FOLLOWING the game versus Stoke, it was hardly surprising that Tony Pulis attempted to divert the media’s attentions away from his Stoke team’s hockey-esque tactics by calling for Suarez to be banned for diving – the sad thing is, it actually worked.
With Luis’s reputation tarnished to the extent it currently is, I will not be the least surprised to see Ferguson, Moyes and many others revert to these tactics over the coming nine months. In fact, it has now become so laughable, the treatment he receives from opposition players and referees that Twitter is now full of OTT #blameSuarez memes.
Now, I will tell anybody, whether a Red or not, that Suarez’s diving is something that is really going to have to be stamped out [Editor: Excuse the pun, eh David?], but he can’t be blamed for his treatment at the hands of other teams and players, and that’s precisely why I was so disappointed by a number of ex-Reds who happily came out of the woodwork to give their ‘expert’ former LFC player opinions on him and his ‘antics’.
The following Monday, Alan Hansen, Jan Molby and Roger Hunt (amongst others), voiced their disdain at Suarez and his love for Olympic grade diving. With all of these legends suggesting that Suarez’s diving is costing Liverpool penalty-kicks and, subsequently, points in the league.
I find it a complete marvel that these former footballers miss the point that, while Suarez should be considered a diver and, yes, even go as far to say that he attempts (I say ‘attempts’, as he’s rarely successful) to cheat, referees cannot be excused from their bias and poor refereeing while they are persistently basing their decisions on his reputation. His reputation should not precede him; each instance should be adjudged on the evidence at hand.
While it doesn’t surprise me that this is happening, nor that other managers and players are using it to their advantage, it is exceptionally disappointing that the likes of Hansen and Hunt are undermining both the manager and the player, particularly after Rodgers has only recently made some rather eloquent comments regarding Suarez’s treatment. What we need at the moment is solidarity from everybody associated with – or deemed to represent – Liverpool FC. Any criticism of players or any staff members should always be allowed, when warranted, but it should be kept behind the doors of Anfield and when a cheque was waved in front of these former Reds for their opinions, they should’ve turned it down.
It is a great concern for Liverpool at the moment that Suarez might well be hounded out of Anfield by the media and their determination to make him footballs equivalent of Judas Iscariot, because all it serves to do is continue to make him something of a martyr to Liverpool fans’ collective eyes. We can all appreciate his faults but he is no worse (nor better) than the likes of Torres, Welbeck, Van Persie or any other well-known, often maligned Premier League forwards who appreciate a good tumble in the opposition box. So when former Reds with such respect and standing in the game actively speak out against a current player, it doesn’t help matters and in fact, will only make what should be a future LFC legend feel like his career may need to continue away from these shores.
If Suarez should ever leave the Premier League, the only losers would be his current side and the league itself, which would both be a lot poorer for his loss.
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what really annoys me about the diving thing is other managers picking on suarez and our manager and players are silent about other divers in the premier league .
ferguson started this ( deliberately ) before the 3-1 kuyt hat-trick by saying referees had to watch suarez , he dives all over the place . rodgers has to stop being mr nice guy and tell everyone welbeck and valencia are divers . make a big deal about bale or hazard , accuse them of being cheats next time they do it . And after what koscielny said – it wouldn’t be a stretch to say half that arsenal team dive .
its time for rodgers and gerrard etc to bite back , other managers are influencing refs by branding suarez . we must do the same . see how they like it when their player gets a bad reputation .
second thing that has to happen is suarez must not dive again .
well said , welbeck , nani , valencia , bale , and van persie should be branded cheats
at least rafa stood up to ferguson
well done a bit of sense suarez is discriminated against and every one can see its plain as day i cant believe hes a easy target for a pop and the fa dont step in.he gets stamped on elbowed and all goes unpunished people say he dives if he cant get a foul for a stamp if he cant get a pen for a elbow that nearly takes his head off then does it matter what he does or doesnt do as refs do nothing anyway.
hold on one second here, even here in Uruguay Suarez is getting a wee bit of doing by our fans he dives but to call it cheat is absurd, i think you english have nothing else to do then to fack each others wives and drink all day, as for the refs these creatures have money against lpf when ever Suarez plays its a joke.
So, I guess Ferguson thought it was acceptable when Ronaldo and his protege, Rooney, were diving all over the place. The man is such a hypocrite. What about Drogba as well? Suarez does lean toward the theatrical but I’ve seen worse – the aforementioned Ronaldo should have taken to the field with flippers and a snorkel. Suarez is under the microscope now, thanks to Ferguson’s pronouncement, and will get battered by opposition players who now know that they won’t be giving away penalties for it. Officiate the game by the rules – not by the reputation of a particular player.
What is so annoying about the Suarez diving, is that in the week and the match day when Tony pulis started all this matter, Suarez was tamped on his torso with all the evidence clearly intact. There was also television evidence on the stamping by Huth of Stoke City. But while Stoke City manager raised the issue of banning Suarez for diving, Brender Rodgers could not highlight the stamping of Suarez which carries greater health risk and call for Robert Huth to be banned. Besides, in the day of Suarez diving, Gareth Bale dived but the press hardly mention it. I don’t think playing Mr nice to press is helping Rodgers and Liverpool cause. Suarez is clearly being victimised and discriminated upon by the the press and we all known the longer this goes on the harder it will motivate Suarez to play and score goal.
Tony Pulis is laughable, 1 week he congratulates Crouch for deliberate handball and excuses his actions and then the next week lambasts Suarez! Suarez dived which is wrong and I hope Rodgers tore a strip off him but what grinds my gears is the hypocrisy!
David I completely agree with the thrust of your article. Guess it takes only 39 pieces of silver to betray your own.
I have already made this point in another place but what has really surprises me is that a Liverpool supporting scribe has not collected twenty of the worst dives by Premier League players and posted them on YouTube to expose those ‘holier than thou’ players and their managers. That’s the best support we can give to Luis Suarez. Let’s post them and rate them in order of extremity.
When we have done that the most extreme fouls can also be posted and rated in order of severity. Standby Mr Pulis to suffer much more embarrassment than you have endeavoured to impose on Brendan Rodgers!
The latter have caused players to lose their careers which is somewhat more crippling than an attempt to gain a penalty kick.
when ferguson highlights a player as a diver , he is trying to influence the referees decisions , that is as much cheating as if suarez dives ,he is trying to influence decisions .
its a form of cheating ( but not punishable ), the same as surrounding the ref every decision . both things utd , arsenal and mourinho’s chelsea have perfected over the years and have contributed to their success .
its not nice , i dont like cheating but liverpool should do it to be on the same playing field with refs . nice guys dont win – ferguson is proof
Alan hansen is such a stupid man. Not fit to be called lfc legend. Move on we are behind u suarez n let d empty heads run their mouth.
stop talking rubbish ! hansen IS a legend ,and has a right to his opinion