up with the current evolution of football and start using technology to modernize the game to prevent both of these two things from happening as well as a good number of other things such as goals that never were, or goals disallowed. The 5 referee games for some european games they are using makes little sense to me. Why is technology so bad for football? I dont get it.
September 26th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
There is a bigger picture here. There is a spirit to the game of soccer. Eduardo broke it by simulation. Watching the instant replay, it was so obvious that Eduardo was deceiving everyone. UEFA was right to give him a ban. A two matches is too harsh, a one game ban would have been more appropriate- I think UEFA should change that law.
For me the timing was right. I mean, it’s the beginning of the season, and this ugly situation arises. It gives the beautiful game a black eye. By sending a message early on in the season, UEFA did right by acting on the two mach ban. With the appeal, it should have been reduced to a one match ban. Eduardo is not a dirty player. However, he now has a bad reputation.
Even though I’m disappointed with UEFA’s decision, I think players will be more wary of diving now. I haven’t noticed Drogba or Ronaldo diving too much of late.
PS- You are very fortunate to be working with Ray Hudson. He’s the best soccer commentator out there. A “Toby Charles” for our generation. I think you are learning a lot from him. He was a childhood favorite for me when he played for the Fr. Lauderdale Strikers in the NASL.
September 26th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
The refs are the problem too. The players know what they can and can’t get away with. It is very simple enforce the rules. I love watching Brasil futebol on GOL. The English voices who are they? The refs need to fined and fired for their crappy calls as well too. A PK can change the complexion of a match. You guys know your Brasileiro Futebl. My wife Carocia. I am a Flamenguista- USA. http://bobbygee.wordpress.com/
September 28th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Ken,
The only way that diving will be killed off is if referees see a foul in the box – where the attacker does not go down, continues to create a goal chance – but misses – and then the ref points for the penalty.
Until attackers are NOT penalized for keeping their feet, diving will continue to flourish.
As far as RM v FCB – I agree to a point. That was my initial thought – but Real is still unbeaten, leads the league and continues to get better every game. It’s possible that when they face Barca they will be exposed – in which case we’ll have a three tier league:
level 1 – Barcelona
level 2 – Real Madrid
level 3 – everyone else
September 28th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I still want to keep it a human game. It’s not FIFA 09 on a PSP – it’s thirty guys running and sweating and making good and bad decisions.
However, I don’t mind technology when it comes to cleaning up the thuggery that can tend to take over a game.
We’ll have to wait and see for the Europa experiment – a few penalty calls, etc. – to see if it could work. At this point, it looks like the extra guys should be sitting back in a recliner with a cold one!
Phil
September 28th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Were you a Striker Liker? Might have run into you (literally
kicking the paper balls under the stands in Lockhart!
As far as Edu, I wouldn’t have minded – but they set him up as the only person to have cheated that day – and I guarantee you if you and I would sit back and watch every game, we could have come up with 5-10 incidents that were more deserving of a ban.
I hope they do continue to review, and put some teeth into it, but while diving is a problem, it’s not the greatest of them. The continuing tendency to kick creative players into submission needs to stop.
September 28th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Jon Cotterill and Bira Brasil call our Brazilian games out of Sao Paulo. (Don’t hold that against them!