Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that English suspicions were valid all along – Argentinian players, he said, would practise how to cheat in training. But the Tottenham Hotspur manager warned against supporters in England becoming holier than thou when it came to diving. According to him, English players have long known how to con referees.
Pochettino illustrated his point with reference to how Michael Owen “won” a penalty from him for England against Argentina at the 2002 World Cup. David Beckham converted it after Owen’s brush and tumble, and England had a 1-0 group stage victory.
‘Like in a swimming pool’
“It was 15 years or so ago when Owen dived,” Pochettino said. “Don’t believe that English football is always fair play because Owen jumped like [he was] in a swimming pool. Come on. I didn’t touch him. I promise you. It’s true.”
Pochettino was quizzed on the game’s darker arts after Dele Alli had dived to win the penalty that set Tottenham on their way to a 5-0 home win against Swansea City on Saturday. The England midfielder threw himself to the ground under Kyle Naughton’s non-challenge in the 39th minute, sticking out a leg as he did so to initiate a bit of contact. The referee, Jon Moss, took his time before deciding to point to the spot. Harry Kane scored and Tottenham were up and running.
Pochettino had not seen the replays when he was interviewed and he said he had been unable to get a definitive view in real time. Accordingly he did not acknowledge that Alli had dived. Equally he did not sound as though he was ready to have a quiet word with his player – if and when he did see the footage.
“It’s too difficult to advise because you cannot recreate in the future the same situation,” Pochettino said. “You cannot advise: ‘Don’t fall down or . . .’ It’s too difficult to work about that. Dele is how he is. I haven’t spoken to him and I need to speak with him to know what happened in that situation. Maybe, he will say: ‘Okay, I fell down and I didn’t mean to dive but the referee believed it was a penalty.’ Or, it wasn’t his intention. But it’s difficult [to speak about it] now.”
Imported cheating
The Argentinian went on to discuss how the Premier League had become more “global” – in terms of the influence of overseas managers and players – and he said, with a smile, that cynical practices had been imported.
“Now, we have the influence of the Latin people that try to cheat, always,” Pochettino said. “Maybe, you were more pure 20, 25, 30 years ago. Now you are like us!”
Pochettino was asked to tell the truth. Did players practise diving? “In Argentina, yes,” the former Newell’s Old Boys defender replied. “The people sometimes practise that. It’s true. But many years ago. Now, I don’t know. But when I was a player, it was part of training to try to cheat. Yes, [it was] at Newell’s. Estudiantes, if you remember . . . Many, many years ago. It was part of practice.”
The Tottenham manager was asked whether he had ever practised such things as a manager. “No, of course not,” he said. “I don’t like. I don’t like that.”
The twinkle in Pochettino’s eye was back after the drubbing of Swansea, which gave Tottenham only a second win in 11 matches in all competitions. It has been a difficult period in which they have exited the Champions League but Pochettino felt his team had shown positive signs in the defeat at Chelsea on the previous Saturday. Against Swansea they cut loose after the penalty. “I think that we are recovering the feeling,” Pochettino said. “I’m very pleased because we look like Tottenham. That is important.”
