POCH SPEAKS IN FAVOUR OF DIVING

Mauricio Pochettino fears that English football's tendency towards over-analysis, and its fixation on minor issues like diving, is slowly “killing the game”. Speaking after Dele Alli was booked for simulation in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday -- his third such offence in as many seasons -- Pochettino voiced his belief that the general mood of moral panic within the game, over what he described as 'minimal details', risks stifling football's natural expression. He argued that simulation on the pitch, while an offence rightly punishable under the laws of the game, was simply a sporting tactic rather than anything more sinister, insisting: "Football is about trying to trick your opponent -- yes or no? Tactics -- what does 'tactic' mean? When you do tactics, it is to try to trick the opponent. You play on the right, but you finish on the left. Twenty years ago, thirty years ago, we all congratulated a player when he tricks the referee like this. That is the football that I was in love with when I was a child. Yes, in Argentina, but in England too. You believe that in England you were honest and always perfect?"