Former Tottenham midfielder David Ginola says Gareth Bale’s reputation as a diver is “unfair”.
Bale was booked for diving for the second game in a row against Fulham, let’s be clear Bale isn’t the only one who dives, but he goes down way too easily and the theatrical swan lake nature of his falls make it look even worse.
Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas said the decision to book Bale at Craven Cottage was “a little bit harsh” and that there was contact, but football is a contact sport and if two players come into contact that shouldn’t be the cue for one of them to throw themselves to the ground and demand a free-kick.
And I don’t buy the argument that because he’s running at pace the slightest knock can send him over, if that were true he’d be on the floor the whole game.
Back to Ginola who also feels that referees should protect Bale’s ability rather than punishing him, which would be a fair case if people were kicking lumps out of him every week, but they aren’t so refs are totally justified in booking him.
Bale can solve his problem by trying his best to stay upright, refs and fans would have much more sympathy if he made an effort to carry on and not fling himself to the ground, and the FA and Premier League can step in here as well.
If a player, any player, dives they should be retrospectively punished and given a one game ban that would soon stop them.
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