7 Nov 2012

Suarez or Messi: Who's the best? Liverpool fans give their emphatic verdict...

In his post-Newcastle press conference on Sunday, Liverpool manger Brendan Rodgers was full of praise for Reds striker Luis Suarez, and even compared the Uruguayan maestro to Barcelona star Lionel Messi. In my view, Messi is massively superior to Suarez in almost every way, but what do other Liverpool fans think?

I conducted a survey on the site last week to find out whether fans would rather have Suarez or Messi in the team. The results were emphatic:

* 8100 people (approx) participated in the survey.

* 63% of voters chose Messi over Suarez.

Given the rampant hero-worship for Suarez, I half-expected the result to go in his favour.

In all honesty, it's no contest really. Suarez is a superb player, and when he's not cheating, I love watching him play, but Messi is arguably superior in the following ways:

* Finishing: Messi invariably hits the target with his shots.

* Strike rate: Messi's phenomental goal rate dwarf's Suarez's.

* Passing: Messi rarely gives the ball way.

* Temperament: Messi is a model pro and a great role model for kids.

* Cheating: Messi doesn't cheat.

The only area that Suarez is on a par with Messi is (IMO) close control/dribbling - the Uruguayan has an amazing ability to keep hold of the ball in the tightest situations, and he's shown this time and time again.

One thing's for sure, if Messi played for Liverpool, he would've scored 30-40 goals last season, and he'd probably be in double figures already this season.

Could Suarez ever reach Messi's level?

Jaimie Kanwar


84 comments:

  1. suarez is more exciting,dynamic than messi.

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  2. messi dives but it is not a sin in spain

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  3. Remember that goal Messi scored with his hand? Ahem...

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  4. I think all players cheat to an extent. Defenders will sometimes foul a player who has gone by them. They´d prefer that than to give away a goal. Also whenever a ball goes out for a throw, both players generally put up their hand to claim it, even if they know it touched off them. Such is life.

    Suarez is world class, but Messi is on another planet.

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  5. pointless arguement messis the best player in the world but suarez is not far behind think what he could be in a good team

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  6. Messi dives and play acts all the time, more bias reporting. Messi is the best player in the world and has been for years now, saying that you think most LFC fans would have voted for Suarez is an insult to the intelligence of those fans

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  7. Ive watched football for over 30 years and i love Luis Suarez and think he is top class, but over those 30 years of watching football ive not seen any better player than Lionel Messi and i think he could be the greatest player off all time.

    Messi with 73 goals in 2012 and in his last 183 games for Barca he has scored an amazing 190 goals and made 70+ assists. I think that tells it all.

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  8. I've been a Liverpool fan since 1986 but also watch every Barcelona game. I'm sorry but this is probably one of the most ludicrous things I've ever seen written. To even ask the question if Suarez is better than Messi is absolutely ridiculous, and Suarez is on a par with Messi for close control and dribbling, are you for real?

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  9. It's not a fair comparison, if Suarez received the same protection that attacking players in Spain receive, he would need to exaggerate fouls jsut to get decisions that he obviously deserves

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  10. Messi hasnt got the balls to play in the premiership he might get kicked and Suarez would be a superstar in Barcas team so you cant compare them unless the were in the same league.....

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  11. You really can't give Suarez a break! Why even bother compare him to Messi, obviously he is not as good as Messi but who is?
    I'm with Stevie on this one, the best striker we have had for years and my favourite ever liverpool player. YNWA

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  12. Again, the lazy media jumping on a bandwagon and trying to redicule anything to do with liverpool. Rodgers actually didnt compare Suarez to Messi in hte way you and the media portray. He did not in any way compare them in relation to their ability. He simply compared him with Messi because he plays a similar role to Messi, a false No. 9 role and in that sense Suarez is Liverpools Messi. Any person can see Messi, in ability, is superior to every other player, including Suarez...but that is not what Rodgers said.
    Mark. Dublin.

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  13. It's not cheating! Anyone who's played the game knows there's a very fine line between
    -attempting - but failing - to draw the foul,
    -seeing a tackle coming and taking evasive action, AND
    -diving

    When Bale went down the other week V the goalkeeper, people claimed it was a dive, but the keeper conned Bale into thinking he was about to put his foot through everything in front of him - effectively dummying Bale. How is this a dive?

    Drawing the foul is an art for an attacking player and the better the defender, the less they are drawn. Suarez is very good at it but occasionally he gets it wrong which LOOKS like a dive.

    If a player approaches a keeper and thinks "I'm going to draw the keeper out to foul me" and the keeper pulls his hands away at the last minute, is it a dive if the player has anticipated contact? Hell no.

