LIKE life in general, football provides us with a wide spectrum of emotions.
It gives us moments of ecstasy yet it can also crush our spirits. It can make or break days, weeks, even years of our existence. It offers the opportunity to form bonds and to partake in exhilarating adventures. It demands that you feel genuine love and utter hatred. It can leave you feeling bitter, resentful and downright betrayed. It can offer relief and fill you with optimism.
Without the lows, the highs wouldn’t matter, just as in life. Football is all about emotion.
No matter how many times your team or idols break your heart you should always go back for more. No matter how corporate or sanitised the game has become these days, the emotions should remain. Negative or positive, they should be embraced. They must endure. Without them, football just wouldn’t matter.
Right now, many Liverpool supporters are in a state of turmoil. Their best and most cherished player is on the brink of breaking their hearts. They’ve been here before. They’ve been warned. It doesn’t matter. No amount of experience or foreshadowing can soften this kind of blow when it comes.
For the past couple of years, Liverpool fans have treated Luis Suarez, as their manager Brendan Rodgers so eloquently put it last week, like a son. While the rest of the country passed judgement on him, Kopites defended him and sang his name. When he fell down they picked him up again. Now, he is apparently ready to turn his back on them. And so returns that familiar feeling of anguish that was last felt in these parts back in January 2011.
When Fernando Torres traded Anfield for the Kings Road, hearts broke all over Merseyside. The turmoil of that transfer still lingers today. The scars have never fully healed. Liverpool legend John Aldridge, who has seen it all down the years, still can’t bring himself to even utter Torres’ name. He refers to him as ‘that fella’ or ‘FT’ on a good day. Why? Because Torres mattered to Liverpool fans. As the old adage goes, they hate him so much because they loved him so much. Emotion. Passion.
In truth, Torres’ leaving wasn’t really the problem. No Liverpool supporter would have begrudged him a move abroad to a European super club back in 2011. Throughout his time in Liverpool he had always talked up his bond with the city and seemed to genuinely understand its inhabitants.
During his final season, Liverpool weren’t a good side and he remained a world class footballer dragged down by Hodgeball. Despite the apparent affection, his departure was always on the cards.
Like a relationship that had ran its course and was slowing grinding to a halt, his exit through the Paisley gates seemed inevitable. It was only his ultimate destination and callous timing that turned what should have been an amicable parting of the ways into a love affair defined and ruined by perceived betrayal. By joining such a hated rival as Chelsea, Torres had effectively cheated on those Liverpool fans who had given him their hearts.
Like anyone who has gone through a real life relationship that has ended in such a gut wrenching manner, after the initial anger, resentment and jealousy had passed, Liverpool fans searched for positives. They’d let their guard down and been taken for mugs while the man who professed unto them his undying love had jumped into bed with someone that they detested.
Then, like all grieving singletons eventually do, Liverpool fans rationalised. Once bitten, twice shy. It wouldn’t happen again. Footballers had changed. Loyalty was a rare commodity and getting so attached to players was a bad idea. Love was for losers. The next time someone decided to up sticks from L4 it wouldn’t hurt so much because they’d been there before and would know how to deal with it.
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Inevitably, that rationale has long since gone out of the window. With each piece of skill, each breath taking goal, each tireless performance in their famous Red shirt, Luis Suarez wormed his way into Liverpool supporters’ hearts the same way that Torres did. The Kop have stood by their latest squeeze through tough times and heartily rejoiced in the moments of joy that he has brought them. His triumphs were all the more enjoyable because of his tribulations. They overlooked his flaws and embraced his genius. This summer though, has brought a familiar sense of foreboding.
A few weeks ago Suarez was fluttering his eyelashes at Real Madrid. His heart and future seemed to lie abroad. Initially, despite the obvious disappointment, many Kopites were able to rationalise once more. They know Madrid can offer things that Liverpool can’t right now. They know that Madrid is a dream club for any Latin player and while losing Suarez would hurt, it wouldn’t rancour in the way that the Torres deal did. At least he looked like he was moving far away and going to a better place. The relationship seemed likely to end but at least he wasn’t going to do the dirty on them.
Oh, how love blinds. It now seems that Suarez is merely intent on leaving those who have stood by him, unconcerned with his next destination. If Madrid aren’t interested then seemingly anywhere but Anfield will do for Luis right now. What other reason is there for Suarez’s apparent desire to follow Torres’ trail down to the nation’s capital by joining Arsenal?
