Tottenham chatter: Was Dele Alli’s dive deserving of gaffer’s condemnation?

Mauricio Pochettino voiced his displeasure with Dele Alli after the Huddersfield match, saying diving doesn’t help “him, the team or football.”

The incident occurred when Alli was booked for simulation, the enigmatic midfielder caught for trying to trick referee Nick Swabrick into giving a penalty.  Alli was booked for the dive and his actions received the gaffer’s condemnation after the match.

But was Pochettino right about to condemn the act? Unequivocally, yes.

Though an ardent and devout Spurs supporter, I’m of the opinion that simulation needs to be completely eradicated from football. Simulation is a nicer, more diplomatic way of saying what it really is: cheating.

The transgression was made all the worse by the timing of the blatant dive. Spurs were already 3-0 up at the time and cruising toward another away win. There was no reason to try to goad Swabrick into a visceral decision. The 21-year-old has to learn that diving is a pervasive black mark on football.

Brits used to feel proud, often boasting about how hard-nosed Englishmen rarely dropped like a sack of bricks at the mere mention of contact. That is an honour we can no longer sanctimoniously claim.

Just look at Raheem Sterling, Daniel Sturridge, Jamie Vardy and Ashley Young’s – to name a few – previous diving indiscretions. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a forward that hasn’t, at least once, showcased their best expressionist dance impression.

What if the match was deadlocked at 0-0 and Alli successfully goaded Swabrick into calling a penalty?

Admittedly, I’d be over the moon with the chance for Spurs to score the decisive goal from the spot. But my gleeful reaction and guilty pleasure doesn’t make just the transgression.

Age certainly plays its part in explaining Alli’s decision to repeatedly go to ground from phantom touches. It doesn’t, however, justify his deceptive behaviour.

While I admire and venerate almost everything about Alli’s footballing skill set, I cannot help but wish – like compatriots Alan Shearer, Harry Kane, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard – that he was more honest, and less impetuous, when a potential tackle is beckoning inside the box.

Next: Tottenham man of the match vs Huddersfield: Harry Kane

Referees have Alli pegged. He has less chance, even if the tackle is unlawful and deserving of a spot kick, of winning a penalty in the future.

We all know the story of “The Man Who Cried Wolf.”

Alli will learn with time that, like Pochettino said, diving doesn’t help football. To the contrary, it only exacerbates football’s often misunderstood nature.

I’m just hoping for Tottenham’s sake that Alli hasn’t cried wolf one too many times.