Sean Dyche, manager of Everton Football Club, has expressed his disapproval of the increasing prevalence of gamesmanship in the sport. He believes that players are exaggerating injuries in order to gain an advantage. “I don’t consider this to be cheating,” he said. “It’s just gamesmanship.” He went on to cite the example of Harry Kane, who was involved in a minor incident that resulted in a great deal of drama. “It was a big drama over nothing,” he said. “It’s concerning when I see the physio giving him a concussion test after that. Really? Come on.”
Dyche then compared the reaction to the Kane incident to that of Everton defender Michael Keane, who was tackled with a studs-up challenge by Lucas Moura, who was subsequently sent off. “The strange thing about football is that one night you have a player who is close to getting a broken ankle and nothing is said, and another gets a broken eyelash and it’s like the world is going to end,” he said. “But that’s the way society has changed. Everyone has become so precious, both in society and in football. Millions of kids see footballers cheating every week, diving all over the place, and no-one says a word.”
Dyche believes that the rules have become too precious, and that this is having a negative effect on the game. He also believes that players should be held to higher standards. “If lads go down in training I do tell them to get up,” he said. “I have my own authentic standards.” It is clear that Dyche is not happy with the current state of football and believes that it needs to be improved in order to ensure a better future for the sport.