    And if the player has a little contact and COULD stay on his fett, why SHOULD he? Of course there is diving, but no where near as much as the press lilke to write about. Phil Neville got a card for diving recently, but he made a very poor attempt at drawing the foul.

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  14. All those people who are saying Messi doesn't get kicked in Spanish football and gets protection clearly don't watch the league! He gets kicked to death every game and it takes a hell of a lot to take him off his feet. Ridiculous comments!

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  15. A little bit of an unfair question. Messi is arguably the greatest player of all time. I think if you asked any set of fans, which player in the world would you like the most the answer would be Messi. I'd actually go for Ronaldo, because a) it would annoy the Mancs, and b) he's proven in the Premier League.

    And for the record, I'd put Maradona as the best ever player. Messi is certainly in the top 5 though.

    As for Suarez. I like him. I think he's fantastic, he's currently every other club's pantomime villain. He doesn't score as many goals as he should, and yet he's second highest goal scorer in the league on 7 (RVP is top with 8). I think he also compares favourably with Rush, Fowler, Torres etc for number of games to score his first 50 goals. I couldn't find the exact details in Google, but if anyone knows please add.

    Quite frankly, we're lucky to have a player of Suarez's quality. And he can get better. Just imagine if he converted more of his chances? Or even, if the chances he created for others were taken more regularly!

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  16. Suarez is a great player but there really is no contest here. Messi is the best player I've ever seen. Didn't Messi score 70+ goals last season.... Absolutely awesome.

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  17. Messi is the best player the world has ever seen (thought the barca team is built purely to bring the best out of him).
    Suarez is pure class but not at Messi's level, i noticed you have to call Suarez a cheat however many times again, its quiet sad considering there are however many out there a lot worse then him, but no doubt you will say something like "but he shouldnt cheat and brings the club un-needed attention" the fact of the matter is is if Suarez didnt play for us we would be forgotten about in the media for sure, i think fans like you need to appreciate the fact he fights harder for the team then anyone else! so what if he does the odd stupid thing now and then his effort and dedication to the cause should allow him a bit of slack instead of been called a cheat constantly, give it a rest.

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  18. Very true, he gets booted all over at times

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  19. i didnt vote on this post messi v suarez said at the time it was an unfair poll suarez is in the top ten in the world as iam sure we will find out when we dont get champions league again and the big clubs come in for him in the next transfer windows ps i would have no problem with him leaving why should he stay if fsg do not invest so he can show how good he could become and also the amount of stick he gets of the british public god he gets more stick on lfc websites than man ure

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  20. If Messi has been in Liverpool, he wouldn't have been recognised as a world-class player. Liverpool as a team as not been able to get their subject formula. The team is still using the method of 'TRY AN ERROR'. This is where we can know a player who can perform under terrible condition where we have a team that is not organized.
    If Messi happen to find himself in such, can he deliver?
    Don't let us forget that in the world cup 2010 with Argentina he failed to deliver. Can we remember that?

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  21. As usual a very mis leading "grab them in headline" by LKOP, and in this case untrue. BR said "He plays the false nine role like Messi does for Barcelona." he never compared Suarez to Mess in abaility. You should write for one on the red tops. Youd fit right in.

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  22. You should watch this video if you think Messi doesn't dive or cheat.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSLxa3MYMcw

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  23. Is that not the same World Cup where he set up just about every Argentina goal and hit the woodwork 3 times in the tournament? You seen his goals for Argentina recently?
    Messi wouldn't be considered world class if he played for liverpool? You being serious?

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  24. Perhaps Suarez goes down too easilly because he's not gettign any legitimate decisions from the officials. We've been robbed so many times already this season, it's infuriating. I love what Rodgers is doing for the club though!

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  25. Peter cant agree more...You forgot Messi is sorrounded by Xavi,Iniesta,Sanchez, damn do i have to name the full barca squad to make u realise his squad is better than Suarez's ...would like to see both swap places for a season & we see the double figures you talking about...and to you Jaimie Messi is a saint..

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  26. and were would we be in the league this year without suarez about 12th oh sh2t we are 12th

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  27. Rodgers wasn't making comparisons directly with the players. He was stating that Suarez also plays the false striker role, like Messi and is very important in terms of how the team play. You make out in the article that Rodgers was directly comparing both which is wrong. Pointless survey.

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  28. There is no way Messi would've got 30-40 goals for Liverpool last season, he'd have struggled to get 20, for the most part we were a poor side!

