Benjamin Cullen
Theo Walcott caused a stir on Saturday after owning up to diving in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw to Leeds. Theo said ‘I own up and apologise’ and claimed ‘it is something I don't want to see in my game.’ Whilst it’s refreshing to see a player admit to his wrong-doings, unfortunately I think in this case Theo was actually right to ‘dive’ and wrong to own up to it afterwards!
Firstly I’d argue the incident that Theo refers to on Saturday was not an outright dive as such. In my books an outright dive (which is wrong ) would be to go down when the defender makes no contact with you whatsoever. But Theo in his explanation says “I’ve heard some people say 'if there is a slight touch, go down'.” That, for me, would be a better description of what really occurred: Paul Connolly made a slight contact on Theo’s foot (and not the ball) and Theo went to ground easily, and so he should I say.
As we were reminded by the Manchester United / Liverpool FA cup clash on Sunday, games (and titles for that matter) are so often decided on such small margins.
I’m sure today Dimitar Berbatov has few regrets over his eagerness to go to ground, especially considering that; whilst his team are now safely through, Arsenal and City (United’s closest title rivals) must now both face gruelling replays in an already congested period of the season.
Arsenal had 63% of the possession. 22 shots to Leeds’ 6. Arsenal won 11 corners: Leeds just 2. Arsenal were clearly the better side on Saturday, but the result shows honours even. Where Arsenal came unstuck on Saturday (and probably on a few other occasions this year) is that they didn’t make the most of the chances offered to them. Football, as they say, is a game of probabilities not certainties.
So not only must Arsenal strive to find the cutting edge and coolness of thought in the attacking third to make more of their attacks, but they should also load the dice in their favour whenever the opportunity presents itself too: if that means making sure the referee notices a contact made in the box by going down easy, then so be it!
But by admitting to ‘diving’ afterwards - when almost every week we see penalties given for similar incidents - Theo has only succeded in bringing unwanted attention to an incident that, had he not spoken out on, was never likely to have been a major talking point, or certainly not a lasting one by any means.
Now that attention has been brought to it though, I shouldn’t be too surprised to see Theo encounter a similar backlash to that suffered by Eduardo after his dive (now that was a dive!) in the Celtic Champions League clash. Not only did Eduardo suffer a 3 match suspension, but for months afterwards it seemed like he’d have to get his other leg snapped before he’d be awarded another penalty.
Which brings me to my last point, all the ‘outrage’ in the press over Theo’s dive would be far better directed at what I hear was a very reckless two-footed challenge from Steven Gerrard. Worryingly, these sorts of tackles are becoming more and more commonplace in English football. Perhaps then if strikers are a bit quicker to go down when touched, we might see more caution from players when tackling and fewer serious injuries of the likes that Diaby, Eduardo and Ramsey have suffered.
Twitter: benvenceremos
