Luis Suarez has apologised for boting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic during Liverpool's 2-2 Anfield draw with Chelsea yesterday, and in his post-match press conference, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers made it clear that he'd have no compunction about selling the Uruguayan, who many fans erroneously claim is 'irreplaceable'.
After the game, Rodgers claimed not to have seen the incident, and vowed to take a look and then give his view:
"I’ll go away and review it, and comment later. This is a club with incredible values and ethics, and I’ll make an honest appraisal
"I’ll always speak openly and honestly about the players, and I’ll always defend people if I think they’re right, and if they’re wrong, I’ll tell them, and that has already happened this year with Luis.
"People have to accept it when they do wrong, and they have to accept the consequences accordingly."
When asked if Suarez could be sold in the summer as a result of the incident, he noted:
"It’s not for me to make any rash comments or any predictions now – this football club respects society, and we’ll review it as a club. There’s certainly no one bigger than this football club, as a player or a manager.
"Players are always replaceable. It doesn’t matter how good they think they are. There are wonderful talents here, and when you lose one people think you can’t replace them, but the next one comes along.
"We’re all representing this great football club on and off the field. As I said, now is not the time; we’ll review it, I’ll speak to them [the owners] and talk about it later"
Rodgers also tried to steer the conversation away from Suarez by making a comparison with the Torres elbow incident:
"It’s disappointing that we’re not talking about the football. An no one has mentioned Fernando Torres’ elbow on Jamie Carragher. If we’re talking about incidents in the game then that was a major incident. Carragher was clearly elbowed in the cheekbone".
Rodgers concluded:
"The standards at this football have been maintained for many years, and that’s why it’s the institution that it is. The history of this club is about respect, and how people are treated, and that’s something that will always be maintained here, and will be maintained long after I’m gone".
Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez also claimed he didn't see the incident, and to his credit, he had no desire to talk about the Suarez incident, insisting that he was more concerned about the 6 minutes and 45 seconds worth of injury time added on by referee Kevin Friend.
Suarez later apologised for to 'everyone at Liverpool Football Club for letting them down', and after reviewing the footage, Rodgers labelled the incident aw 'unacceptable'.
I hate to say it, but I told you so. Back in August 2010 - a full five months before Liverpool signed Suarez - I posted an article urging the club to steer clear of the him:
10 reasons why Liverpool should not sign Luis Suarez
In the article, I wrote:
"If Hodgson was to sign Suarez, my support for him would dissipate instantly. He is the complete opposite of everything LFC stands for, and I have no doubt that he will cause problems for the club somewhere down the line, and those problems won't necessarily be cheating-related"
Predictably, I was attacked by fans for having that view, but my concern then - and now - was/is for the reputation and standing of LFC. Suarez has undoubtedly done some serious damage to the club's image over the last two years, and now he's probably dug his own Anfield grave.
Ultimately, fans just don't like hearing the truth, which is what they get when they come to this site (well, my version of the truth, at least). Truth hurts, and if fans insist on being enablers, they will remain complicit in the ongoing degradation of LFC's image and reputation.
Having said all that, I have to admit that the incident is pretty hilarious. Suarez is a character, that's for sure, and it's incredibly amusing that he thought it would be a good idea to bite someone in front of 26 TV cameras and millions of TV viewers across the globe. The jokes just write themselves (!)
Luis Suarez next season? :-)
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
After the game, Rodgers claimed not to have seen the incident, and vowed to take a look and then give his view:
"I’ll go away and review it, and comment later. This is a club with incredible values and ethics, and I’ll make an honest appraisal
"I’ll always speak openly and honestly about the players, and I’ll always defend people if I think they’re right, and if they’re wrong, I’ll tell them, and that has already happened this year with Luis.
"People have to accept it when they do wrong, and they have to accept the consequences accordingly."
When asked if Suarez could be sold in the summer as a result of the incident, he noted:
"It’s not for me to make any rash comments or any predictions now – this football club respects society, and we’ll review it as a club. There’s certainly no one bigger than this football club, as a player or a manager.
"Players are always replaceable. It doesn’t matter how good they think they are. There are wonderful talents here, and when you lose one people think you can’t replace them, but the next one comes along.
"We’re all representing this great football club on and off the field. As I said, now is not the time; we’ll review it, I’ll speak to them [the owners] and talk about it later"
Rodgers also tried to steer the conversation away from Suarez by making a comparison with the Torres elbow incident:
"It’s disappointing that we’re not talking about the football. An no one has mentioned Fernando Torres’ elbow on Jamie Carragher. If we’re talking about incidents in the game then that was a major incident. Carragher was clearly elbowed in the cheekbone".
Rodgers concluded:
"The standards at this football have been maintained for many years, and that’s why it’s the institution that it is. The history of this club is about respect, and how people are treated, and that’s something that will always be maintained here, and will be maintained long after I’m gone".
Chelsea boss Rafa Benitez also claimed he didn't see the incident, and to his credit, he had no desire to talk about the Suarez incident, insisting that he was more concerned about the 6 minutes and 45 seconds worth of injury time added on by referee Kevin Friend.
Suarez later apologised for to 'everyone at Liverpool Football Club for letting them down', and after reviewing the footage, Rodgers labelled the incident aw 'unacceptable'.
