Suarez, Liverpool, and a step in the right direction

LUIS Suarez is a microcosm of the modern football world. He is subject to hyperbole over his sorcery with a ball at his feet and then vilified in a press frenzy for his misdemeanours.

He exemplifies the intensity of feeling about the beautiful game, being compared to Maradona one week then chastised by a Prime Minister the next. Some people regard him as a flawed genius, others regard him as a blight of the game that should be driven out.

For Reds fans, he is an adored talent loved for his passion, nut-megs and his incredible ability to continue to mesmerise supporters.

Yet El Pistolero has also been at the heart of two of Liverpool’s most difficult inquisitions, playing a lead role in two stories that have moved from the back pages to the front pages in the last 2 years, and not for good reasons.

The positive is that the club has shown experience in light of Suarez’s desire to occasionally implode. If we consider ‘The Evra Affair’ and ‘Ivanovic-gate’ and how it affected the club, there has been a great improvement for Liverpool but not just off the pitch.

Following the war of words between Patrice Evra and Suarez the club suffered great humiliation and a brutal examination of its ethics and its judgment.

Firstly, Liverpool were quick to defend Suarez without taking time to consider their options. Secondly, they wore t-shits in support of the Uruguayan, which helped to enflame the situation further. Finally after the FA found that Suarez had used “insulting words” that “included a reference to Mr Evra’s colour”, the club issued a statement expressing surprise and disappointment as well as labelling the decision “extraordinary”.

Then the coup de grace, just when it all seemed to be blowing over the club allowed our mercurial striker to be put in a position where he could re-open the whole debacle and he grabbed that opportunity with both hands, or rather with none. His refusal to shake Evra’s hand in the next meeting between LFC and Man Utd put the club back into the spotlight and revisiting an already debilitating issue.

All of these actions allowed the matter to continue to rage unabated leaving Liverpool facing an unnecessary and an unwanted distraction for the majority of the season.

The overwhelming problem though, outside of the media and PR battles that LFC had to contend with, was the performance on the grass. From the moment the furore began, Liverpool’s form deserted them. Dalglish’s explosive return to management was snuffed out and the good work was undermined. Liverpool went from a points haul that would usually take them into the Champions League, to one that would have seen them candidates for relegation.

In Suarez’s second act of self-destruction in biting Branislav Ivanovic, Liverpool did not repeat their mistake and acted swiftly and decisively to avoid another withering and exhausting media battle. Suarez issued an apology on the same day as the match. Liverpool’s chief executive returned to the city to ensure the matter was dealt with.

Suarez was fined by the club with the money being donated to the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and when he was banned by the FA for 10 games, there was a level of sympathy in the media towards the club’s leading goal scorer. The most important matter though is that the issue was not allowed to escalate to the same level. Of course, David Cameron’s decision to offer his ‘expert’ opinion perhaps saw the subject raised in profile but the examination of the club was extinguished expertly.

In the intervening weeks since Suarez’s suspension, Brendan Rodgers has not had to face persistent questioning about our number 7 nor has he had to defend the club’s moral compass.

The difference is clear in the games subsequent to that Chelsea match. Liverpool’s form has not nose dived, they have continued to perform to a high level and even recorded a 6-0 win in the first game post Ivanovic-gate.

This is a sign of progress for the club, who have shown maturity in the face of Suarez’s petulance. Those from the top have learned from the past and this is what we want those in charge of LFC to do.

Liverpool will still have to contend with starting next season without their best player but they appear to be able to perform manfully without the star man. As for Suarez, he has shown that he continues to be a liability, managing to amass 20 suspensions for Liverpool games without receiving a red card. So while the talismanic striker continues to be a tour de force up front for the Reds, the club and the manager must either try to find a way to stifle his rushes of blood to the head or continue to defuse the Uruguayan’s time-bombs.
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