I don’t enjoy the whole feigning injury side of football. None of us do, really. It slows games down, kills momentum, and it can feel like you’re watching a sport that’s forgotten it’s meant to be played on its feet.
But the truth is, it’s everywhere now. Not just in the Premier League either, but right down the pyramid and, by the sound of it, coached into players from a silly young age. So while we can shake our heads at it, we can’t pretend it’s some rare outrage that only pops up when Liverpool are involved.
It’s ugly, but it’s been rewarded for years
This is where I struggle with the “we should be above it” argument. In an ideal world, aye, every player stays up, plays through contact, and the ref just lets the game breathe. Lovely stuff. But football hasn’t been that for a long time.
If other teams are regularly buying themselves time, stopping a counter, getting their shape back, winning a cheap free-kick, and taking the sting out of a spell of pressure… and they’re getting away with it… then choosing not to do it isn’t some noble stand. It’s a competitive disadvantage before you’ve even kicked off.
Managers want points. Players want results. Jobs depend on it. That’s not me celebrating it, it’s just how it works.
PGMOL can’t complain when they keep falling for it
The maddening part is the lack of deterrent. If the authorities genuinely wanted to stamp it out, they’d have tools to do it: stronger punishment, proper retrospective action, more courage from officials to wave play on, and a consistent line across the league.
Instead, what we get is a system that often rewards the theatre. And footballers, being footballers, adapt quickly. If a behaviour gets you a free-kick and stops danger, it’ll be used again. That’s not deep psychology, it’s just incentives.
A “fairly good performance” still gets picked apart
Where it gets a bit strange is how quickly the mood can flip, even after a performance that wasn’t a disaster. You can disagree on what “good” looks like, of course, but there’s a difference between honest criticism and going looking for reasons to be fed up.
I’m not pretending everything’s rosy either. If we’re talking individuals, I agree that Mac Allister hasn’t looked at his best this season. Whether that’s form, rhythm, role, or just one of those periods players go through, he’s not been as sharp as we know he can be.
But it doesn’t have to turn into doom every time. You can be critical and still keep your head. That balance matters, especially when you’re judging a game that, on the whole, wasn’t awful.
Football’s messy now. The dark arts are part of it. You can hate it and still accept it. Most of us are living in that uncomfortable middle.
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