Diving is one of the most controversial aspects in football with more and more players seemingly going to ground on the edge of the box easily

Diving. Players do it, managers have a moan over it, and some critics have accused divers of ‘ruining’ the modern game and football itself.

But what is diving, and why do footballers feel the need to do so? The act of diving has, over the years, been perfected into an art by some players, with some mastering the craft of going to the ground with just the perfect amount of weight and theatrics.

It is a fine line, however: other players, including some of football’s elite, have become notorious for throwing themselves to the floor in a bid to hoodwink match officials into awarding decisions in their favour.

Goal takes a look at players who have a tendency to dive, what the punishments are for diving, as well as how to recognise a ‘simulation’ and more.

A ‘dive’ is the term used for when a player attempts to gain an unfair advantage on the opposition team through falling to the ground easily and feigning injury, giving the impression to the referee that a foul has been committed.

Deciding whether or not to award marginal fouls, especially when they occur inside the penalty area, has long been one of the most controversial elements of football and a regular talking point after games.

Referees are forced to decide in the blink of an eye between giving the fallen player the benefit of the doubt by awarding the penalty or ultimately seeing what was a fake attempt at trying to gain an advantage for their team.

Players generally dive in order to receive free-kicks or penalties or to earn opposing players yellow or red cards.

High-pressure and intense games where the scoreline is either even or tight may see more players go to ground more easily in order to gain an edge for their side.

Diving has been formally termed ‘simulation’ by FIFA.

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Brazil forward Neymar has picked up infamy for his diving theatrics across the World Cup 2018 in Russia, whose numerous tumbles spread across social media like wildfire, inspiring memes and mockery.

After Mexico lost to Brazil in the World Cup group stages, El Tri coach Juan Carlos Osorio berated the antics of the PSG star as the reason for his team’s defeat.

Late on in the second half, Neymar was found writhing on the ground for nearly two whole minutes after Mexico’s Miguel Layun trod on his ankle.

“This is a real shame for football,” Osorio said at the time. “We wasted a lot of time because of one single player.”

Interestingly enough, however, despite some players obviously taking the opportunity to dive as a means to gain an advantage for their team when the score is unfavourable to them, the Wall Street Journal analysed the Brazil international’s diving patterns during the 2018 World Cup and concluded that his tumbles come more frequently when his side are winning.

Roughly 60 per cent of Neymar’s falls come with the scoreline level, but the research showed that he actually goes to ground more when his team is winning – averaging 15 seconds on the ground when his team in front against only nine when the game is tied.

Additionally, Brazil’s games had been tied for longer than when they had led – so Neymar flops more often when his team are in front, approximately once every eight and a half minutes, compared to once every nine and a half minutes when the game is tied.

Tottenham’s Dele Alli has also gained a notorious reputation for diving, earning the dubious distinction of being booked for simulation twice in one season when Spurs played out a 2-2 draw at Anfield in February 2018.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino had no excuses for the England international, but also lamented that too much discussion around driving will distort the game in the future.

“It was a yellow card,” Pochettino told reporters. “It happens. During different games, a lot of situations like this happen. The problem now is we are so sensitive about the situation. And then we are so focused on Dele Alli. The referee was right and perfect. It was a yellow card and nothing [else]. It’s too much sometimes. There is such a focus on this type of situation. I think it’s a minimal issue.

“Dele is not perfect. Nobody is perfect. He is a clever boy. He is a little bit nasty. Football is a creative sport in which you need the talent that grows in a very intelligent person, a very smart brain. But the problem today is that, more than this type of situation, I am worried we are going to change the game we know.”

Former Liverpool and current Barcelona striker Luis Suarez also has a reputation for going to ground too easily, as do the likes of Gareth Bale, Sergio Busquets, Didier Drogba, Ashley Young and Radamel Falcao.

Usually, certain dives are fairly obvious to identify – such as when the player goes to ground in too dramatic a manner, almost after a short lapse in time following initial contact with the opposition team player.

