Ferguson Warns Ashley Young About Diving: But Can Football Ever Be Rid of It?

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is not one to publicly undermine his players on a whim, so we should take very seriously his comments about Ashley Young and diving today.

Young has been widely criticized in light of two recent examples of apparent "simulation"—the first against QPR, which resulted in a (ridiculous) red card for Shaun Derry; the second against against Aston Villa, when Young went to the ground after a challenge from Ciaran Clark.

Both resulted in penalties for United. But while video evidence suggests the slightest contact in both cases, Young's exaggerated falls were unquestionably overstated.

Put simply, they were both dives, theatrical ones at that—and they served to sully both Young's reputation and that of the club who paid £20 million for his services last summer.

Newcastle defender Ryan Taylor took to Twitter to label Young "an absolute disgrace" and "the biggest cheat in the league." QPR owner Phil Beard suggested Young might partner Tom Daley this summer as part of Great Britain's diving team at the Olympics.

Young has rightly been pilloried in the press. And with the grand tradition of the club that defines him at stake, Ferguson has been compelled to act.

Here's what Ferguson had to say in his Friday press conference, as per United's official website:

"

If [Clark] doesn't bring him down Ashley's going to score. It was a clear goalscoring opportunity and he did catch him.

I'm not sure Ashley tried to get the penalty kick but he certainly went down quickly. I've had a word with Ashley and he understands where we're coming from. Hopefully it makes a difference.

"

In the one-eyed world of a football manager, Ferguson's comments represented a fierce reprimand for Young and a warning that such behavior will not be tolerated at United.

He later dressed them up by saying Young was being unfairly targeted for being a Manchester United player, but there could be no disguising his disgust that a player on his watch would attract such unwanted attention.

Ferguson hates diving. He pointed to the Champions League clash between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid as a "worse example" than Young's isolated incidents. He could well have referenced Didier Drogba's antics for Chelsea against Barcelona, too.

Diving's back on the agenda, though, in truth, it never really goes away. But is there anything we can really do about it?

For some players, simulation is so programmed you could argue it's in their subconscious. For others, the threat of a yellow card is no threat at all when you're that good at conning an official in the first place.

And while video technology is coming to the goal line, it's no closer to be used in other areas of the game. In fact, both FIFA and the IFAB are against the deployment of video for anything other than ruling whether the ball crossed the line.

But as Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger rightly points out, that's not to say we can't use video analysis after the fact. Here's what he had to say on the subject of diving this week, as per ESPNsoccernet:

"

If an obvious dive is punished by a three-match ban, the players would not do it anymore. I would support it. It has to be obvious diving.

...We have that famous thing that the judgement of the referee has to be final. But I don't agree with that.

We should have a superior committee of ethics who could still punish a player like that. Because you go home and you think he now gets away without being suspended and the whole situation doesn't make sense.

"

Le Professeur makes an excellent point. But while retrospective action would help in the most blatant of cases, he admits that an incident such as Young's "dive" against QPR would be hard to rule on.

"I don't know if he has lost his balance," Wenger said. "He has made more of it for sure to get the penalty. This is not an obvious case for me."

Perhaps that's where respected figures like Ferguson and Wenger can have the biggest influence. By making a public statement against simulation, maybe they can help influence not just their own players, but the next generation coming into the game?

Wenger believes English players have learned the art of diving from foreign imports, but the debate has long since moved on from who's to blame. It's about how we educate players that diving is in opposition to the spirit of the game and not to be encouraged.

That starts with prominent coaches and players setting an example. And it continues with youth coaches sending out a clear message at every opportunity.

Ferguson's stand against Young is the perfect example. One of the most famous football managers on the planet laying down the law to one of his most valuable players. Now that's a powerful message for a change.

We can't rely on referees to solve the diving problem. We can't rely on video analysis, either.

Diving is a mindset that has been developed and arguably encouraged by those desperate to win football matches. To rid it from the game, we need to come down hard on the perpetrators, but more importantly, we need make it abundantly clear to those who follow in their example that it's not a path that leads to glory.