[Niles Crane]

Originally Posted by Damien

For the love of..

It's simple.

Rooney/Gerrard = England Golden Boys

Drogba/Eduardo/Ngog = Foreign Cheats.

Imagine if Scholes was Foreign, he would be in for a lot more criticisms of some of his 'tackles' and he even hand balled before a goal for England. No one cared, when Henry on the other hand does it well then he should be banned from the World Cup and will always be remembered as 'the cheat' (he won't of course but there you go).

Indeed. There's a good article from The Times today which reflects all this.

Idea of British players cheating is foreign to domestic fans

Of all the contributions made by Scouse players to our game, the least attractive is cheating. We saw it nine days ago when Steven Gerrard was booed by Blackburn Rovers supporters for apparently trying to earn Liverpool a penalty with a simulation technique well known to web-surfers and we saw it again on Saturday, when Wayne Rooney was shown the yellow card for diving over a nonexistent tackle during Manchester United’s match against Aston Villa.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the tendency to go over without good reason outweighs all the good things Scouse players have brought to our football. Players such as Gerrard and Rooney have thrilled us with their technique and etched memories of heroic deeds, while Joey Barton is another whose legacy is assured. The Scouse factor adds much to the footballing landscape.

But we have enough problems in the game without the diving accusations that seem to dog Gerrard and Rooney in particular. A stand needs to be taken against such behaviour and it may be that Fifa will have to ban Scousers from the World Cup to preserve the integrity of the fair-play campaign.

By now you will have smelt a rat. Substitute “foreign” for “Scouse” and you have the kind of rubbish we hear every time a non-English player falls. Substitute the names of Eduardo da Silva or, until a few months ago, Cristiano Ronaldo, for those of Gerrard and Rooney and you have the careless xenophobia always liable to embarrass those seeking to do something for England, such as bring it the World Cup in 2018.

To the credit of Jon Champion, commentating for ESPN on the Old Trafford match, he immediately linked Rooney’s attempt to cheat Villa with the furore over the penalty recently awarded at Anfield to David Ngog when the French striker fell after hurdling a tackle by Lee Carsley, of Birmingham City. But Match of the Day did not even discuss the Rooney incident — although it did mention a rumour that a French player, Benoît Assou-Ekotto, had become involved in an altercation with a Tottenham Hotspur fan.

Without meaning to be hypocritical, the British do have a complex attitude towards cheating. The eye of the beholder is extraordinarily selective. Only attackers cheat — never defenders. excuse is made for defenders; they “stand their ground”, or “just do enough to put the striker off”, or “ease him off the ball”, or “make minimal contact” with his shirt or trailing ankle.

And when the attacker dives, he is shown no mercy. He must be banned. His sin is so great that when he goes home — this was the most eloquently damning verdict on Ngog, delivered with passion by Carsley — he will be ashamed of facing his family. Such is the hue and cry against anyone suspected of diving that referees, endeavouring to answer it, make ludicrously unjust errors such as Mark Clattenburg’s in giving Craig Bellamy a yellow card — a second one, condemning the Manchester City forward to a suspension — for being the victim of a slightly late tackle by Paul Robinson, of Bolton Wanderers.

Should the Watford-born Robinson, whose career has featured many slightly late tackles, have taken the advice of those who wished Thierry Henry had gone to the referee of the France-Ireland World Cup play-off and confessed to handling?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6955319.ece