Arsenal apparently set a new record against Huddersfield on Saturday and it’s one they won’t want to keep.

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 08: Matteo Guendouzi of Arsenal reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Huddersfield Town at Emirates Stadium on December 8, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 08: Matteo Guendouzi of Arsenal reacts during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Huddersfield Town at Emirates Stadium on December 8, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Arsenal had three players booked for diving against the Terriers at the Emirates as David Wagner’s men set about kicking the crap out of Arsenal for 90 minutes.

Of course, the dives and not the kicking are what made the headlines.

181210 daily star dive dive dive
Ever see a page like this for Spurs or Liverpool? (Daily Star 10 December 2018)

Throughout the years Arsenal have had the odd player who dives but it has never been a tactic like you see employed by Spurs players on a weekly basis. Yet, somehow, Arsenal have managed to end up holding the record for the most number of players booked for simulation in a single game in English football.

Of the bookings picked up on Saturday, an argument could be made that all three would have received penalties had they been kitted out in Lillywhite shirts instead of red and white. Week after week we see Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Son swan around the box picking up penalties not cards.

Yes, I know, this seems like moaning only because it is Arsenal on the receiving end but you can check my track record on this. That’s the one good thing about running an Arsenal site for 10 years, my opinions are all out on the ether. As frustrating as diving is, it’s not the biggest problem in the game. Cheating, as unpleasant as it is, does no real lasting harm. Dangerous and out-of-control tackles, on the other hand, put the careers of players at risk.

Just recently we had a former Stoke player come out and admit that it’s no wonder Aaron Ramsey’s leg was snapped in two like a twig because Tony Pulis fired them up so much.

“I heard the crack of Ramsey’s leg from the bench,” Dave Kitson recalled in his S*n column. “I heard the screaming. And the build-up to the game contributed to this moment.

“Stoke manager Tony Pulis absolutely despised Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, hated the way he played.

“All week I had never seen a manager so desperate to win a game of football, it was bordering on out of control.

STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND - APRIL 22: Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City looks on after the Premier League match between Stoke City and Burnley at Bet365 Stadium on April 22, 2018 in Stoke on Trent, England. (Photo by
STOKE ON TRENT, ENGLAND – APRIL 22: Ryan Shawcross of Stoke City looks on after the Premier League match between Stoke City and Burnley at Bet365 Stadium on April 22, 2018 in Stoke on Trent, England.

“I remember Pulis pacing up and down shouting random things — this bundle of nervous energy blurting random swear words, trying to burn off his own nervous energy.

“And, of course, the upshot of all of that energy was that we went over the top and it cost Ramsey a year of his career.”

It actually cost Ramsey a lot more than a year of his career but the point here is these comments elicited no outrage, no uproar, no calls for Pulis to be called before the authorities.

But diving, that’s the real scourge of the game, eh? Especially when Arsenal do it…