MICAH'S MOMENTS: Gamesmanship? No, what these strikers do is CHEATING in my book... PLUS, why Roy Hodgson will keep Crystal Palace up - and Aston Villa are dreaming of Europe

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Gamesmanship? I call it cheating

Some people call it gamesmanship but let’s have it right for what it is: cheating. I’ve been watching events at games in recent weeks and, as a former defender, a lot of what I have seen has left me furious.

This tactic of attackers kicking their back legs — as Leeds striker Georginio Rutter appeared to do on Sunday — to try to win penalties is a particular source of anger. I can promise you that if I was playing now and someone had tried to do that to me, we would be having a quiet word in the tunnel.

Why can’t VAR be used for incidents when there is clearly simulation? Every incident in the penalty area gets checked, so surely those in Stockley Park have the capability to speak down the line to tell the referee on the pitch to give a yellow card.

The sooner that happens, the better. We saw why football can be so beautiful at Anfield yesterday, with a spectacular game of football. We don’t need cheating and diving to be spoiling it for everyone.

When a defender kicks a player like Georginio Rutter's legs, and he goes down, it's cheating

I don't know why VAR didn't give Kaoru Mitoma a penalty after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's trip

On the subject of VAR, please can someone explain what happened between Brighton and Tottenham? How does Kaoru Mitoma not get a penalty on second viewing when he is tripped by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg? It was a joke.

The PGMOL issued a statement to apologise for the failure but the apology feels like the most pointless thing you could ever see. Do you think any of Brighton’s squad will feel comforted by an apology that does nothing to reward their fine efforts in north London?

It could be a huge moment in the season. Brighton have been fantastic and have given themselves an outstanding chance of qualifying for Europe. If they miss out by a point, the first place they will think back to is their visit of Tottenham.

I saw a video on social media of Anthony Gordon reacting badly to being substituted during Newcastle’s win at Brighton. It wasn’t a good look, by any means. What he did took me back to my early days when Stuart Pearce once substituted me during a game at Reading.

I flung my shirt on the floor in temper. Stuart saw it and said: ‘Don’t ever do that again. I’m the manager. I make the decisions for this team — not you.’ The penny dropped and we got over it, quickly.

I like Gordon and think he has potential. He can put this behind him.

Anthony Gordon has the potential to put a bad reaction to being substituted behind him

Why Roy will keep Palace up

Nobody wanted Patrick Vieira to succeed at Crystal Palace more than I did but credit where it is due: Roy Hodgson’s impact has been outstanding and I watched them take Leeds apart yesterday with an open mouth. It was a spectacular demolition.

I love Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise and rather than just concentrating on making Palace hard to beat, Hodgson has set those two forwards free. As a manager who has an excellent record of beating teams below him, he will keep his team in the division comfortably.

Roy Hodgson is the right man to get Crystal Palace beating the weaker sides and surviving

While Unai Emery and Aston Villa are right to be dreaming of European qualification this term

 Villa right to be dreaming of Europe

Aston Villa for Europe? It’s not out of the question. I am staggered by the work Unai Emery has done and he has given supporters reasons to dream. Expectations are only going to grow but let them — if you can’t dream in football, what is the point?

I’m enjoying watching Ollie Watkins. He has stepped into the hole left by Danny Ings’ move to West Ham and made himself the main man, he’s also pushing himself to be back in Gareth Southgate’s plans for the summer qualifiers against North Macedonia and Malta.

Emery could even be an outsider for Manager of the Year if he got Villa into Europe but Liverpool’s second-half performance makes me think they will just miss out. If Liverpool get nine games of that kind of quality, they will be in the top six, without a shadow of a doubt.