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An Even Worse Case of Simulation by English Players

By on September 5, 2009

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In the days of an international break leading up to the match, we are always treated to meaningless babble from England players deemed important enough to splash all over the back pages of the newspapers. Of course, it’s all usually innocuous, but this week is different. Is it me, or does it seem like the English FA has hired a PR man that has told the players to use this week’s interviews to campaign for their “honesty” on the pitch. It’s funny enough on the surface due its utter ridiculousness, but the underlying current is not nearly as funny.

First, we had Wayne Rooney on Thursday saying:

I have never intentionally tried to dive, there have been times when I have tried to stay on my feet and tried to get the shot off rather than going down. I have never intentionally dived.I think everyone who watches me play knows I am an honest player who tries to be as honest as they can.

Yes, but there were also times when he has much too easily gone to ground and tried to win the penalty. Last Saturday was a case in point, while the dive against us in 2004 is as clear an example as is possible. It is clear on the video from Saturday that he was already falling before there was any contact with Almunia. How does Rooney see the incident, you ask…

The ball got played through I got on the end of it, got contact with the ball and then I got contact which knocked me off balance and the referee saw it as a penalty.

That is an absolute lie, just like him saying he “tries to be as honest” as possible. He booted the ball out of play and began going to ground before there was any contact with Almunia. He certainly wasn’t trying to be honest on Saturday. Rooney should be sending Almunia expensive gifts and romantic thank-you notes because if Almunia had been able to get his hands out of the way, it would’ve looked exactly the same as Eduardo’s incident.

But, of course, Rooney doesn’t have to do that because he is protected by the British media, in print and on radio by idiots like Alan Green who shushed and yelled over any caller to 606 Saturday evening that tried to question the penalty. Even if Almunia had gotten his hands out of the way, like Boruc, the press would’ve found a way to spin it in Rooney’s favor, especially right before a crucial international break when a scandal surrounding England’s key player could hurt the national side.

Then, yesterday, we got the following gems from John Terry:

Diving is something the England lads don’t do. Sometimes we’re too honest. Even in the Premier League, we see the English lads get a bit of contact and try to stay on their feet and score from the chance… from our mentality and the way we’ve grown up it’s not something we’ve ever been into.

He can’t be serious. Anyone who actually watches the Premier League sees English players go down just as much as foreigners. Ah, but there’s a reason for that according to Kenny Dalglish, it is because dirty, greasy, dishonest foreigners have taught good, honest, English boys to dive. But I wonder, if the “English lads” really were “too honest,” wouldn’t they have resisted “learning” diving from these foreigners. Of course the next question any good reporter would ask would be, “What about Drogba?” Luckily there was at least one decent journo there and Terry said:

He’s a big strong lad and at times he can get a knock and go down like anybody. Sometimes he stays down a little bit too long but sometimes slight knocks can keep players down.

Nice try, John. But, with Drogba, it’s not about how long he stays on the ground but about how he got there in the first place. However, it apparently is okay because:

He’s a player who wants to win and does anything for that.

Well, that explains it. As a defender, Terry has no reason to dive, but YouTube is full of videos of “English lads” who are “too honest diving better than any foreigner. In fact, notice how Steven Gerrard has tried to stay out of the mix this week about the diving row. That is because he is England’s greatest offender, having even tried to blatantly deceive the referee in a Champions League Final against Milan.

But there’s no reason for him to be shy, the media will protect him as well. He should know that. I mean, he punched a guy in a nightclub with no provocation whatsoever and walks out of the court not only a free man but smelling like roses, according to the English press.

Rooney and Terry show themselves to be liars in these quotes; they are taking advantage of and, in Terry’s case, promoting this type of xenophobic attitude which has done so much harm in English society, in general. The most troubling aspect is that the media is not only letting them get away with but that they are actively perpetuating it by not calling a spade a spade and challenging this ridiculous idea of England being a dive-free zone until the Premier League filled up with dirty, cheating foreigners.

