Leeds United: ‘Furious’ Micah Richards claims he would confront Georginio Rutter in the tunnel after what he saw against Crystal Palace
Micah Richards has been left “furious” at what he believes is “cheating” in recent weeks and singled out Leeds United attacker Georginio Rutter.
The Whites’ record signing threw himself to the turf late in the 5-1 defeat by Crystal Palace on Sunday (9 April) in a pointless attempt to win a penalty, but got away without a booking.
Former England defender Richards highlighted the young Frenchman as an example of the sort of behaviour that is making him particularly angry of late, and says he would confront players in the tunnel afterwards if they did that to him.
In his column for the Daily Mail the Sky Sports pundit said: “Some people call it gamesmanship but let’s have it right for what it is: cheating. I’ve been watching events at games in recent weeks and, as a former defender, a lot of what I have seen has left me furious.
“This tactic of attackers kicking their back legs — as Leeds striker Georginio Rutter appeared to do on Sunday — to try to win penalties is a particular source of anger. I can promise you that if I was playing now and someone had tried to do that to me, we would be having a quiet word in the tunnel.”
Stupid
In simple terms it is cheating to pretend to be fouled when you haven’t been, but it is so endemic these days and works so often that it is considered ‘part of the game’.
Players are even praised for being good at it which only encourages others to continue, but while fans might not care if it wins a crucial penalty that is the difference in a tight game, it ultimately annoys most people most of the time.
Rutter’s example was all the more ridiculous because even if he had managed to con the referee Leeds United would have still been thrashed either way.
So-called gamesmanship has come under the spotlight again since Harry Kane’s involvement in Abdoulaye Doucouré’s red card as Everton and Tottenham drew last week (3 April), and it will take players being made to feel stupid for any to stop.
But as long as it works and helps pick up crucial points it probably won’t go anywhere, with coaches more than likely backing it behind the scenes more often than not for that reason.
If referees stopped falling for it, or retrospective punishments were made stronger, then perhaps the incentive would be removed, but given the level of startling decisions made by officials in recent weeks there won’t be a great deal of confidence in that happening any time soon.
In other Leeds United news, a man who snubbed Elland Road is now in line to become an opponent.