GAMESMANSHIP is a word often used to describe the actions of footballers.

By stretching the rules to the limit without actually breaking them, players are deemed to be behaving professionally. Doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

But it would be easier to use the proper term — cheating.

At the weekend, Stoke’s Victor Moses went to ground under minimal contact against Swansea, while Philippe Coutinho prevented Queen’s Park Rangers from taking a quick free-kick against Liverpool by standing on top of the ball.

Each were lauded by Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer as acceptable because they helped gain an advantage.

The former Newcastle striker claimed Moses was “entitled” to take a tumble because he had been touched by defender Angel Rangel.

He also praised Coutinho (pictured) for “taking one for the team” when the Brazilian was booked for encroaching at a free-kick.

But let’s get one thing clear here. This is all cheating, no matter how you want to dress it up.

Falling over in the penalty area because someone has brushed past you with all the force of a light breeze is cheating. It’s not a player’s job to bring a perceived foul to the referee’s attention by taking a tumble to highlight the issue.

That players are described as being “too honest” when they stay on their feet shows how skewed the moral compass has become. As is Shearer’s line of thinking when it comes to free-kicks. A player deliberately stopping a free-kick being taken should be booked, as Coutinho was. They shouldn’t be held up a pillar of the game for their grandiose gesture. It is still cheating.

Aston Villa’s Alan Hutton returned the ball to an opponent against Everton for a free-kick, from which the Toffees scored, and was lambasted by the pundit for having done so.

In Shearer’s world, Hutton should have kicked it away or done anything to stop Everton gaining the advantage the free-kick was intended for.

Don’t get me started on players who grab the ball as they fall to the ground before the whistle has been blown. Such actions tarnish the game and Shearer doesn’t help.