I'll tell my players to dive in future - Iraola

Andoni Iraola, Liverpool's assistant manager, has announced that he will instruct his players to dive in future after a controversial incident in their recent match against Arsenal. The match saw Arsenal's Bradley Barcola's cross headed by Kai Havertz, who scored the only goal of the game. However, just before he scored, Alexander Isak's shirt was grabbed by Jurrien Timber, seemingly preventing him from heading the ball.

Despite this, Isak maintained his balance and was not awarded a penalty by referee Andy Madley, who did not signal for a penalty.

Iraola disagreed with the referee's decision, stating that the shirt pull was clear and should result in a penalty. He went on to say that if Liverpool's future managers fail to tell their players to dive, the penalties will not be called. Iraola added that managers should tell their players to go to the floor, as the current system does not call penalties unless a player actually goes down.

Following the match, Isak discussed the incident with Timber, but did not appeal to the referee. Iraola confirmed that he will advise Isak to be more assertive in future games, emphasizing that they have to dive to ensure the penalty is called. Liverpool skipper Virgil van Dijk noted that with 50 cameras on the field, Isak should have complained about the incident, considering the amount of visual evidence available.