Football GIF: Gareth Bale’s Laughable Dive vs Aston Villa Deserves To Be Punished

Chris Wright

8th, October 2012

39 Comments

By Chris Wright

Anticipating contact? Try ‘cheating arsehole’…

Obviously it’s all extremely hilarious – Bale fell down like a plonker – but it slightly galls Pies that there’s never any outrage over things like this. He deserves to be punished for this.

It would be so easy for the FA to administer a retrospective one-match dive to Bale for his attempts to get Guzan wrongfully penalised and it’s downright stupefying that such measures aren’t in place.

Perhaps we’re just expecting too much from a #BUNCHOFTWATS?

Posted in Aston Villa, FAIL, GIFs, Tottenham Hotspur

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39 Comments

  1. Ben says:

    I agree diving should be punished retrospectively, but why one match?

    If the ref had seen it during the 90 mins it would have only been a yellow card, a 1 match ban would be punishing Bale for the ref’s mistake.

    Retrospective yellow card, 5 of those for diving would add up pretty quickly.

    • Chris says:

      @Ben: One-match ban for diving, flat rate. Everyone found guilty gets the same punishment. It’ll soon have the amateur tumblers thinking twice about hitting terra firma quite so readily.

  2. Diamanti says:

    Does Guzan start to give Bale a cheeky wanker sign at the end of this GIF? I really really really hope so, he deserves it

  3. James says:

    Actually look at the GIF and you’ll be made to look like a total mug. Bale is chasing the ball as Guzan comes in like a train and makes the attempt to punt the ball clear, only to pull out. Had he gone through with the kick, he would have taken Bale out, thus earning a booking, possibly more. As you said in the first sentence of the article, anticipating contact.

    If I drove a car towards you and braked before I hit you, are you telling me you wouldn’t dive out of the way?

    • Chris says:

      @James: Yes, he’s anticipating contact in a contact sport. By that logic, you’re clearing Bale to dive whenever he damn well feels like it ‘just in case’.

      It’s all totally unacceptable and should be punished as such.

  4. Lawrie says:

    Bale whipped his legs out of the way to avoid what looked likely to be a crunching tackle.
    He did NOT make any appeal to the ref for a free kick.
    WHY does he need to be punished?
    Most people would have done exactly the same.

  5. Leon says:

    Its a fucking disgrace.
    Him and the gimp Suarez

  6. plops says:

    Hang on, he can’t be diving because it’s only foreigners that dive, right?

  7. Mr. Chopper says:

    Does Welsh count as foreign? God, this is so confusing.

  8. Graham says:

    Well James, I’m glad Mr. Bale helped Mr. Guzan out for getting carded in that scenario. Top chap.

  9. DA says:

    To be honest, the speed that Bale is accelerating and anticipating a tackle from Guzan it looks like he fell over from running too fast.

    If he dived he would appeal for the decision.

  10. kom says:

    obivously none of you played football at a serious level. suarez did dive but this no dive. no foul but no dive either.

  11. Nuno says:

    I agree with James. The keeper was coming at full speed against him. If the keeper didn’t stop and Bale did not “anticipated contact” he could be severely injured. Just look what happened to Ramsey for fuck sake! If someone kicks you and you have your feet firm on the ground you will get hurt. You even could get severely hurt, and that’s a real danger for fast-pace players like Bale.
    It’s just stupid to compare this to Suarez’s blatant dive. If you can’t understand the difference, you understand as much of football as Piers Morgan and his likes…

  12. Dan says:

    lool @james just compared Guzan to a car. joker.

  13. Mr Sensible says:

    I couldn’t believe MOTDs view on the incident, they just laughed at it and weren’t that bothered, 20 minutes later they talk about Suarez’s dive and say how he really needs to cut it out.

    I’m no fan of diving or either player but for the BBC to be so fucking biased on the matter and give 2 completely different views on what was basically the same thing is a joke. They are both clear dives, neither of which where punished and should be now.

    Lawrenson, what a fucking nobjocky. And Colin Murray, what was all that shit about ‘Beatles fans, we got something special for you at the end’, no you didn’t you smug little prick, you played a Beatles song with some football footage on the top, so fucking what, and I love The Beatles.

  14. plops says:

    “fell over from running too fast”?! I don’t see Mr Bolt having that problem.

    Mr Chopper, you’ve caused a right conundrum now. I suppose Welsh are foreign to the English, but not if we’re talking about being British. We need Mark Lawrenson to help us work this out.

    And Bale has previous for diving doesn’t he? He dived. Again. Probably.