    Suarez is a long way off Messi's level, everyone bar Ronaldo is, but I reckon he'd have got 40+ last season in the Barca side.

    A couple of other areas where Suarez is a match for Messi are set pieces and work rate?? Heading too??

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  29. Picking up on your "Messi doesnt cheat" comment.
    I'm pretty sure I have seen Messi dive! Maybe not the extent of Suarez but he has still dived.
    I think we just have to face that all players can have that cheating side. Some are worse than others though.
    Dont agree with it either!
    There are plenty of videos of Messi diving.

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  30. Fair point with the work rate, he does track back more than Messi.
    I think to say Messi wouldn't have got in the 20s for us last season is a bit ridiculous though, did you not see the amount of chances we created last season and have you not seen the standard of messi's finshing, his timing of runs intothe box, etc?

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  31. Please post evidence of Messi 'diving and play-acting' all the time. If he does it 'all the time' then there must be video evidence, right?

    And Arabee, I'm getting sick of your indirect sniping. In your own words (posted on another LFC site),you are waging a 'low key war' on this site. Yes, you probably didn't think I knew that.

    One more sniping comment and you will be banned forever, with no appeals. Take it or leave it.

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  32. Hey, learn to read: I didn't say it, Brendan Rodgers did, which is why I raised the issue for discussion.

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  33. Messi tries his hardest to stay on his feet

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  34. When Maradona was around I thought we will never c another player like him. Messi is right up there. I also think that Messi plays with better players that's why he scores more goals. If Suarez was at Barca I think he would score as many as goals as Messi.

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  35. well, why messi with argentina haven't win anything and suarez can scor 4 in one game and carry uruguay (uruguay, not ARGENTINA) to win the "coppa america"

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  36. Journalists, pundits, fans of other teams and even idiotic fans of our own team who keep criticising Luis Suarez should just shut the f*ck up and leave the guy alone for once...Suarez is in fact the equivalent of messi or ronaldo here in england. Thats why all the managers from the other teams, especially fergusson, hate him. They are just jealous that we LFC have such an amazing talent and they are doing everything possible to make his life miserable here in an attempt to drive him away. Even if everyone else hates him, at least us the LFC fans should give him our full support so that he knows he is not alone. If even among LFC fans people are criticising him, then in the long run he will feel unwanted and will leave! Is this what you fools want? I personally dont care if he is a racist, a diver, a cheat or whatever b*llsh#t people keep calling him. All i care as a football fan is the footballing aspect of the guy: the enjoyment I get from watching him play football, his determination to win every time, his passion, his fighting spirit, his workrate, his skills etc...The other part of his personality which is not related to his game is irrelevant to me and should be to all you. Even if the liverpool squad is full of convicts as long as we win matches i dont give a damn! As supporters we watch football for the game and as long as we get the entertainement from watching each and everyone of them perform on the pitch thats all that should matter...

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  37. Of course its Messi , he's possibly the greatest of all time , but Luis Suarez wouldn't look out of place in the Barcelona team , a great great player and you should get off his back . Likewise get off Stevie's back

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  38. Please stop writing articles like this. It makes us ALL look like f**king bell-ends.

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  39. A suarez je bio najbolji strijelac i igrac prvenstva...

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  40. barcelona are cheats all of them dive or go down with contact that wouldnt knock over a small child, but you continue with your campain against suarez.... yawn

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  41. to be fair Rodgers didnt make any sort of comparison in terms of the ability of the two! Its not really a comparison because in my opinion messi is currently only comparable with Ronaldo and one of the best players ever (although he does dive/ exaggerate his falls)! I see Gerrard has said suarez is the best forward he has played with, that illustrates the respect his teammates have for him and his ability.

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  42. Suarez is a magician but messi is a wizard end of.

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  43. Why Klaas jan Huntelar will be one of the best things that happened to us in a long period of time.

    He is a goalscoring machine. he can score with his feet or head, from inside and outside the box, he is smart, good technique, and also tall. Has got a lot of experience, but still young enough.
    He will also help our current squad to play better.

    Suarez- taking the pressure off, he won't be the one that has to rescue us with goals(he will score even more). He will have somebody ahead of him that can actually score 2 out of three- Suarez is selfish sometimes, but sometimes doesn't have faith in teammates(Sterling and Shelvey vs Castle, after those their fathers wouldn't pass to them). Being able to run between the lines, with Huntelaar he can be winger, shadow striker, attacking midfielder(imagine 1,2 that starts 25 yards from the goal started by Suarez-he is made for it).

