Liverpool legend John Aldridge has slammed Gareth Bale for diving during Tottenham Hotspur’s 0-0 draw at Anfield on Monday.
The former Tranmere Rovers manager told the Liverpool Echo: “Gareth Bale is a top player but there’s a side to his game I really don’t like.
“When he threw himself to the ground at Anfield the other night it was blatant cheating. He was trying to con the referee and it was scandalous.
“Having tried to get a free-kick, he then got up and pushed [Liverpool defender] Daniel Agger. For me, that was worth two yellows – one for the dive and one for the shove but he got away with one there.
“I’ve never seen Bale play so badly and we did a great job keeping him quiet.
“I usually enjoy watching him but not on Monday. [Spurs manager] Harry Redknapp needs to have a word with Bale and stop him diving because he doesn’t need to do that.”
It’s disappointing to see such comments, especially from someone who was such a fantastic player. I’ve seen Bale play quite a lot over the years and he isn’t a diver – fact. The incident the another night didn’t even look like a dive, it was clear that Bale expected a challenge that didn’t come, so for the former Irish international to slam Bale is unfair.
John Aldridge was right. He was booked for a blatant dive at Liverpool. Bale dived yet again at the Emirates on 26th Feb to con the referee into awarding a penalty. He is a great player but is in the habit of diving, Liverpool, Arsenal and against Real Madrid. He is too good to cheat and the sooner he gets this out of his game before the label sticks, the better. Trying to defend him on this site is not going to help Gareth Bale.
KJ