Burnley manager Sean Dyche has highlighted the issue of footballers being awarded more decisions for play-acting, saying he must be careful to ensure his side is not “too clean”.
Sean Dyche Believes Divers are Rewarded by Officials
Burnley Manager Worries About the Points his Team Have Lost by Refusing to Dive
Ahead of Burnley‘s clash with Newcastle United on Sunday at Turf Moor, Dyche spoke about the importance he feels ‘going down’ and ‘screaming’ can play in the Premier League relegation battle.
He spoke after Chris Wood was wrongly denied a penalty late in the 3-2 defeat his side suffered at St Mary’s last weekend. On the decision, Dyche said: “I tried not to say too much after the game because it’s counterproductive, you don’t want to get yourself in trouble; even more bizarre by the way that I get in trouble for questioning something that was quite obviously a penalty.
“If my players do it I’ve just got to go, ‘OK, I see why’ because my players are getting frustrated. There was a show of it against Southampton because you could see Ashley Westwood remonstrating with the referee, remonstrating with the linesman, clearly saw that his (Wood’s) shirt was pulled.”
Dyche Is Conflicted On How to Approach Diving
Although the Burnley boss feels diving directly influences the decisions of officials, he is reluctant to change his message on diving.
He did concede that he may have to rethink his approach, saying: “Weirdly it’s probably the only sport in the world that actively introduces the idea of actually working to get fouls and penalties.
“No one really wants to clean it up, therefore I have got to be careful because I am going to cost my team points by telling them not to go down. Now that’s a bizarre situation to be in. I can’t cost these players their futures by not gaining penalties and free-kicks that others do, that would be absurd.”
The 49-year-old Burnley manager feels he needs to strike a balance between his players being honest and getting the decisions they deserve, saying: “I have got to be careful with my own team and not make them too clean with the game because the game is saying don’t be.
“The game is saying get on the floor as many times as you can and make as much noise as you can, you will have a better chance of winning the game. But I don’t encourage it, I assure you.”
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