    Steven Gerrard- these days when Steven takes the ball away he has two midfielders nearby, non of which can pass it further better than him, and three similar attackers(I know Suso is different than Sterling but they are both playing wingers, and Suarez is A winger playing no 9)-they all have similar qualities, fast, dribble well, etc... with Huntelaar we gain diversity- an amazing youngster on the wing, someone who pulls two defenders and can put the ball down with header, and also recieve it in his feet and finish the action on a Suarez pass who would have more space wherever he is.

    Downing- I know we all hate him because of those 20 mill and no goals or assists, but please... He has amazing ball(or had, but you don't forget those things) and with somebody in the box that can score a header{Shelvey in Europa} we can use him. and Downing is willing to die for this club because if he leaves he will never again have this kind of salary, nor the opportunity to play for a big club.

    Suso, Sterling and Assaidi would fight for one spot, but would always have two players with them who are expected to score and carry our game- if we don't depend on them they will improve. Having Sterling on the bench would be a great strenght.

    It is only the matter of putting a new piece to the puzzle but BR is master of it, and Huntelaar and our best player are a proven match.
    And yes, he is cheap...

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  44. Messi is peerless and most certainly doesn't dive.

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  45. oh dear, someone is in a grump today!

    not getting enough money from ManUtd adverts?

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  46. Please tell me which site that is, I have never written anything like that, I don't comment on any other site.

    Going to look for some video evidence now, maybe ill find maybe i won't

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  47. Messi used the word "negro" and nothing happend...on the other hand, well, we all know

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  48. the convict metaphor is a bit much but I agree with a lot you say.

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  49. Suarez plays along with the backstreet boys

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  50. Wow, I'd be a bit freaked out that JK seems to be stalking you and checking up what he thinks you are writing on other sites!

    Very very weird.

    Plenty of Messi evidence available - more interesting is whether you will be able to post it up here!

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  51. Here we go again, Jaimie, you and Suarez! Are you suggesting that you are an objective observer here? Tough but fair!? If that's what you think, then you are deluding yourself. Suarez is a genius, Messi is the best. Who cares? Suarez is a loyal Liverpool superstar. Why are you always bugging him?

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  52. we could run this poll again and again. Messi v Rooney, Messi v Van Persie, Messi v Tevez and the list goes on and im pretty sure messi would win all of them.
    And to say Messi doesnt cheat is very naive.
    We have all seen the barca team flopping all over the place and while i admit messi was one of the less guilty he was still flopping and grabbing his legs.
    its same the paper campaign thats going on in england. Suarez goes down his ruining the game, Bale does the same thing and hes avoiding injury. Its all diving but to sell papers you put the guy on it that will sell the papers.
    Messi is the Worlds darling so ofcourse they dont go after him.
    Now i am not saying Messi is a cheat and is no good.
    But he goes down easily just like others and is still the best in the world

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  53. You can also turn it around say playing with sh*t players can make a player look better.

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  54. Yep, he could be as good as Kaka is in a Real Madrid team....

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  55. Messi has been really good for Argentina in the last two years.

    Doesn't matter how good the players are in the team, you have to play as a TEAM (see the underwhelming Galacticos or even City in CL). That is the problem Argentina have had and the problem Uruguay didn't have in the Copa and WC.

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  56. So big teams are jealous that a mid-table side has a talented player, hence all the attention......Righhhhhht(!)

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  57. Its not as if Gerrard has played with a lot of great strikers to be fair, so a easy choice

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  58. THIS IS THE MOST IDIOTIC THING EVER!

    anyone who thinks Suarez is anywhere near Messi must be an absolute moron, who has no eye for the game of football

    there are a fair few ahead of Suarez in the pecking order and whoever is 2nd best is still a country mile behind Lionel Messi

    Messi is one of the top 5 players of all time

    messi's dribbling ability is again undoubtedly far superior to Suarez i dunno what this guy is on about. not to mention Messi's other attributes

    and some of the comments left are bordering on sacrilege

    you people are so dumb and shouldnt be allowed to watch football let alone spout your ridiculous embarrassing opinions on it

    I'm on twitter @dmill187 if any of you wanna try explain yourself with more warm shit

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  59. anyone who thinks suarez is anywhere near messi is an idiot that should be allowed to have an opinion on football

    suarez has a fair few ahead of him in the pecking order but whoever is the 2nd best in the world right now they are still a country mile behind lionel messi

    suarez as good a dribbler as messi? pahahahahahhaha ! DUMB DUMB DUMB NO EYE FOR THE GAME OF FOOTBALL

    tweet me at dmill187 you bunch of ridiculous embarrassing fools

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  60. I think he should lay off for a while. He's completely losing his credibility (if he ever had any).

