Quotes

"The downside is an inclination to over-emphasise tackles, to fall over theatrically to try to win fouls..." - April 2003 - The Times

"89 mins: Ruud van Nistelrooy dives on the edge of the Blackburn penalty area. He doesn't win a free, he doesn't win a penalty and he doesn't get booked. A bit of consistency wouldn't go amiss here Mr Uriah Rennie, kung- fu referee extraordinaire..." - The Guardian

"There is also the possibility that the Football Association could investigate a clash between Martin Keown and Ruud van Nistelrooy, in which the defender raised his hands to push his opponent away and saw him crash theatrically to the ground..."

"Ruud van Nistelrooy's run and the United striker, arms flailing, went down inside the area..." - The Guardian

"The proceedings were dominated by Van Nistelrooy... and even throwing in a couple of late dives in the penalty area - the Dutchman's contribution towered over everyone around him..." - MSN Sports.

"The normally clinical finisher decided to reinvent himself as a hatchet man against Arsenal and was extremely lucky to last more than 15 minutes on the pitch after lunging his boot into Martin Keown's midriff then producing a forearm smash to flatten Lauren. Throw in a couple of the Dutchman's obligatory dives and you have a performance of which he was probably not too proud..." - SoccerAge.

"Van Nistelrooy went down as if hit by a bullet and lay perfectly still, which is
one way of convincing a referee that a serious injury has occurred. Fortune rolled over and over, which is the other way. Both managed to get up and returned to action, apparently unaffected, as soon as the referee had put his yellow card away..." - The Guardian.

"Van Nistelrooy resorted to ever more ridiculous dives in the area and was rightly criticised by the ITV commentator in the highlights programme..." - A Man City View.

"Can he not stand up for five minutes? It's like watching a toddler on ice some matches..." - Classic BBC Commentary.

"There's a history between Van Nistelrooy and Lauren from last season in the FA Cup, I can give you a tape so you can see what he did on Lauren, on Keown and Freddie Ljungberg..." - Our very own Sir Wenger.

"Challenging for a high ball, van Nistelrooy climbed all over Vieira and bundled the Arsenal midfielder to the ground..." - Fox Sports.

"Arsenal were tired of always being accused of diving, when Manchester United in general and Ruud van Nistelrooy in particular are never put under such scrutiny, even though they deserve just as much criticism in that department. So they set about to prove that, when it comes to cheating, RvN had nothing
to envy Robert Pires. And RvN handed them such the opportunity to prove on a silver plate, with his very clumsy challenge on Vieira..." - Latext.

"Vieira's dismissal was totally unnecessary, the penalty wasn't a convincing
one, and watching that ball smack back off the bar brought this neutral to his feet with a roar of pleasure..." - From the BBC.