Certain players such as Neymar and Suarez are also overtly theatrical with their dives, and are often victims of ‘contact consistency’ – nursing a body part other than when the impact occurred, such as when a challenge to the chest causes the player to fly to the ground or hold their face.

The ‘archer’s bow’ pose is the biggest giveaway used to identify a diving player, which has them set in a position with their head tilted back, chest thrust forward, both arms raised and legs bent at the knee to lift both feet of the ground to the rear. According to the Telegraph, such motion is counter to the normal reflex mechanisms used to protect the body in the event of a natural fall.

Dr Paul Morris explained: “In most dishonest tackles the behaviour itself does not indicate dishonesty, the deception is revealed in the timing and co-ordination of the behaviours.

“But one action is unique to a faked fall – the archer’s bow.

“This occurs in many dives but biomechanically it does not occur in a natural fall.”

The FA’s rules state that attempts to deceive the referee through feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled through simulation must be sanctioned as unsporting behaviour, and punishable by a yellow card.

In November 2017, Everton player Oumar Niasse became the first player to be banned by the FA for diving, receiving a two-match ban for the offence in a match against Crystal Palace.

Most recently, Spurs hotshot Harry Kane was given a yellow for going to the ground in December 2018 in a home game against Wolves in the Premier League.

Of course, one of the most tangible punishments for diving do not come through cards, but through the way the reputation of the diving player is affected.

Referees tend to have limited patience for those who are seen as prone to go to ground more easily, as opposed to those players who rarely make a meal out of a challenge.

And so, similar in a ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ scenario, in the event that a player subsequently does merit the awarding of a penalty after being legitimately fouled inside the box, the referee may decide to simply turn a blind eye.

The Liverpool boss saw his forward reach 50 Premier League goals during a meeting with Crystal Palace, with just 72 games required to reach that mark

Jurgen Klopp has seen Mohamed Salah hit 50 Premier League goals, but the Liverpool boss concedes he could have had even more if “I hadn’t played him on the right wing so often”.

The Egyptian forward, who landed the Golden Boot last season, reached a half-century of goals in the English top-flight during a dramatic meeting with Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Of that haul, 48 have come in the colours of Liverpool and two during a previous stint with Chelsea.

Just 72 games have been required to join an illustrious list of prolific marksmen, with only three players getting to a notable mark quicker.

Klopp admits he has been blown away by a player acquired from Roma in 2017 to fill a wide support role in the Reds attack, with the German joking that he has held the 26-year-old back at times.

He told reporters after seeing Salah bag a brace in a 4-3 win over Palace: “Exceptional achievement from a world class player.

“He made a few steps in the last couple of months, in the right direction!

“Wow, an outstanding number [5 goals in the Premier League].

“I heard the names of the other players who got there a bit quicker– Alan Shearer, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Andy Cole – good strikers as well, eh.

“Maybe he would have scored more and earlier if I hadn’t played him on the right wing so often. My fault!

“But no, not bad. Helped us a lot. It’s a typical win-win situation. He benefits from the style of play, and the boys benefit of course from his scoring desire. It’s cool.”

Salah’s efforts proved crucial on his latest outing at Anfield, as he helped Liverpool to recover from a slow start.

Efforts from fellow members of a fearsome forward line were required though to stretch the Reds’ lead at the top of the table to seven points, with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane also getting in on the act in a fixture which saw Klopp’s side finish with 10 men following the dismissal of James Milner.

“Nobody should be surprised about the character of the boys. If something was really here before I came in, it was character,” added Klopp.

“I have known the boys since 2015 and I have found boys with outstanding character. The work rate has always been unbelievable and you have to mix that with a few other attributes. Confidence, self belief, it’s important, but the boys are ready to fight, that’s clear.

“It’s not the first time this season we had to do it, but today it was pretty special and I really liked it.

“It was not too easy for the crowd to get the first half, we did OK but you’re 1-0 down and I’m pretty sure a lot of people thought today was the day we would lose it. We were not like this, I told the boys we had to stay positive and we were not allowed to lose our nerve, there was no reason for it.

