UEFA did it with Essien when he did his nasty foul against Liverpool (Alonso). There was widespread condemnation of Essien in the media and they banned him for three matches. AFAIK that was the only time UEFA charged a player over an incident using TV replays.

If UEFA start punishing all incidents of diving then there won't be a problem. I don't think they'll do that though. Eduardo will be the only player punished like this IMO.

Having said that, if any club deserve to be harshly treated like this then Arsenal are one of the most deserving. Wenger came out and called for SWP to be banned for diving when he played for us, so it's pretty funny to see him whining so much over it now when it's one of his players who is being punished.

I do think there will be a problem over deciding who's dived and who hasn't. Rooney was going to ground in a similar manner to Eduardo at the weekend, the only difference was Almunia was stupid enough to keep his hands in and make it a legitimate penalty. Eboue and a Celtic player were booked at the weekend for diving when players went in to kick them but stopped themselves just before impact. Just as players cheat by diving, so will players cheat by implying they are going to bring players down and then stopping before impact. The lines are changing and each time players will be pushing at the lines.

LGJM, do you believe is a dive or a foul by Didi?

IMO, players should be allowed to go into a tackle and then pull out, sometimes you don't fully anticipate things, so when it comes to the execution and it looks like you won't win the ball, it's more than fine for a player to pull out of a challenge. The only times dives are usually are accepted if there is contact, like Rooney's on the weekend, if a player dives with no contact and the threatening contact is pretty minimal, then they deserve a yellow card/ban.

youtube link removed, as you are a new user no doubt you aren't aware of the AUP and that you shouldn't post them, oh sorry you've been posting on these boards for quite a while - Asim

socceroo's socceroo's ranked 14th now in world rankings

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we were as low as 89th years ago. with our next game if we win we could crack the top 10 we are comming to get you

I'd say that is probably a dive from Viera. Just the way he goes down. But there is a chance that the reason he went down was because he had to change his step because of the expected foul from Hamman.

From that clip I don't think Viera got booked. That IMO is perfect refereeing. Don't give a free kick because there was no contact, but neither was there enough proof that Viera was deliberately diving so he shouldn't have been further punished.



But in the Viera case IMO Hamman wasn't going into that challenge to make a tackle, he was going in to trip Viera because he was going past him and would've been in a dangerous position. Against Eboue on Sunday Evra was going in to trip him because he'd beaten him and was going into the corner unopposed. These aren't mistimed tackles, they are deliberate fouls that players have pulled out of. So basically defenders should have the freedom to throw out their legs for possible fouls and get away with it, but an attacker who goes over because they were expecting a boot in their shin should be punished when the boot is quickly withdrawn?

Fair enough, that's well reasoned and I wouldn't strongly disagree with any of that.

So you think the media is the key driver in these instances? i.e. Essien and Eduardo. I think so.

I forgot about the SWP incident. The irony is that SWP is one of the unlikliest divers. He tries to stay on his feet.

Couldn't agree more. Unless Uefa are going to deal with every incident of diving in this way then I think it's fair to say that Eduardo has been singled out.

There is one thing that I read on F365 about a point Dermot Gallagher made. If Eduardo had been punished at the time then all he'd have received is a yellow card for the offence. How can UEFA then hand out a 2 match ban to Eduardo for an offence that carries the punishment of a yellow? I hadn't thought about that, and it's pretty clear that Arsenal have been harshly treated and UEFA have screwed up. When Essien got done he received a 3 match ban for a foul that deserved 3 matches. Eduardo has just been done for 2 matches for a yellow card offence.

I cannot fully remember the incident involving SWP and Newcastle, but I've got it in my hazy memory that it was another one of these incidents where the defender was going to kick him but pulled out because he'd already been booked.

Another problem with the whole diving issue is the fact that often referees won't give a free kick unless a player does actually go to the deck. It's changed slightly now because of the clamping down on shirt pulling, but a lot of time in the past one defender would hold an attacker back just enough for a team mate to win the next challenge. Attackers would end up being fouled just enough to win a ball unfairly, but not enough for the refs to give a foul for it. That forced attackers to make sure that they did go down when a defender fouled them or else they'd get nothing.

Very true. I hate agreeing with you I'm beyond pished off right now tbh. We spent most of yesterday trying to sign Krancjar who quite frankly was never, ever going to come. He was never gonna turn Redknapp down and the chance to link up with Corluka and Modric (when he returns!). When all fit our team will look very good, but that's all we have, we are really lacking cover. Especially in midfield.

I agree, f*ck knows what went on with Banega. Still, I read that Banega was more of a 'last option', basically, the club had gone down most alleys and came out with nothing. I'll be surprised if Everton have spent any money they've not made from sales, in fact, I'd probably say they're running at a profit.

There were a few names banded about, Moutinho, Defour etc., I believe Moyes was looking for a passing midfielder but couldn't find one the club could afford/were willing to pay top dollar for, so they resorted to the old get him on loan for a year job.

I think you'll do well this year, you've got a few players coming back from injury who will raise your game, but with City and Spurs investing so heavily over the past year or so, it's hard to believe you'll finish above them.

Banega was kept by Valencia, Valencia pulled out of the deal after the work permit had been appealed for by Moyes and Everton.
Evertons wage structure will stop a few signings coming eg. Moutinho and Defour

Reigning Belgian champions Standard Liege have made the decision to appeal the 11-match ban midfielder rlAxel Witselrl received from the Belgian FA (KBVB) in the wake of his red card against Anderlecht on Sunday.
Now how can that tackle warrant an 11 Game Ban, Yet Martin Taylor only got a 3 Match Ban on Eduardo???...

One FA has balls, the other doesn't.

Just wondering, in Belgium, are they allowed to argue that a foul deserved more than a yellow card after a game, like?

youtube link removed, as you are a new user no doubt you aren't aware of the AUP and that you shouldn't post them, oh sorry you've been posting on these boards for quite a while - Asim

Terrible attempt at sarcasm. At least put some effort into it