Following another Chelsea player being booked for diving in their 2-0 win over Derby in the FA Cup, manager Jose Mourinho has once again reiterated the fact that his Chelsea squad contains no divers.
Ramires was the player cautioned during yesterdays game and Oscar was booked in Chelsea’s previous game against Southampton on New Years Day.
Following that match Mourinho said there were “no divers” in his Chelseas squad.
During yesterdays post match press conference Mourinho said “I maintain [there are no divers at Chelsea]. Isolated episodes,
“The referees attacking it. The manager supporting the referees. I think we are doing well. Let’s see if the others do the same as us.”
The issue has certainly made things interesting following Mourinho’s comments following Chelsea’s victory over Liverpool when he accused Luis Suarez of “doing an acrobatic swimming pool jump” following the Liverpool’s man reaction to being caught late by Samuel Eto’o.
My view is that diving is now very much part of the game. Unless The FA are going to take a zero tolerance stance on it and start to dish out bans for players booked for diving then it is going to be almost impossible to remove it from the game.
All clubs have players in their squads who will go to ground in the attempt to gain an advantage and I think that will always be the case.
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