Sure, the Gunners can offer Champions League participation (usually not beyond February, mind) but Arsenal haven’t won a trophy in forever. They are extremely unlikely to compete with Chelsea or the Manchester clubs for the Premier League title and they certainly offer no refuge from the glare of the English media that Suarez had previously cited as his main reason for wanting to leave Liverpool.
Perhaps this is all just a long game by Suarez and his agent. Maybe it is a way to force Madrid into action. That would be more palatable for Reds fans. But if it is not and Suarez does genuinely want to set up camp at the Emirates next season then his love affair with Liverpool is destined to end in a break up laced with regret and resentment.
Some Liverpool supporters are preaching that detachment from Suarez has been their default position since he arrived. He’s just another mercenary footballer who they knew would jump the good ship Rodgers at the first chance he got, they say. He’s no different to Torres and they knew it all along apparently. Being ready for his departure has softened the blow.
Well, I cannot endorse or even believe in such level headed, clear minded thinking. Sure, it makes sense and it is a fine position in theory, but in football, emotional detachment shouldn’t be an option when it comes to your team and your best player. Liverpool fans should feel angry if Suarez moves to another English club. They should regret standing by him through his dark periods. They should be offended that their warmth and devotion hasn’t been reciprocated or appreciated.
Call me overly romantic or even deluded but if Suarez moves to Arsenal I want Liverpool fans to hurt. He’s their best player and a man they have taken to their hearts. No matter what anyone says, this should matter to them. Losing your best player to a direct rival is a regretful thing. It shouldn’t be taken with level headed numbness, it should piss you off.
Because, if it doesn’t then what is the point of all this? Give me heart break over detachment any day. Feeling low is just part of the dance. Something will pick you up again, it always does in football. Raw emotion, good or bad, should be a pre requisite for football supporters. Without it, the game simply wouldn’t matter anymore.
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I really appreciate Luis 4 how he helped us, being with us, scoring 30 goals for us lfc last season and really need him to be with us next season, but if his heart iz not with us now then why his body to be with us.. BR Just let the boy go.. we will surely get another replacement, perhaps better , younger and non controversial than him( remember when torres left us and we got him(luis)…but if his heart and soul are with us.. then its well and good for we really need a fighting man as he iz on the pitch next season.
Let him go if GOD wish liverpool can reach top 4 nxt season wtout him.
Keep ur religious Krap out of football
Great article, I just hope the same thing doesn’t happen with coutinho a few years down the line.
12 months and coutinho will be off
You won’t get any loyalty from foreign players so why are you surprised by it? Torres showed no loyalty. Or mascherano. Get over it and move on. If you want loyalty build a team of scousers. Get rid of him soon as
Nice article Dave
You won’t get loyalty from any player foreign or home grown. Reality is if we’re not in the Champions league we don’t have something that other clubs can offer. Moving to Arsenal doesn’t make any sense and he’ll deserve all the stick he gets. LFC have the same if not a better chance than them in all competitions next season. We have bigger issues like the owners who seem very reluctant to spend..a bet spend of no more than 35M that’s less than Swansea over the last 2 seasons! Not exactly the kind of ambition which attracts big names!
y cant d likes of suarez learn from steven Gerrard who is a faithful steward to lfc if suarez should leave livrpool for arsenal he would eventually regret his move like torres did and wished he neva left lfc even though he had d cham leag and uefa cup
Torres has won champ league , Europa league and FA cup with chelski and is playing champion league every year. I doubt he regrets anything
Torres may have the medals in his pocket but honestly did he actually deserve any of them? Most of the time he was on the bench while the rest of the team did the hard work! I’m sure if he could be would have liked to be more involved in winning his medals!
Who told you that? Stop amusing yourself with delusion. He is pleased with his medal. You just Ask Sturridge if he isn’t happy with his medals to understand you don’t know what you are talking about.
Torres scored 19 goals last season. Started and scored in cup final . Scored in champion league semi v barca etc etc
I think he would rather that than season finished in February and a depressing mid table struggle
Suarez wants CL football and that is perfectly understandable. Every Liverpool fan wants the club to be competing at Europe’s highest level and doing so season after season. I’ll bet when Suarez signed a contract extension last year – and said how happy he was at the club – he probably figured that by the end of the season Liverpool would have qualified for the CL. It didn’t work out that way and now he wants out. Ayre has said he’s not for sale and the club should stick to this hardline stance unless Real Madrid come in with a firm offer. Selling him to another PL team is not an option under any circumstances.
