FORMER ARSENAL WINGER Robert Pires brought diving to the Premier League, according to ex-England international Danny Mills.
Pires was instrumental in the Gunners’ success at the start of the 21st century, winning two Premier League titles and three FA Cups under Arsene Wenger.
But Mills revealed he did not have a good relationship with the Frenchman and believes he more than anyone else had a hand in bringing simulation into the English game.
“It is true that there was no love lost between me and Pires,” he wrote in The Times.
I spent many years playing against him as a right back, for Leeds United and Manchester City, and we had what might be called a fractious relationship.
“I will always remember him as the player who, in my view, really brought diving into the English game; his habit of throwing himself to the ground without any provocation always infuriated me.”
