IT’S FINE TO DIVE LIKE DELE, SAYS POCHETTINO

TOTTENHAM manager Mauricio Pochettino has waded into the Dele Alli diving debate saying the game is about gaining small advantages and tricking your opponent. Alli has been shown three yellow cards for diving since his Premier League debut in 2015, the latest in the 2-2 draw with Liverpool on Sunday. No player has received more in that time. But Pochettino described diving as a ‘minimal issue’ as players will do all they can to win a game. The Argentine feels football is being overly sensitive and is in danger of scrutinising itself to death. He said: ‘Twenty years ago, 30 years ago, it was like, “All congratulate the player when he tricks the referee”. In Argentina but in England, too. You believe that in England you were honest and always perfect. ‘That is the football that I was in love with when I was a child. Football is about trying to trick your opponent. Yes or no? The

problem now is that we are so sensitive about the situation. ‘And then we are so focused on Dele Alli. If you try to run on the pitch, sometimes you go down and you say, “Oh, because I was focusing on the ball…” But in the end, it was clear. It was a yellow card, the referee was right. There is such a focus on this type of situation that I think is a minimal issue. ‘Of course, he (Alli) is not perfect. Nobody is perfect. Of course, 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. And now we are so focused on minimal details.’ Pochettino was speaking ahead of tonight’s FA Cup fourth-round replay against Newport County at Wembley, where he could drop Alli to take him out of the spotlight. The England midfielder was denied a penalty against Manchester United after a challenge by Antonio Valencia last week and his reputation may be working against him. On that, Pochettino said: ‘The referees are humans too and sometimes they are right, sometimes they are not right. My worry is this: if you dive and the referee saw you, you are punished and he deserves it. But don’t go more crazy.’ New signing Lucas Moura cannot play for Spurs in tonight’s replay as he was not registered before the first game. Newport manager Michael Flynn has apologised to Pochettino for the dossier that was leaked following their 1-1 draw which highlighted the Premier League side’s weaknesses. ‘There were also a lot of good things in there,’ Flynn said. ‘It would be one of the biggest shocks in the competition if we won. But you never know, that’s the beauty of the FA Cup.’