Mo Salah and Harry Kane included in list of five worst divers in the Premier League
The subject of diving in the Premier League has always been a subject of debate and Tottenham striker Harry Kane found himself in the news once again, with many feeling he went down too softly for a penalty against Brighton.
Many great players in the recent past including Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry were infamous for trying to con their way into winning penalties. Despite the presence of VAR these days, it is a problem that exists in the Premier League.
Football by nature is a contact sport, although the rules of the game penalize violent challenges, especially in the box. This has seen several forwards try to win an unfair advantage through their antics in the penalty area.
While there are several honest players, who get right back and get on with their business if the contact does not warrant a foul, there are others who have gained notoriety for diving. Harry Kane is a player who gets more than his fair share of criticism over this aspect of his game.
The England forward is without doubt one of the best strikers of his generation and his numbers in front of goal in the last few years are exceptional. However, his reputation has come into question by rival fans over claims that he regularly tries to 'manipulate referees' and that he gets his way more often than not.
The latest indictment for Harry Kane came in the 2-1 victory over Brighton when he backed into a challenge by Adam Lallana and went down on the edge of the box.
Upon checking with VAR, referee Graham Scott changed his decision to a penalty, having initially blown for a freekick on the edge of the area. Kane stood up to convert the resultant spot kick.
Adrian Durham picks top five divers in the Premier League and lists Harry Kane as number one
Diving is generally frowned upon in the footballing world and TalkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham weighed in on the controversy by listing his top five divers in the Premier League.
He placed Jamie Vardy in 5th place, saying:
"We all know he has a habit of winning penalties, some would call it being clever, others call it blatant diving. This doesn't stop me loving him as a footballer, but Jamie Vardy is number five."
In 4th place was Ashley Barnes and this is especially ironic, considering that Burnley manager Sean Dyche is one of the biggest critics of diving.
"I think it's slightly hypocritical of Sean Dyche to go on this diving campaign. It's all very admirable, but he needs to look a bit closer to home first."
Mo Salah was ranked third by Adrian Durham while Wilfried Zaha was placed above the Liverpool star in second. Durham said the following of the Ivory Coast international:
"Sometimes, he's unfairly picked on but there's no doubt he's definitely gone down easily on a number of occasions in his careers."
Harry Kane came in first place and Durham did not hold back in his assessment of the Tottenham star.
"Harry Kane does it well too often and he's so clever with it, he gets away with it more often than not. He's been booked for diving on at least two occasions and he's lucky it's not more."
Regardless of his reputation, Harry Kane is a bonafide world-class striker and with him in the team, Jose Mourinho will fancy Tottenham's chances to achieve success this season.