This campaign in the past week has proved to be an even worse case of simulation than any that occurred on the pitch recently, and that is England players simulating honesty. [digg=http://digg.com/soccer/An_Even_Worse_Case_of_Simulation_by_English_Players]

Note: I usually have a few more pictures with the articles but I couldn’t bring myself to put Rooney’s fat, bald face on the page. Sorry.

25 Comments

  1. Clarky

    September 5, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    Funny enough, Rooney just got a penalty in the last few minutes against Slovenia where he went to ground seemingly without being touched. Even the hugely biased TV commentators are saying it was “debateable” while saying “it can’t be classed as a dive”. Hmmm

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 1:18 pm

      Of course it “can’t be classed as a dive.” Rooney is English. That is the entire point of the article. Even when he does dive blatantly, the press and media protect him. It can be plain as day and they will say, “No way was it a dive.” Thanks for reading and especially commenting, Clarky.

  2. Ole Gunner

    September 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    It’s really troubling that not one journalist took JT on for that most ridiculous of statements.

    If the Queen had made that statement she’d be slated for it.

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 2:22 pm

      Exactly right about Terry not being challenged.

  3. wambam

    September 5, 2009 at 1:28 pm

    HAhahahahahaha!
    I’ve just seen the Rooney incident vs slovenia and it was Rooney who actually fouled the slovakian.
    The poor guy got INJURED AND BOOKED!
    What the media doesnt realise is that most refs will REMEMBER THIS INCIDENT come the world-cup.

    • Miha

      September 5, 2009 at 5:50 pm

      Not slowakian. It is slovenian. It comes from Slovena not Slowakia

  4. Minty

    September 5, 2009 at 1:31 pm

    I cant believe how blatant and biased the media are. Lets see how the media react to this the next few days. I guarantee they will talk about it but it will be humoured about. They wont take it seriously at all. Eduardo needs to get his ban overturned or every single player that does goes down and wins a penalty intentionally must get the same treatment.

    Something has to be done…

  5. Minty

    September 5, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    do you know what??? that eduardo incident… even if it was Torres, or drogba they would of gotten away with it. The media do protect the british but when it comes to Arsenal they have a hatred that has no bounds!!! They always try to spread negative press about them.
    Arsene wenger too rightly knows this and i admire how he copes with it.
    If it was me i would go to the HQ of The ^”%”*) with a sawn-off and a smile.

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 2:25 pm

      Wenger has been slated beyond all belief as well for sticking up for Eduardo but I admire him more for it. He saw what was coming all along. Also, he has never said it was a penalty but he said that he felt there was contact. More importantly, he said right away that if UEFA are going to punish Eduardo they would have to punish everyone. Of course, he knew that wasn’t gonna happen and that is why he and the club continue to stick up for Eduardo. We are not necessarily defending the dive but we are challenging the punishment and its arbitrary nature.

  6. adam

    September 5, 2009 at 2:24 pm

    To thugs like Terry going through the ball in an effort to injure a player is fine. Ask Cesc Fabregas. But to dive? Honest John would never stoop so low as to do that. Terry, Rooney, Gerrad, Drogba all have one thing in common. They are hypocrites of the worse kind and liars too. I’d prefer it if they blushed and said nothing. But with Ferguson (none of my players ever dive) and Mourinho, a proven liar and cheat, what chance is there of that?

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 2:30 pm

      That incident when he came into Fabregas with that two-footed lunge was the first thing I thought about as well.

  7. Amos

    September 5, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    Diving a trick English boys learnt from foreigners is it? Frannie Lee was throwing himself on the ground more than 30 years ago. Where did he pick it up from?

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 2:30 pm

      Thank you, Amos. They didn’t call him Lee One Pen for nothing. He had this way of tripping himself, much like Utaka did at the Emirates, that convinced referees he’d been taken down in the box. In fact, he still holds the record for most penalties scored in a season.

  8. Dave

    September 5, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Rooney is hilarious. When he comes out with that crap, doesn’t he know that their are literally dozens of clips on you tube of him diving. Very funny

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 2:31 pm

      Football365 gets in on the action today by, instead of saying Rooney went down too easily, they say, “England have a very soft penalty.” Classic English media trick.

