Arsene trying to plant seed in the ref’s mind
THERE was an element of skulduggery in Arsene Wenger’s comments yesterday. He was trying to bring Dele Alli’s diving to the attention of Anthony Taylor, the referee in charge of tomorrow’s derby. Referees will be wise to Alli. Since his Premier League debut, he’s been booked for diving three times — no one has been punished more. Sometimes it is clear he is trying to gain an advantage. If there is even a shade of doubt in a penalty situation involving Alli at Wembley, Taylor will be less inclined to give Tottenham a spot-kick. I do not believe any one country is the master of diving but there is a degree of truth in what Wenger said. Of the four players who have won the most penalties in the Premier League this season
— Raheem Sterling, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jamie Vardy and Wilfried Zaha — three are English. Last season, only Bournemouth’s Scottish winger Ryan Fraser won more penalties than Alli while in Leicester’s titlewinning campaign Vardy won seven, four more than anyone else! I am not suggesting these players are divers. They simply know how to draw a foul in the area. I remember our FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham in 1998. We were losing 1-0 and I ran into the box past Ian Pearce, who swung a boot at the ball but caught me instead. I could have run on but in that split second I decided to go down. I thought we would have a better chance of scoring from the spot. Dennis Bergkamp scored the penalty to earn a replay. I did not feign contact — it was a sure penalty — but taking the foul was part of my decision-making process.