“We needed to improve a few things and do things again and again. Of course we had to protect the left wing extremely well, to win the ball back there, and the boys did it. You always need a bit of luck in football, but the boys deserved these three points in a very difficult game.”

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The Citizens have been in rampant form during the 2018-19 campaign and their goals against the Terriers means they have scored 22 in four games

Manchester City might not be top of the Premier League this season, but that hasn’t stopped them from finding the back of the net with impressive frequency.

In fact, with Danilo’s first-half strike during their 3-0 victory over lowly Huddersfield Town on Sunday, they’ve become the first side in Europe to hit the 100 goal threshold across all competitions this campaign.

Pep Guardiola’s side have been helped to that milestone by some extraordinary form in 2019 so far, with a seven-goal FA Cup rout of Rotherham and a nine-goal demolition of Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup helping them to leapfrog their continental rivals.

In fact, counting the three scored in their previous Premier League victory over Wolves and their efforts at the John Smith’s Stadium this weekend, with Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane both getting in on the action, they’ve now notched up 22 successful efforts in four games.

To contrast, the Terriers have scored only 18 in their last 36 matches in all competitions before this encounter.

Danilo has also become the 17th different player in City colours this year to find the back of the net, while Huddersfield only have eight such scorers.

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Neymar, Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe were all among the goals once more as the Ligue 1 leaders almost made it to double figures

Paris Saint-Germain equalled an all-time record for the club in Ligue 1 as Guingamp became the latest club to be put to the sword by Thomas Tuchel’s men.

The reigning French champions picked up their third straight league win on Saturday with a 9-0 destruction at Parc des Princes.

Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani both helped themselves to hat-tricks while Neymar scored twice for PSG in a game that was all too easy for the hosts.

The rout was rounded off by Thomas Meunier, leaving Guingamp thankful only that their tormentors stopped short of double figures.

Only once previously have PSG managed to beat league opposition by such a decisive margin.

Troyes were the last unfortunates, going down 9-0 to the capital club back in March 2016.

Saturday’s game also marked PSG’s best-ever Ligue 1 result on home soil at Parc des Princes, as the Troyes thrashing had come on the road.

Neymar, meanwhile, may have failed to match his strike partners and hit a triple, but he continues to take French football by storm.

The Brazilian’s two goals take him to 32 in just 33 league outings since joining from Barcelona, making him the fastest man to reach that mark in Ligue 1 for 45 years.

Between them Mbappe, Cavani – who took his own PSG tally to 100 with his triple – and Neymar have scored 44 goals so far in the league this season, 10 more than the total number of strikes scored by the entire squad of Lille, who follow PSG as France’s top marksmen.

It is thanks to that incredibly potency in front of the net that Tuchel’s men sit a whopping 13 points clear of Lille at the summit, having dropped just four points so far in this unbeaten campaign.

That gap could become even wider before too long, as PSG hold two games in hand over their closest rivals.

The leaders saw games against Montpellier and Dijon cancelled in December due to the violent anti-government protests that have rocked France in recent months.

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The England youth international does not have a wealth of experience at Chelsea, but still gives the Bavarians plenty of options in the future

When Bayern Munich made their first offer for Callum Hudson-Odoi in early December, the teenage winger had not started a Premier League game for Chelsea.

The Bavarians are currently in a transitionary period, having appointed a young head coach in Niko Kovac to help develop the next generation of superstars at the Allianz Arena as their experienced winners reach the ends of their careers.

They seamlessly replaced club legend Philipp Lahm with Joshua Kimmich, while Xabi Alonso’s midfield mantle was taken on by Leon Goretzka. However, the club are still figuring out how best to replace veteran wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, who both will leave this summer after winning everything there is to win at the club.

Bayern expect to not only win the Bundesliga every season, but also to compete for the Champions League. As a result, they need to have mutliple options in each position.

Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Alphonso Davies will battle for the wide positions next season, but the double exit of Robben and Ribery was the reason they decided to pursue Hudson-Odoi so heavily. Coman and Gnabry are both injury prone, meaning that extra depth on the wings is crucial if Bayern are to challenge in Europe.