  9. GunnerX

    September 5, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Well, well, well! Just how rooney gets awarded that pen is beyond me, he actually fouls his opponent and claims for the pen. The match commentator just sweeps over the incident, saying it was a soft pen but England well deserved their lead! This is a classic case of double standards imo.

  10. Antai Effiong

    September 5, 2009 at 2:43 pm

    I do not have much problem with the biased english media trying to protect their own, but it is very disturbing to read the comments made by John Terry – I thought he was a true professional. My disappointment was however temperred by a Friend who said I should not rate Terry too highly. He advised that I should glean Terry’s character and professionalism from how he deceitfully engineered a pay rise cum new contract for himself recently. Rooney and Terry – English Angels indeed.

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 4:45 pm

      Regular readers will notice that I have a problem with English media as regards football. I just feel that it is highly sensationalist and, at times, just plain dishonest. This past week has only made it more obvious than it usually is.

  11. fozzy

    September 5, 2009 at 3:35 pm

    i,m an irish arsenal fan who can,t believe the shit i,m reading and watching on the english tv.tThe way arsenal has been treated is a disgrace.We are the only club who has won the premiership without spending big money,went 49 games unbeaten only to be cheated out of it by an english cheat.Oh and by the way i haven,t seen anyone show a replay of that 2000 times on tv.RESPECT TO ALL GOONERS.

  12. goonish

    September 5, 2009 at 3:57 pm

    this is how skysports have described the ‘penalty’ tonight. “However, Capello’s men took the lead in the 31st minute when Lampard converted a penalty which had been softly awarded following a collision between Wayne Rooney and Bostjan Cesar.”
    That is the only thing they say about the whole incident. I know its petty but i had to leave a complaint. It is getting beyond a joke now. English players will never stop diving untill they start fearing serious repercussion and public shamings like all foreign players do. But in all fairness i felt andy townsend did his best to make clear his view on it without being slated as anti english, but then he’s Irish

  13. goon

    September 5, 2009 at 3:59 pm

    this is how skysports have described the ‘penalty’ tonight. “However, Capello’s men took the lead in the 31st minute when Lampard converted a penalty which had been softly awarded following a collision between Wayne Rooney and Bostjan Cesar.”
    That is the only thing they say about the whole incident. I know its petty but i had to leave a complaint. It is getting beyond a joke now. English players will never stop diving untill they start fearing serious repercussion and public shamings like all foreign players do. But in all fairness i felt andy townsend did his best to make clear his view on it without being slated as anti english, but then he’s Irish. Brilliant article by the way

    • ArsenalStation

      September 5, 2009 at 4:39 pm

      Thanks, goon. I hope you check out the rest of the blog including the previous articles and highlights.

  14. ArsenalStation

    September 5, 2009 at 4:40 pm

    To all you new readers of Arsenal Station:

    I’d like to thank you first of all for reading and especially for commenting. Check out the highlights in the right sidebar of every match so far this season including all pre-season friendlies. Also, you follow Arsenal Station on Twitter and become a fan on our Facebook page. Thanks so much. Up the Arsenal!

  15. Alauddin bin abdullah

    September 5, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    At first i was reluctant to join in this debate for fear of sounding ‘anti English’ . But upon reading Mr. Terry’s and Mr. Roony’s hypocritical comments, one can’t hide one’s disgustful feeling . In any match he plays, he never fail to put pressure on the referree putting a vicous look on his face, most likely, reminding the poor man in black of his stature as ‘the England striker’ loved by all and sundry, and don’t forget, unfailingly backed and protected like a baby by the English media… I am tired of all this crap ‘English players are decent and are corrupted by foreign players’ thing. You know what , its about time that we purged the EPL of ‘these dirty crooked foreigners’ and let the likes of Roonies and Terries play the ‘clean brand of football that they have been deprived of’ due to the deluge of the foreign player. When this really happen, I believe , he wont be paid even half his present salary.

  16. oskar

    September 6, 2009 at 9:08 am

    Here in Sweden the papers say it was a clear dive. They critisized the ref (who is swedish) for not picking it out!

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