Get tough on diving

Somewhere lost in another pulsating Premier League weekend where we had Jose Mourinho dismissed from the touch line after his player Ramires' awful tackle at Villa Park, Vincent Kompany kicking a wall at Hull after letting Nikita Jelavic give him the slip and where the top four teams - Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal - remain four points apart meaning an end that will not be matched for several years.

Lost amongst all this were two examples of diving that further showed that it is near impossible for referees to get it right all the time and how the Football Association are failing to combat the persistent problem of simulation and diving in football.

The conduct do both Daniel Sturridge and George Boyd created flash points in the games that they were involved in and should lead to disciplinary proceedings.

This writer is calling on an independent panel to be employed by the Premier League and in unison with the FA to sit on Monday mornings and dish out retrospective suspensions on players that warrant such attention.

Daniel Sturridge's simulation occurred in the penalty area and led to the award of
Liverpool's 3rd penalty of the match at Old Trafford versus Manchester United. The sheer pace of Sturridge led to Nemanja Vidic diving in. At full speed there appears to be contact and looks a stonewall penalty, however, replays showed Sturridge has gone to ground without contact being made. It's an amazing dive yet it led to the dismissal of Vidic for a second bookable offence. Justice was somewhat served in that Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard missed the penalty keeping the score 2-0, yet Liverpool did eventually win 3-0.

However, I am sure the referee Mark Clattenburg will feel he has been duped by Sturridge, yet because he has only booked Vidic and not dismissed him for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity the chances of the referee rescinding the card is slim.

This is where said tribunal can come to the fore and rule that Vidic's second yellow be rescinded and not serve a suspension. As for Sturridge they can rule that his conduct is unsporting behaviour and he should serve a one-match suspension. If that is the case, Liverpool lose a vital player for the title run-in and if that is the case such a suspension should act as a deterrent to players like Sturridge.
The tribunal can also act in retrospect for players who are booked for simulation, and rule that upon reflection maybe the booking was harsh.

Referees require help, goal-line technology is helping but such procedures of reviews of decisions will help the elite referees get better and obviously will work as a merit table. If some referees' decisions are always getting attention then maybe they are not cut out for the big games.

As for Boyd, it was symptomatic of an odd refereeing performance by Lee Mason. He sent off Kompany correctly, missed a red card tackle by Elmohamady on David Silva and also missed the simulation by George Boyd. Because Mr. Mason missed Boyd going to ground easily, a clearly infuriated Joe Hart berated Boyd and even put his head into Boyd's. On another day, another referee would have dismissed England's goalkeeper - yet the lack of action upon Boyd meant Hart felt compelled to have his say. Joe Hart got booked for adopting an aggressive attitude and his yellow cannot be elevated to a red as it maybe should; yet if Hart was suspended should not Boyd for such a blatant act of simulation. Boyd is not a regular and he missing a game would hurt his chances of remaining in the club.

Another thing to note is that the media so enamoured with goals and the spectacular were more reflective upon the domination of Liverpool over the current English champions (and rightly so), should really address the issue of diving with the club's managers. Whilst praise for Brendan Rodgers is correct, why not one question about the conduct of his striker? Too often an excuse is 'he is not that sort of player' and yet his actions clearly state the contrary; managers need to apologise and say their star players should play honestly as this trickles down to all levels of grass roots football.

Winter of their Discontent

Manchester United are in trouble.  It is not hard to see why, but it is a shame that it has come to this.  On Wednesday night they are eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage - the first finalist from the year before to not reach the knockout stage the following season.

United are out of Europe, although they are physically now in the Europa League mentally they will not be competing.  Following the FA Cup draw last Sunday, they have been drawn away to neighbours Man City in the third round of the world's most prestigious cup competition.  It now bears out that following the first weekend in January, Man United - the champions of Europe - may only be fighting on two fronts and after the hurried Christmas schedule they could be further behind the same City neighbours in the title chase, and even behind current third place Tottenham who are undefeated in 11 games, with winnable encounters before the 22nd Dec match with Chelsea.

Man United are in a bit of a tailspin, following their shooting out of the blocks in August and September which included the 8-2 home win over Arsenal; United are suffering on many fronts - they are not scoring goals, they are not dominating games, they are suffering a whole host of injuries and players are playing low on confidence due to a collective loss of form.

Starting from the back - David de Gea was signed with many worrying over his transferring to a new league and a new country; he has not disappointed being at fault for several goals including the first at Basle on Wednesday night.  The keeper needs to be a leader from behind, and currently the defence are not assured of his positioning, handling and control.

Constant injuries to the back line mean a lack of continuity and consistency - both Ferdinand and Vidic suffered injuries in the first few weeks meaning an elevation for Phil Jones and Chris Smalling who faired admirably, now Vidic is out for the season suffering medial ligament damage in Switzerland.  Jones will have to play the rest of the season at the back, great for his English aspirations but not the best situation for United for the remainder of the campaign.

The midfield has suffered from the retirement of Paul Scholes and the lack of play for Ryan Giggs (who was United's best player on Wednesday), yet you cannot rely on a 37 year old to lead a midfield.  Tom Cleverly was doing really well yet his creativity is definitely missing from United, Michael Carrick is a good passer but lacks the creative impulse to grab a game by the scruff of the neck like a Gerrard or Scholes might.  Nani has been hot and cold like he always is, Anderson is a mis-step and Ashley Young is suffering from injuries himself.

Upfront, Ferguson appeared to find a brilliant partnership between Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck until Welbeck pulled up with a hamstring in that 8-2 victory and yet Rooney has not seemed the same player since Montenegro where he was sent off following the arrest of his uncle for match fixing.  Rooney has been playing with a cloud over his head since late October and is struggling to score.

United are still winning games but without that zest and dominance of past seasons, winning 1-0 away from home at Swansea and Villa. Victories but unconvincing ones do little for faith and confidence from the stands.

In some respects, I wish that United had done the impossible at Wembley in May against Barcelona and defeat one of the best teams of all time.  If that had happened, Alex Ferguson might well have retired and walked out on his terms (much like Tony La Russa with baseball's St.Louis Cardinals) with his work complete.  United would have been the undisputed best team in Europe, League Champions and Champions League winners (for a 3rd time) instead Ferguson is walking around looking for the perfect ending.  He has put his money were his mouth is and bought in young talent (Jones, Young, de Gea) coupled with rejuvenated youngsters from loans (Cleverley, Welbeck) to try and create another famous side.  This side's inexperience with European football was most abundant in the group stages as they struggled to win at home against Basle and Benfica.  Maybe next season in the Champions League will be the time for them.

However, now it looks like the ambitions for the season have altered due to the dominance of City's squad, this is a squad game now in the Premier League, City's 25 is much better than United's and they are scoring at will.  City will fluff their lines at some point this season, oddly they have saved their banana skins for Europe and facing Napoli.  United went through this last year and went on to win the league by some distance in the end.

Ferguson has seen it all in his 25 years, but I am not sure he has ever seen a more inept and embarassing performance as that on Wednesday night.  Now he must become accustomed to Thursday night, Sunday afternoon football in February and March, as will City.

Yet since the 6-1 demolition at Old Trafford, City are still moving forward wheres we are still awaiting a United response.  And as the nights get longer, there will be plenty for Ferguson to mull over this winter.