Hudson-Odoi has only played a handful of times for Chelsea, but Bayern Munich liked what they saw of him at international level for England as he helped them win the 2017 Under-17 World Cup and finish as runners-up in the European Championship at the same age level. There, he shone alongside Jadon Sancho, who earned a move to Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City as a result.

Bayern have the belief that Hudson-Odoi can replicate Sancho’s impact in the Bundesliga, deciding to make the 18-year-old their third most expensive signing ever and make him their next Robben or Ribery. Which player’s shoes he will step into is the big question in Munich, with Kovac having many options on how to line up in the future.

Bayern fans have become accustomed to seeing an inverted winger cut in from the outside and shoot with his opposite foot and score. Hudson-Odoi’s two Europa League starts for Chelsea were both on the left wing and he could be deployed in this position by Kovac.

Hudson-Odoi’s only goal for the Blues was a mirrored Robben-style finish from the left side of the box on his right foot. He would step into Ribery’s role for Bayern, battling it out with Coman to be the preferred left winger.

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Both Coman and Gnabry have played on the right this season for Bayern Munich, while previous managers have also used Thomas Muller there.

Kovac prefers Muller more centrally in an attacking three in support of Lewandowski, meaning Hudson-Odoi would be an option on the right following Robben’s exit from the club.

Fellow teenager Davies primarily played on the left for Vancouver Whitecaps in Major League Soccer, so Hudson-Odoi could play opposite him in a very young wide attack for Bayern.

With Phil Foden and Sancho playing further forward for England’s underage sides, Hudson-Odoi was often deployed on the left of a midfield trio. He lined out in this position for the Three Lions as they reached the final of the U17 European Championship, allowing him to help build attacks from deep.

This approach could also see Kimmich moved from right-back into midfield, playing either as the holding midfielder or on the right of a midfield three to allow him to get forward and support the attack.

Summer signing Benjamin Pavard regularly plays at centre-back for Stuttgart, but achieved his greatest success at right-back as he helped France win the 2018 World Cup.

Much of Hudson-Odoi’s experience to date has come with Chelsea’s U23 side in Premier League 2. Here, he has played in a variety of positions, including in support of the striker.

Kovac previously used a three-at-the-back approach at Eintracht Frankfurt and could decide to bring that to Bayern, with Hudson-Odoi competing with Muller or James Rodriguez – should he remain in Munich – to play just behind Lewandowski.

Once again, Kimmich is deployed further forward to utilise his crossing ability more often, while the midfield trio would be interchangeable depending on the strength of the opposition.

The forward has been the subject of a £35 million offer from an unnamed Chinese club this month and was reportedly unhappy negotiations broke down

Marko Arnautovic training at West Ham without any problems, claims Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini, and could return to action against Wimbledon in the FA Cup on Saturday. 

Arnautovic appeared set to leave London Stadium this month but a proposed move to the Chinese Super League failed to materialise.

The 29-year-old Austria international was omitted from the Hammers’ 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth last time out but Pellegrini believes he is ready to play once more.

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Beyond that, however, the ex-Manchester City manager is unsure how the transfer saga will play out.

“[On Friday] we will see the squad and which players are involved in the squad list. He is working with us without any problem,” Pellegrini told a news conference.

“It is impossible for me to know the future. As a manager you worry about any different issue you have in your squad.

“When you don’t have any worries it is better but things happen in football and we know we must try to resolve as soon as we can.

“I speak with all the players every day so I know what they want.”

Repots suggested Arnautovic was disappointed the move to China fell through, with the Austrian’s brother hitting out at the Hammers for not accepting the £35 million ($45m) offer.

The forward has also been linked with moves to Chelsea and Manchester United in the past —  former West Ham boss David Moyes revealed this week that he thinks Arnautovic would flourish at Stamford Bridge  — but he looks set to stay put for the rest of this season at least.

Pellegrini has received a boost, however, as Argentina international Manuel Lanzini is back in light training with West Ham for the first time since suffering the anterior cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of last year’s World Cup.

