Manchester United winger worse than Suarez, says Hamann

Dietmar Hamann says that Ashley Young's tendency to dive is far worse than any antic Luis Suarez has pulled off.

Manchester United's disgraced winger has come in for stark criticism for his diving in the past and threw fuel on the fire in the 0-0 draw against Real Sociedad by clearly simulating a foul to win a penalty, which Robin van Persie subsequently missed. 

Similarly, Liverpool star Suarez came under fire for a series of controversial tactics, but has so far extinguished diving from his game this season.

“Manchester United, with their reputation, shouldn’t need to dive and cheat to win a football match.

“It’s blatant cheating to try to win a penalty when there’s no contact. The reputation of the player will suffer as well."

The former German international has warned Young that he risks losing his place at the top off football if he continues to cheat and says such antics wouldn't have been tolerated with a Premier League referee.

He has, however, backed players like Gareth Bale, who claim to dive out of the way of dangerous tackles to avoid injury rather than win free-kicks. 

Hamann, who played 191 Premier League games for the Reds, says Young's continued attempts to con the match officials make him worse than the Anfield striker.

“If you remember the stick Luis Suarez got, he’s cut it [diving] out of his game, but Ashley Young is much worse than Suarez has ever been," he toldtalkSPORT.

“I would say to Young, ‘if you want to stay in the game for the next ten years, you’ve got to cut that out’", he continued. "He’ll end up not getting decisions any more.

“If the incident against Real Sociedad happened in the Premier League, he wouldn’t have got a penalty. He only got it because the referee didn’t know him.

“I’m always defending players. Gareth Bale got a lot of stick last year but you’ve got to be very careful, because sometimes it’s about protecting yourself in anticipation of a challenge.

“If someone comes to clatter you you’ve got to jump because that’s your first instinct, to protect yourself.

"Yesterday [with Young] there was no protection [issue], it was a slight touch on his arm and he stated rolling over. I just think it’s in him, it will be very hard for him to cut out. It’s gone too far now.”