Danny Mills: Robert Pires brought diving into English game

Former Manchester City and England full-back Mills claims Pires set the tone for diving to become a problem in the Premier League despite the former Tottenham and Germany forward Jurgen Klinsmann being most renowned for the behaviour a decade before Pires was turning out for Arsene Wenger's side in the noughties.

Writing in his column in The Times newspaper, Mills discussed Pires' famous dummied penalty during a match between Arsenal and Manchester City in 2005 when Pires tried to pass the ball to Thierry Henry only for City defenders to run in to clear the ball.

He was discussing the issue after Lionel Messi's pass to Luis Suarez to score against Celta Vigo on Sunday.

"The exact words I said do not really bear repeating, but it is fair to say that I offered Pirès several choice thoughts on what he and his team-mate had tried. I made it reasonably clear, for about 15 seconds, that I felt they had been disrespectful," said Mills, who is a football pundit these days.

"It is true that there was no love lost between me and Pires.

"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."