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  61. He just applied for a job at the Mirror

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  62. I dont think BR said that Suarez was as good as Messi. He said that he thought that Suarez is the same kind of player but for us (which i dont agree with, he is no where near as good, for the reasons that you have listed).

    If I said that little Billy O'Reilly from my brothers under 10s was their Messi, this doesnt mean that Ithink 9 year old Billy is the best player in the world.

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  63. Totally agree with you Mark Dublin

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  64. Can you check How many assits messi has made when comapred entire Barca Squal last season

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  65. Messi doesn't cheat? You sure about that?

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  66. He got the most assists in the league, out of the Barca players. Messi is simply brilliant. No one is near Ronaldo, let alone Messi who is considerably ahead of Ronaldo, imo.

    In terms of cheating, they aren't that far off each other are they, Ronaldo, Suarez and Messi ;)

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  67. and that was for the title I think...

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  68. Yes because none of Owen, Fowler Torres Or Suarez were any good, sure pal

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  69. Well... Messi IS the better player, but only Luis Suarez holds the title of #1 Nutmeg king!!!!!!!!

    Pistoleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrroooooooooooo!

    Long live the king!

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  70. I doubt Luis gives a damn what Jaimie says, let alone all the visiting fans at Anfield, and all the Fans at their various home stadiums, the coaches/managers, opposition players, Ghanaian's and the whole rest of the world bar Uruguayans and Liverpool fans!

    Love him or hate him... He's our Suarez... OUR snake in the grass.

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  71. quick question off topic: How is it that Manure get dubious decisions just about every game to win them? I think that's 4 out of 5 games they have had decisions in their favor? let alone the lights going off mid game when they are being battered...

    How many penalties, red cards, fishy happenings, offside goals, getting players banned for ridiculous amounts of time?

    Just saying...

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  72. Took the words out of my mouth

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  73. To be fair, if you want to look at one dubious decision, you got to look at the others too in the game. Braga got a free kick that De Gea just about saved. But the foul for the free kick was a dive by the Braga player. If the free kick went in, would any of the paranoid lot cared? No, because its against them, so who cares right. City complain about the lack of penalty for Balo (which it obviously was) but they should never have had the free kick in the first place that led to that penalty claim, as Ajax should have had the free kick instead as the Ajax player got on the shin with studs. You know for the Chelsea equaliser in the United game in the league a few weeks ago, a minute before that Man United should have had a penalty for handball but barely anyone mentioned it, because no one cares about it when it goes the other way.


    We may not have gotten the penalties we should have got but we have had some decisions go for us too, such as Sterling not getting a iota of spotlight for his diving in the Everton game, let alone a yellow card, in the build up for one of our goals.

    Been quite pleased as to how lenient CL refs have been this week. Watched two games and highlights, they weren't giving a yellow cards for every single tackle.

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  74. sure... but what about the previous games... I think Manure has had 6 penalties in 8 games?! correct me if I'm wrong...

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  75. Torres at his peak? Owen at his? Fowler? Shearer? Rooney? I rest my case!

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  76. I am not saying they haven't been very lucky this season, I don't deny that and haven't done but just pointing out that Braga had some luck too. Just feel people sometimes focus on what they want to see for their agenda (I may do the same admittedly) and conveniently not look at the rest.

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  77. It's becoming increasingly difficult to call it "luck"

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  78. Well until someone comes up with proper conclusive proof, I'll still view it as paranoia as to the corruption angle some fans like to peddle. Naive maybe but innocent until proven guilty is my view, regardless of the circumstantial waffle.

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  79. saying 'he's our Messi' isn't the same as comparing him to Messi. 'He's our talented player'. Straw man stuff again.

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  80. hey i agree, But people seem to think if you say someone is a cheat then you are automatically saying they are bad players which is the only reason i avoided saying it lol.
    As we can see ifs very possible to be a great player and cheat.

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  81. in the copa america last year me and my son had this same debate and we put it down to the Uruguay v Argentina match we said if Argentina win messi is better and vice versa.

    Uruguay won so we still believe Suarez is better!!!

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  82. everyone talks about suarez cheating. In what WAY? when was the last time u saw Suarez get a decision off a ref? hes joint top scorer and ony 1 of those were from a set piece from witch another player won. Im no Albet Einstine but if Suarez is diving, its not exactly gaining him anything is it? He is joint top scorer because of pure talent. And its only because of Fergison that he has this reputation. Its funny Fergie says one little word and the rest of the league stick to his words like fly's.

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  83. if you cant see a good talented player in Suarez then you are watching the wrong sport

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