Until a couple of seasons ago, it was usually an outfield player who would go to ground to stop play.<\/p>\n
It was being used for two distinct reasons.<\/p>\n
Either to break up the momentum of the opposition by causing a stoppage in play, or for the coach to give instructions to his players. Sometimes it has been both. <\/p>\n
English football attempted to combat this by insisting that any player who receives treatment must leave the field for 30 seconds.<\/p>\n
It had some positive results, but managers just switched focus and told the goalkeeper to ask for treatment. <\/p>\n
A team cannot play without a goalkeeper, so it became a risk-free method of impacting the opposition, or getting the opportunity to talk to your team. <\/p>\n
There is nothing a referee can do about it, as they cannot accuse a player of faking an injury. If it turned out the player was genuinely injured there could be serious repercussions. <\/p>\n
So the game has been stuck in a doom loop. <\/p>\n
Goalkeepers go down, the other 10 players rush to the technical area for a team talk. <\/p>\n
As soon as the coach has delivered his message, the keeper miraculously gets to his feet. <\/p>\n
It has been a theme during Leeds<\/a>‘ season, starting in November when Manchester City<\/a> goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down as the West Yorkshire club were in the ascendancy at Etihad Stadium. <\/p>\n Manager Daniel Farke accused Donnarumma of feigning injury to “bend the rules”<\/a> and break up play.<\/p>\n