  15. Mr Sensible says:

    @Nuno

    Seriously what the fuck are you on about, football is a contact sport! So if any opponent comes running towards you you should fall to the floor, but no in a ‘lets be safe first way’ but rather ‘make it look as though the opponent made contact and get him sent off way’???

    It was a dive, plain and simple, and not the first time he’s done it. He’s a great player but he’s also getting a reputation for being a diver which is never a good thing.

  16. Eire says:

    3 match ban for Bale 3 match ban for Suarez and double for every dive they do after it… Anticipating contact? haha its called being a coward i.e. afraid of getting hurt…

  17. Bert says:

    @ all of you saying it’s fine to fall over when someone might tackle you in a contact sport…

    I think a more logical reaction to a anticipated tackle like the one above would be to “ride” said tackle eg. jump over the damn bloke’s leg, hence staying on your feet and retaining possesion?

    Have any of you watched a rugby match lately, do they fall over at the treat of impending tackles every time they might just be tackled?

    What has the world come to :'(

  18. Mustafa says:

    That’s hilarious stuff! Certainly deserves a punishment.

  19. redhead says:

    Where is the gif of van persies elbow. Oh yeah didn’t think so

  20. Nuno says:

    @Mr Sensible
    How many times have you played football in your life (not counting PES and FIFA)? And 11-a-side, not 5-a-side. It’s easy to criticize from the couch, but if you had actually played football you’d know how much it hurts to get kicked when you’re going full speed. And if your life (salary) depends on you not getting injured, you’ll get much more cautious.
    And comparing football to rugby is just wrong. In rugby you are expecting contact and it’s mostly body-checks. Are you comparing a push to a kick in the legs? Really?
    I don’t condone diving. If the keeper got a yellow from that, I think it would be fair to take it back. But, as stated above, most divers already get what they deserve: real penalties may be overlooked as the refs think it’s another dive.
    I do agree dives might be punished but ONLY if they are awarded a penalty. Not in these cases.

  21. Si says:

    @redhead – Van Persie’s elbow has gotten widespread coverage in the press (and I’m a Toon fan who cannot stand the bloke, by the way).

    By contrast, Suarez and Bale commit crimes against sportsmanship every week and as noted by Pies, there is never any outrage about it.

  22. Nuno says:

    And BTW, retroactive bans would be biased. Not every game has the same TV coverage, so only in part of the games would it be possible to distinguish real dives. In no time “smaller teams” would be demanding more TV coverage, not mentioning you are suggesting a “rule” that, because of this, could only be applied in the Premier League.

  23. Si says:

    @Nuno – personally, I played to a decent (amateur) standard up (11-a-side, not that it matters one bit) until a few years ago. Although I do find it sweet that people stil use the “FIFA/PES” argument, particularly given that a huge number of men in the UK play 11-a-side football at some point in their lives.

    Had I taken a dive like that in any game – friendly or competitive – I would have been substituted immediately by any one of my managers. And rightly so. Then again, I am thirty years of age and come from an era where hard graft was valued over pink boots and asymmetrical haircuts.

    If you think that rugby is full of gentle “pushes,” you clearly have never played it. The injuries in rugby can be horrific and cause more brute force trauma to the body than anything that football has to offer, save for a kick to the head. And for a fraction of the pay.

    Bale’s “life” (or livelihood) was not at risk from that kick. Not to mention the fact that his pay is commensurate to both his (supposed) ability and the risk of injury. God help him if Spurs ever play a team with a genuine nasty player, such as Pepe, he’ll never play again.

  24. Nuno says:

    I never said they were gentle pushes in rugby, it is without a doubt a much more physical game than football but, because of that, players are also physically stronger. You can’t get football players to have rugby players’ physique, to sustain body-checks, and still have technique. I only mentioned rugby as it had been mentioned before me, and to sustain there can be no comparison between football and rugby players and therefore the contact involved in both sports.
    That is why England’s NT is still dependent on Gerrard and Lampard to have someone who can pass the ball more than 10 feet away. All other midfielders and trained to become “Carricks”.

  25. JT says:

    He’s a diving bastard! End of arguement!