Cant blame Suarez at all . Liverpool are no better off , in fact probably worse off , from when Suarez joined
Our owners won’t spend. We have a uninspiring useless manager so Suarez sees no point in staying. A footballers career is short so who can blame him.
Unless FSG sell up , next summer we will be having the same discussions about coutinho..he won’t want to stay either
nw i knw puttin faith on a player is useless,i suarez want 2 go, it better 2 live,coz all match he hav play wit use in the pre-season,i dnt is hearth in liverpool again,even thou since i had that he said that he is leftin liverpool,i dnt chant him as liverpool player again. Liverpool release him,because suarez hav a strong mind, i advise rodgers to release him,nobody or player is bigger than liverpool ‘solder go, solder come is football. But suarez could remember daT GOD wil guarge him. He is a betrayer.
The extra pound question{apology to arsenal fc} is what is the LFC board doing “signings” wise to convince Suarez to commit another year of is LIMITED playing career to the so called never ending rebuilding process at Anfield. I think the time has inevitably come for us football fans to be realistic enough to realize that, all these players are in Europe to better and not stagnate their careers. If Suarez will owe anybody or club allegiance then it should be Nacional his native club.
Suarez is not interested in CL but money ,he thinks a new club will probably offer him more than wat he gets now at lfc, he would’ve been doing wat he knows can take LFC to CL. or did he think racial abuse, bite..dive earn CL fotball ,let him go
Torres may have medals but he doesn’t have anywhere near the same love and respect as he did from LFC supporters. He’s no longer the main man and the medals he does have he had very little to do with, including most of the Spanish ones. As long as we get good value for Suarez he should go. Our stats are far better in terms of goals scored AND points won without him. He’s a great player but he comes with a lot of baggage and did a lot of damage to LFC image
Rubbish
Next of kin and the agent they can play some part in influencing player move,If england is unsettle place for him why arsenal is it france territory.
I used to tell arsenal fans that cazorla, arteta, wilshere nd walcott wld desert them but wenger has started fixing that by bidding for the likes of higuain nd suarez (even if the amount isnt the real value of the players, for wenger to make such significant bids shows ambition) as for lfc, watch out for “sturridge”, coutinho to do similar things if the intrests starts coming. if downing scored his 1st league goal in 2 seasons nd told the kop to shut the f*ck up, what then do you expect a man who does more than score 30goals a season to do?
Just move this whole thing on. Guy doesn’t want to be there. Is suspended until October anyway. Get whoever it is up to 50m , a fair price given his ban and ability to find trouble. There’s plenty of strikers out there and that sum of money buys quality like higuain, rvp, aguero etc with still enough money to bring in eriksen or a similar attacking mid.
Would like another def mid along with lb options. We should have 20 m for this, if not, between Henderson, Allen, borini, downing, assaidi, spearing etc we have non critical players who could all bring in cash. Of these I’d say Allen downing and assailing could probably bring in about 18m. That’s all wed need for a em – 9m. Lb – 9m
I don’t think there’s the slightest chance Allen is going anywhere mate, in my opinion he’s nowhere near good enough for LFC and wouldn’t get into any of the top 10 sides. BR seems determined to keep playing him and he’ll continue to cost us points
FSG and Liverpool haven’t shown anything this transfer window to prove there is ambition at the club. Unless something changes in the remaining weeks which I doubt it will, then Suarez is correct to leave.
Completely agree, there’s no ambition at all. FSG net spend since they came in is no more than 35-40m. Swansea and southampton have spent more than this summer already!
Is like FSG are not serious,i mean they are nt creating a meaningful impact at the club,BR Should not sell suarez to arsenal rather to madrid
Just let him go
Does Allen cost lfc points?think man!
Toress is a blue devil but suarez is a red devil.he wld jump ship 2 moyes if devils come calling.
Wat wld he get there?the love f evra n a song frm devil fans.
Better de devil (toress) than de devil u dont(suarez)
What are u on about ? And yes – Allen costs Liverpool points. He is rubbish !
Yes he costs us points, not sure how much lfc you watched last season mate. He has said in interviews himself that hes lost his form…He played well for the first few games of the season and that was it.
Imran now your being seriously stupid. Allen is atrocious . Kop on and stop making dumb excuses. Allen never had any form to begin with