Arc of a diver? Didier Drogba goes down under pressure from
Liverpool's Jamie Carragher.
José Mourinho has finally admitted that Didier Drogba,
the Chelsea forward, is a diver. The Inter Milan coach, who had to
defend the player against the accusation during his time as manager
at Stamford Bridge, also labelled Fernando Torres, of Liverpool,
Cristiano Ronaldo, of Manchester United, and Robin van Persie, of
Arsenal, as among the players that he believes regularly deceive
referees in the Barclays Premier League.
Drogba has been the target of criticism from several managers in
recent seasons, notably Rafael Benítez, who was furious about
Drogba's behaviour in the Champions League semi-final, first leg in
April. The Liverpool manager said that he was “really disappointed”
by the sympathetic view taken of Drogba's regular falls by Konrad
Plautz, the Austrian referee.“I am not the Chelsea manager any more
and I don't have to defend them any more, so I think it's correct
if I say Drogba is a diver,”
They also dive: Mourinho picked out Cristiano Ronaldo
(above), Robin van Persie (below left) and Fernando Torres (below
right) as other regular offenders