“We have had the good news that Manuel Lanzini has started working with the squad,” Pellegrini added.

“He is just working for part of the warm-up with the squad but the important thing is that he feels good and his knee is the correct way.”

After they take on Wimbledon, United will face a tricky trip to Wolves next Tuesday. 

Reports emerged that the club asked for a fee from the forward’s transfer, though the Ligue 1 outfit dismissed those claims

Bordeaux have denied demanding a fee for missing striker Emiliano Sala following his move to Cardiff City.

Sala completed a club-record transfer to Premier League side Cardiff before the plane he was aboard went missing en route to the Welsh capital from Nantes on Monday.

The search for Sala – who had been back in France bidding farewell to his team-mates at Nantes – was ended by Guernsey Police on Thursday, though the 28-year-old’s family are determined to resume the operation.

Amid the heartache, reports have emerged that Bordeaux asked for a fee from Sala’s transfer, believed to be 50 per cent following his spell at the club from 2012 to 2015, though the Ligue 1 outfit dismissed those claims.

“FC Girondins de Bordeaux formally denies the information published in the Presse Ocean newspaper that the club claimed its ‘due’ on the occasion of the transfer of Emiliano Sala,” Bordeaux said in a statement.

“In today’s sad circumstances, Girondins de Bordeaux express their support for Emiliano Sala’s family and friends.”

Sala’s family reached their €300,000 crowdfunding target in their bid to resume the search for the Argentine forward.

Search and rescue efforts had spanned three days without a trace of the Piper Malibu aircraft before the authorities opted to call a halt to their scanning of the area.

A GoFundMe page was created by non-profit organisation Sport Cover on Friday, with “its sole purpose” being to help continue the search for Sala and Ibbotson.

The pot surpassed the €300,000 mark on Sunday, with a donation of €30,010 from Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe helping it over the line.

Eddie Howe has allayed fears about the striker’s long-term fitness despite the latest injury blow

Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson was ruled out of Wednesday’s Premier League match against Chelsea after having minor knee surgery.

Cherries boss Eddie Howe confirmed the England international underwent the procedure to “clean it out”.

Wilson is Bournemouth’s top scorer this season with 11 goals in all competitions.

The 26-year-old has suffered two serious knee injuries in recent years and news of this latest operation is bound to raise concern.

But Howe was eager to play down any fears about Wilson’s long-term fitness.

“Callum just had a very, very minor knee operation, just to clean it out. He will be out around about three weeks we think, so not too serious,” said Howe before the game.

Wilson, who joined from Coventry for £3 million in 2014, ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in September 2015 and was ruled out for seven months.

Then, in February 2017, Wilson suffered the same injury in his left knee and was out for a further eight months.

Despite that double blow, Wilson made a successful return to action and has starred for the Cherries this campaign.

His performances in a black and red shirt earned him a call-up to the England squad, where he scored on his Three Lions debut in a friendly against the United States at Wembley in November.

Wilson’s impressive displays also led to speculation regarding a January transfer – with Chelsea heavily linked with a move.

However, Maurizio Sarri’s side instead went for Gonzalo Higuain on loan from Juventus, who made his Premier League debut at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday.

Bournemouth made a flying start to this campaign but have endured a tough few months.

The Cherries were as high as sixth after a 3-0 win at Fulham at the end of October, but their form has dramatically tailed off.

Howe’s side have lost 11 of their last 15 matches in all competitions to slump further down the table and go out of the FA Cup at the hands of Brighton.

However, the Cherries rebounded with a 4-0 win over Chelsea on Wednesday behind a double from Josh King. 

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The Spanish defender has committed to a four-and-a-half-year deal at Molineux after impressing for a team catching the eye in the Premier League

Wolves have completed a club-record £18 million ($24m) deal for Jonny, with the defender’s loan switch from Atletico Madrid turned into a permanent transfer.

The Spaniard has signed a contract at Molineux through to 2023.

The 24-year-old first arrived in England last summer, with a season-long agreement taking him away from his homeland.