  26. Gareth Bale says:

    You try being on the receiving end of unpunished Crazy Gang style tackles from the Rafaels, Adams and Phil Nevilles week in week out and see how you react

  27. Thor says:

    The best thing about Van Persie’s case was that Howard Webb – Man United’s biggest fan – reviewed the incident and somewhat surprisingly, decided it wasn’t violent conduct. You really couldn’t write it. The whole game has become so inconsistent with referee’s decisions and FA punishments. The world game is run by morons and the FA are just as bad – just look at Peter Crouch’s incident last season as an example, when he attempted to scratch someone’s eyes out and because he was in the England squad the FA let him off and then the same week punish a foreign player for what in comparison was a tickle. The FA also think a Uraguan calling a black player a negro is twice as bad as an Englishman saying fucking black cunt.
    But I still love the game, it’s good drama and although I don’t condone the diving and the shirt pulling etc, it’s still the beautiful game. What the fuck is life without football?! But something has to change – it can’t be run like this forever. Players wages need to be capped, and transfer fees have to be capped too. The average fan is being priced out of games more and more. The has to be big changes for football to survive in this country for the next generations.

  28. Mr Sensible says:

    @Nuno

    I was actually a winger and ran the 100m for my county but gave up playing properly when I was about 17 because I couldn’t stand all the dicks involved (players, managers, coaches and parents) but still play 2/3 times a week either 5/7/11 a-side for fun so understand Bale’s role fairly well. I understand you don’t want to get injured, no one does but there is a correct way to go about it which isn’t to dive in a way that clearly looks like an opponent has made contact with you and gone down looking to get them red carded.

    I think Bale’s excuses are pretty pathetic, I have never heard such nonsense from other players, others dive like Bale and usually just avoid the question because it’s quite clear they have dived. Bale should just man up, stop diving and play properly and fairly, he’s good enough not to need to dive.

    Using your ‘you probably don’t understand the game and only play FIFA’ remark makes you sound like a complete nob end to be fair.

  29. SULTAN says:

    >>>>>>> DODGING INJURY <<<<<<<<<

  30. Liam Lawton says:

    @nuno, at probably 100000 a week, he can afford some time off, this is a clear dive

  31. plops says:

    @Nuno

    I think you lost that one about 5-0 mate. You probably had 2 players sent off as well.

  32. Nuno says:

    @Mr Sensible
    Apologize for taking that argument then, but I have quite a few friends who never really played football and think it’s all easy and a kick while you’re full speed doesn’t hurt.
    I just don’t understand how someone who played football can put this and Suarez’s dive in the same bag. Suarez looked like a flopping fish. As for Bale, “clearly looks like an opponent has made contact” -> no it doesn’t. By the way he fell the ref can tell whether he has been touched or not.
    My opinion is that you should only do a retrospective ban if the dive awards a free kick and/or yellow card. That way we’d have more players taking attitudes like Klose had a few weeks back (who told the ref he did score with his hand). More in the spirit of: the ref asks the player if there was contact; the player says there was; FA proves the player lied; player gets suspended.
    If nothing happened, carry on playing and getting a reputation of diver, then.
    @plops
    I was robbed! The 2 sent offs were because of dives! (oh crap…)

  33. Giancarlo says:

    You’re a moron if you think that is Bale trying to get away from a kick. Avoiding a tackle is NOT falling down face first with your arms out in a DIVE. I avoided a slide tackle from behind and I JUMPED not fell down face first. He may be anticipating a kick but he sure did attempt a sneaky dive.

  34. Patrick says:

    Yea, you JUMP to avoid a tackle, you don’t slide on your face. He clearly expected Guzan to try to get the ball, kicked it out of play, and hit the ground in the hopes of getting Guzan SENT OFF. That should equal a one-match ban upon review!

  35. Nuno says:

    And you are an utter moron if you are comparing a sliding tackle to a guy running towards you… if he jumps, the keeper would kick the ball AND body-check him while he was in the air. That would be just stupid and “the worst case scenario” (no foul and he would go flying around).
    And even if there was contact, the player was running towards the line, so in last instance it would be a yellow card, not a red, so he was not “trying to get the keeper sent off”.
    Yeah, I know, I won’t be changing ideas around here, I’ll just walk myself to the door…

  36. Nunoisaretard says:

    Bye nuno – sure you even know how to get to the door? What a retard you are. So to avoid being ran into by the keeper he shouldn’t jump to evade it. You’re saying he should have just let his body drop to the ground and allow his momentum to carry him on sliding like he did – in which case the keeper would just plow straight into his prone body anyway.

  37. gaffer says:

    Contact sport??? Everybody knows that Association football is the game your mum made you play because the other sports were too rough! As for the dive, that blouse is a typical Association football player. They are either cheating or giant, overpaid soft cocks. Pick one then go lather yourselves up telling yourselves in the world’s most popular game

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