Source: Daily_Mail
England’s finest fall from grace: Gerrard and Rooney join divers' list
Punishment: Wayne Rooney is booked for diving against Aston Villa by referee Martin Atkinson[LNB]With Steven Gerrard performing his Bambi-on-ice impersonation so often at Anfield during Sunday's defeat by Arsenal and Rooney's now-you-see-my-feet, now-you-don't trick against Aston Villa, no longer can England or England's players claim the moral high ground when it comes to the scourge of the modern game. [LNB]Our players dive as much as those in the rest of the world. We just don't do it as convincingly, it seems. Seven of the 11 players who have been booked for simulation this season are from England, Wales or Ireland. [LNB]Sportsmail has led the way in trying to combat the problem, leading a high-profile campaign that has attracted the support of players, managers and football officials.[LNB] As much as some would like to blame the foreign legionnaires for bringing the disease to our shores, we cannot claim innocence in the matter, according to former West Ham striker Tony Cottee. [LNB]He said: 'Francis Lee used to be accused of doing it 30-odd years ago, but there was only one camera at games back then and you couldn't prove if it was or it wasn't a dive. And Michael Owen did it against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup and it won us a penalty and the game.[LNB] 'There's no doubt some foreign players have imported it more into ourgame, but it is worrying that you've got British players doing the samenow. Two of our best players in Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney aredoing it and it's not the right example to be setting youngsters. [LNB]'What you can do is bring in a retrospective punishment. I've been saying for years that there should be a panel of experts, people like Terry Venables, Glenn Hoddle, people who have played the game, sitting down on a Monday morning and looking at incidents like the Wayne Rooney one. [LNB]'OK, Wayne Rooney got a yellow card anyway, but maybe they might recommend he gets a one-game ban. You can't punish players with fines any more, if you ban divers they won't do it.' [LNB]A unilateral campaign waged by the FA and the Premier League and supported by a video panel to leave diving to Tom Daley would surely help, yet so endemic is the practice throughout Britain now that divers are trying their luck everywhere, from semi-professional to youth football. [LNB] Crime: Rooney falls to earth at Old Trafford on Saturday[LNB]The practice was unheard of in the old street games - and not just because half your skin would be left decorating the tarmac.[LNB] Pity the referees. Damned if they book a player for diving and get it wrong - exhibit No 1, Mark Clattenburg and Craig Bellamy - and damned if they don't. [LNB]Former Premier League referee Graham Poll agrees with Cottee that the plague has nothing to do with nationality. Poll said: 'I can remember cautioning Robbie Fowler for diving at Bolton in 1996, but it didn't pop into my head to think, "That's a bit odd, here's an English player doing it". [LNB]'It's something in your make-up. Perhaps the reason you are seeing it more from players in this country is that if something goes unchecked, if professionals see that someone else is doing it and getting away with it, they are more likely to do it themselves.' [LNB] GRAHAM POLL: Divers are all foreign? No, it's a British diseaseLiverpool 1 Arsenal 2: Rafa fails to make cut! Like Woods, it gets worseBolton 3 Manchester City 3: Did the ref have it in for Craig Bellamy?Manchester United 0 Aston Villa 1: O'Neill's Englishmen look real deal[LNB]
