Manuel Lanzini diving charge could be for ‘the greater good’, says West Ham coach Stuart Pearce

Don’t mess with me: Stuart Pearce cuts a serious figure in training
Getty Images
Ken Dyer19 December 2017

It is no great surprise that Stuart Pearce doesn’t like diving, even though when he played opposing wingers might have insisted they needed to leave the ground just to survive one of his tackles.

Pearce, a former full-back of admirable talent and fearsome reputation, was suitably unimpressed when the opposition attempted simulation. Probably the most sensible idea if tried was to move swiftly to the opposite wing and hope Pearce did not follow you.

Now one of David Moyes’s coaches, the 55-year-old will be at Emirates Stadium tonight as West Ham take on Arsenal in a Carabao Cup quarter-final.

The Hammers’ Argentine playmaker Manuel Lanzini was today waiting to discover whether or not he can play after being charged with diving yesterday by the FA. West Ham have contested the charge and an independent three-man commission was due to meet today to rule on the case.

Pearce’s views are clear. “I’ve been very supportive to referees and the FA over the years and will be, going forward,” he said. “If people deem that diving is a problem in our game and that they don’t like watching it, which I don’t when I am a spectator, the FA and the Premier League have to do everything they can to eradicate it.

“If we have to take one on our chin because they deem that Manu went down cheaply at Stoke, we have to accept it for the greater good if that helps eradicate it from the game.

“With regard to that incident — and if I was on the panel looking at it and bearing in mind that he had run 70 yards with the ball and the defender had gone to ground and dangled a leg at him — I would probably have an element of uncertainty and warned him about his conduct, advising him to stay on his feet a little more.

“They’ve made a decision, though, and if [suspensions are] for the greater good of the game and the authorities are consistent, then I’ll support it.

In Pictures | Stoke City vs West Ham | 16/12/2017

1/19

“The West Ham fans and even some of my fellow staff members may have a different opinion, but referees and assistants need all the help they can get. They don’t need to be vilified.”

Pearce is seven games into his position as a West Ham coach and is thoroughly enjoying the experience.

“It’s really good,” said the man who made 50 appearances for the Hammers as a player between August 1999 and June 2001. “Because I managed at club or England Under-21 level for more than eight years, I see it from David’s point of view.

“All his coaching staff, in fact, have managed, so we know what he goes through and how difficult it can be, so it’s up to us to make his job easier.

“It’s been a great education for me. I go in every day with a smile on my face. I’ve never worked with the people here before and I’m learning from all of them. It’s also how David sets up his teams. He’s so thorough. It’s not just one size fits all, he looks at every game individually.

“What I like about him is that he’s not afraid to court someone else’s opinion — and run with it. There’s not a big ego there. He wants to continually learn. He has the answers to many of the questions but he’s still happy to take your opinion on board.

“For anyone who heads a department in any walk if life, that’s a great mentality to have.”

Pearce also regards the League Cup with enduring affection, having won it twice as a player with Nottingham Forest.

“There are only three major domestic trophies handed out at the end of the season and you get judged on silverware,” he added.

“At Forest, we went to three successive finals, the League Cups in 1989 (against Luton) and 1990 (versus Oldham), followed by the 1991 FA Cup Final against Tottenham. We won the first two but lost the third.

“They were the catalyst for us at Forest. It was the first time we had won a trophy since the European Cup in 1979 and 80. That squad was rightly revered in Nottingham but we had to create our own history.

“Look at this season. The Premier League looks as though it will be fought out between the two Manchester clubs and some people might even say it’s City’s already. So that leaves the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Diving ban? Lanzini goes down under pressure from Pieters
West Ham United via Getty Images

“It’s still an important competition although I understand why clubs rotate their squads. The magnitude and multitude of games in this period are daunting.

“Every time you put a team out, you should be expecting to win the game and this is not a competition we want to belittle. We’re taking a lot of fans to Arsenal, it’s a London derby and it’s a great game for us.

“West Ham last won a major trophy when they lifted the FA Cup Final in 1980 so this is a big opportunity.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in