He slotted seamlessly into the fold under Wolves boss Nuno and is delighted to have committed to a long-term stay with a team holding their own among the Premier League elite.

Jonny told the club’s official website: “I’m very happy to sign for Wolves. The last few days we spoke about it and now it’s official, I’ll be at Wolves for the next four years.

“I’m really happy to continue to be involved with the team. I am very happy here, the truth is that it was very easy to decide.

“They are treating me very well, there are great staff, great team-mates and great supporters. It is a big club and, really, I am very happy to be here.”

Jonny added on the transfer talks which resulted in a big-money agreement being struck: “We’ve had conversations for a while, but everything has been very fast.

“The clubs reached an agreement and asked me what I thought and really from the first moment I said yes to Wolves because the truth is that I am very happy to be here.

“I really like this league, I really like Wolverhampton and I’m really happy to be here.”

On his hopes for the rest of the season, Jonny said: “The same as the first, but even more.

“I think we have to think about continuing to improve, the team is working well but there is always room for improvement.

“I think that if we continue at this level we can be in a high position in the league.”

Wolves currently sit seventh in the Premier League table.

Jonny, who has mainly figured in a left wing-back role, has made 22 appearances for the club to date.

His efforts have not only been noted by those at Molineux, leading to him being snapped up on a full-time basis, but also by those back in Spain.

He earned a first senior international cap for his country back in October during a friendly clash with Wales.

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Pep Guardiola always said it will be almost impossible for his side to catch the Premier League leaders if they dropped points – and now they have

Pep Guardiola has said a few times that if his Manchester City side dropped points the Premier League title race would be “almost over”.

And, while the amount of games left may offer the Blues some hope that they can still overhaul Liverpool, optimism will not be the overriding emotion after a damaging defeat at a Newcastle side managed by former Reds boss Rafa Benitez.

It will feel as if the roof has fallen in on a campaign that promised so much. A wobble over Christmas saw City’s slender lead over Liverpool turn into a seven-point deficit, and with the Reds set to play Leicester on Wednesday it could now be restored to seven – effectively eradicating City’s victory when the two sides met early in January.

City have a couple of issues to address after their fourth defeat of the season but they can do nothing about their biggest problem: the fact that Liverpool just keep winning.

This was an opportunity to cut the Reds’ lead to just one point, an opportunity to pile even more pressure on a team that has got their fans dreaming once again.

And when City scored after 26 seconds it looked to all the world as if the juggernaut would just keep rolling on. City’s defeats over Christmas owed much to injuries in key areas and since then they had picked themselves up in impressive style, scoring 33 goals and conceding just two in their eight games leading up to the clash at St James’ Park – a final as Guardiola billed it on Monday.

Yet they could not capitalise on that early advantage, their moves breaking down thanks to sloppy passes or loose touches. Newcastle did not offer an awful lot going forward but their situation forced a bit of urgency and they made life hard for City by getting in their faces and reducing spaces.

They were still in the game at the hour mark and when City failed to clear their lines it was no surprise that Salomon Rondon made them pay.

That need not have been the end of the world for City, who threw on Gabriel Jesus for the expected onslaught, but on another Newcastle foray forward the hosts caught out Fernandinho, who feinted past one man inside his own box but did not expect the other, losing the ball and compounding his mistake by conceding a foul and a penalty.

Matt Ritchie slammed it home, and even with plenty of time left, it was game over.

Is it title race over, too?

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It is surely too early to say that, but so far Liverpool have given no indication that they are going to slip up. They are winning the tight games and the open games, and the rest they seem to win comfortably.

Guardiola did not want to get too much into the idea that this game was an opportunity to crank up the pressure on the Reds but he did admit that City would basically need to win all of their games if they are to win the title.

He does not expect Liverpool to slip up. Jurgen Klopp does not expect City to slip up either, and in fact he even said he expected them to beat Newcastle.

As for Klopp, he has not got much wrong in the last few months and even when he does err it goes Liverpool’s way.

That’s just the way this season is panning out.