Andoni Iraola said on Monday that he will advise his players to go down in future to try to secure match-changing decisions from referees, commenting on a high-profile incident in which Liverpool were not awarded a penalty in their defeat by Arsenal on Sunday.
Iraola's remark came as he reflected on the denied penalty that drew attention across the Premier League. He framed the suggestion as a pragmatic response to what he described as the realities of how officials make calls during games.
"I'll tell my players to go down in future," Iraola said, repeating the line that has prompted discussion among pundits and fans. The comment reiterates a familiar tension in the sport between encouraging honest play and exploiting the boundaries of gamesmanship to influence match outcomes.
The former player and current manager’s words add to ongoing debates about simulation, refereeing consistency and how teams adapt their approach within the rules. While some see such guidance as a cynical tactic, others point to it as a symptom of refereeing decisions that incentivise seeking stoppages.
The issue of how officials adjudicate contact in the box, and how players respond to those standards, remains a live topic in the Premier League as clubs and managers react to individual high-profile incidents.