Tedious Barton calls it all wrong

OLD-FASHIONED broadcasters like henry Blofeld or Peter alliss are not for everybody, but at least they are a step removed from some of the tedious exprofessionals viewing all sport through the pragmatic prism of the result. at huddersfield on Saturday, dele alli dived to win a penalty and was rightly booked by referee neil Swarbrick. asked about this on TALKSPORT at the end of the game, Joey Barton (right) came out with a depressing mitigation. alli had given the official a decision to make, Barton said — he then intimated that if england wanted to be successful at tournaments they would have to be more like the continental teams, using their cunning this way.

leaving aside the fact that english football seems to produce as many divers as any foreign nation these days, alli’s actions were hardly a sign of game intelligence. his team were 3-0 up at the time. had Swarbrick not spotted it, he would have won a penalty and probably been banned retrospectively by the football association panel. So the upside was a barely relevant extra goal in a game Tottenham were cruising, the downside a ban from home fixtures against Bournemouth and liverpool, at Wembley where Tottenham need all the help they can get. does Barton really think england are rotten in competition because players aren’t thinking like that? actually, one of the reasons they fail is poor strategic logic — the kind alli displayed on Saturday.

as for giving Swarbrick a decision to make, he didn’t do that either. Saido Berahino did when he fell after being tugged back by Virgil van dijk during Stoke’s match with Southampton. The contact wasn’t really strong enough to send him tumbling, but it was most certainly there. Berahino exaggerated the impact of the foul to draw the referee’s attention. not ideal, but understandable. alli simply dived, and a seasoned broadcaster would have called him what he is: a cheat.