Luis Suarez dive confession was unacceptable: Brendan Rodgers

Luis Suarez has been given a verbal dressing-down by his manager, Brendan Rodgers, and reminded of his responsibilities to promoting Liverpool's image after admitting diving to try to win a penalty.

Rodgers was infuriated after the South American striker admitted he "invented a foul" during a fixture with Stoke City this season. He spoke to Suarez about his concerns at Liverpool's training ground yesterday morning (Thursday), but the Uruguayan has not been fined for his comments.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis said Suarez's dive was "embarrassing" at the time of the incident last October. Rodgers defended his star striker in the aftermath of Pulis's criticism, saying there was a culture in South America of trying to win penalties. At the time, the Liverpool manager went so far as to issue a statement on the club's website saying "the vilification of Luis is both wrong and unfair".

Although Rodgers insisted he did not feel let down by Suarez's latest remarks, he felt compelled to take a tough line publicly and privately.

"The bottom line is that from my perspective as the manager and leader of the club it was wrong to say what he said. It was not acceptable," said Rodgers. "I saw the comments and I think it's wrong. From our perspective, it is unacceptable really and it will be dealt with internally. Diving is not something we advocate here. Our ethics are correct.

"No one is bigger than the club. I have spoken with Luis and we move on. He knows how I feel. He totally understands where I am coming from as the manager of the club. This is a big club, bigger than anyone, and whatever people say goes around the world. He accepts that. In fairness to Luis, there have been times when he has knocked on my door and apologised for things. He got booked for a handball [against Southampton] earlier this season and it was instinctive. He is not malicious. It is just his nature and how he is."

Suarez's candid but rather naive admission is the latest in a series of mishaps which has left Liverpool feeling they are constantly having to put out fires around their No7.

After last year's race row with Patrice Evra, the 25 year-old has twice been accused of cheating in the last few months. Liverpool's stance he is as much sinned against as sinner was not helped by the interview he gave to Fox Sports Argentina this week. "I was accused of falling inside the box in a match, and it's true I did it at that time, because we were drawing against Stoke at home and we needed anything to win it," Suarez said.

"In fairness to him, most players wait until the end of their careers when they are writing their books and say these things, but he has been honest enough to come out and say it in the middle of his career," said Rodgers. "Whatever way you look at it, diving is something in the game that we are trying to clean up. Personally, my own feeling as the manager of this club is that it [the dive] was wrong.

"I don't think I've been put in a difficult position. I've only ever called it honestly. I have defended him when I feel it is right and will continue to do that. Him and I have a strong relationship and he understands that and knows that. I don't feel let down, I'll just call it like it is. I said at the time it was the wrong thing to do. I need to protect the club and if anything puts that in jeopardy I will deal with that. Luis is aware of my feelings."

The broader concern for Liverpool is, having created a sense of persecution at the manner Suarez is treated by officials, they are now even less likely to get 50/50 calls.

"It's been difficult for us this season with regards penalties. We've only had one," acknowledged Rodgers. "The team always going into every game looking to win in the best possible way and sporting manner, and we don't want that to change.

"But this situation might affect people's thinking. I'm not saying it will do, but it could do. It might make people think twice about things and that's certainly something we don't want. The team puts maximum effort into the game and I wouldn't want second thoughts going into anybody's mind.

"There have been many occasions when he hasn't had the rewards but it certainly doesn't help him but, more importantly, it doesn't help the team."

The Football Association is aware of Suarez's remarks, but any disciplinary action is highly unlikely.

Pulis insisted yesterday the FA should retrospectively punish players found guilty of diving and highlighted Southampton's Jay Rodriguez as the Premier League's latest "cheat" following his winning of a penalty at Aston Villa last Saturday.

"They should look at it on a Monday after games and then people who have got caught simulating, they should be punished. If you punish them for three, four, five games or whatever, it takes it out of the referee's hands. There should be a rule that if a player is found blatantly diving to gain advantage, whether to get a penalty or to con a referee into giving a decision, it should be dealt with severely. It would soon stop it. It's cheating."