I hate to say it, but I told you so. Back in August 2010 - a full five months before Liverpool signed Suarez - I posted an article urging the club to steer clear of the him:
10 reasons why Liverpool should not sign Luis Suarez
In the article, I wrote:
"If Hodgson was to sign Suarez, my support for him would dissipate instantly. He is the complete opposite of everything LFC stands for, and I have no doubt that he will cause problems for the club somewhere down the line, and those problems won't necessarily be cheating-related"
Predictably, I was attacked by fans for having that view, but my concern then - and now - was/is for the reputation and standing of LFC. Suarez has undoubtedly done some serious damage to the club's image over the last two years, and now he's probably dug his own Anfield grave.
Ultimately, fans just don't like hearing the truth, which is what they get when they come to this site (well, my version of the truth, at least). Truth hurts, and if fans insist on being enablers, they will remain complicit in the ongoing degradation of LFC's image and reputation.
Having said all that, I have to admit that the incident is pretty hilarious. Suarez is a character, that's for sure, and it's incredibly amusing that he thought it would be a good idea to bite someone in front of 26 TV cameras and millions of TV viewers across the globe. The jokes just write themselves (!)
Luis Suarez next season? :-)
Jaimie Kanwar
NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)
thanks for my honourable mention in the article!
ReplyDeletesuarez is your best enemy jk..how interested your to bring his bad sides as quick as possible..where you were when he scored hat trick? ,when scored wonder goals?? when shortlisted for PFA player award?? ..
ReplyDeleteLuis plays on the edge of genius and insanity, yet Jermaine Defoe bit Mascherano and received only a yellow card. There is a precedent for this and the player walked, why won't Suarez?????...........................ummm???
ReplyDeleteAs much as I wouldnt want him to leave (purely footballing reasons), I think that could have been the last straw.
ReplyDeleteBut Ivanovic, must surely take some blame in all of this, if his arm wasnt near his mouth he wouldnt have been tempted.
suarez is superb end of hes coming round to mine for dinner i,am cooking the fava beans hes bringing the chianti mr kanwar you can come to and be the meat, sorry supply the meat
ReplyDeleteReally?! How can you expect an lfc site to not have an article about Luis Suarez biting someone? Stop defending him, I hope he gets sold for 50 mill in the summer and that we actually buy a quality replacement!
ReplyDeletebecause there are different rules for suarez have we not learned anything from the john terry scenario ,one rule for 99.99% of players different rules for suarez
ReplyDeleteIs it because Defoe plays for England???.
ReplyDeletethe thing is if we sell syarez quality replacements are the last thing we will get,truefully without suarez were mid table at best and no world class player will want to join us him and gerrard are the only to big names we have left,without them we will be like sunderland and villa
ReplyDeleteSuarez must be punished by the club for sure. First a handball resulting a penalty and then this. Shameful act. Probably he is looking for an excuse to leave in the summer. The club should not tolerate this kind of behavior from any palyer
ReplyDeletewell lets put it this way shearer ,schoals and others have got away with murder for years
ReplyDeletelol the handball was accidental he was nudged by torres
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Tony, why do you try and justify Suarez's actions by reference to what other players do? Does Defoe play for Liverpool? Does he have a LONG history of negative behaviour? Did he already receive a ban for biting someone? How does making lame excuses help LFC? How does it stop the sh1tstorm of negative publicity damaging the club's reputation?
ReplyDeleteWhy is it every time Suarez does something wrong fans just try and find whatever they can do justify it?
If el Hadj Diouf had bit someone whilst at LFC, I doubt you'd be making the same argument.
Yes, poor little victim Luis. Always victimised by the press. It's so out of order, especially since he never does anything to warrant such vitriol.
ReplyDeleteWhat Suarez did was an absolute disgrace, and he's left the club in a seriously difficult situation. The club and fans have stuck by the guy through hard times before, and in essence he has threw it back in our faces and let LFC and the fans down. He's brought shame on the club. Suarez behaving like that could force the club's arm to sell and it would be a true pity, because it's been a long time since LFC fans have got to watch a player of such amazing ability every weekend. He really is world class and has the ability and passion to go down in history as an LFC legend, but actions like that will leave the club with little choice but to sell. Don't fool yourself though Jamie, Suarez is irreplaceable. He's probably in the top 5 players in the world, and at a time when Liverpool are short on world class players right now. The only other who can be considered world class is Gerrard, and the guy is in the twilight of his career. Sure if we sold Suarez we could reinvest the money on 'good' players, but given our record in the transfer market over the last few years I wouldn't be confident. Without Suarez, and it pains me to say this, Liverpool are effectively a mid-table team at the moment. Suarez is key to the redevelopment programme at Anfield, but let him shame the club at his own peril. Not many (if any) other clubs and fans in the world would support and defend him in the way LFC has, and nowhere else would he be so adored. If Suarez were to leave I would be very sad as he's probably the most exciting player since John Barnes, but nobody should be allowed to bring shame on our club. *YNWA
ReplyDeleteBoting? lol
ReplyDeleteOf course we must mitigate this, If possible. The FA deal with Suarez differently to other players, the Defoe situation is 100% valid as he is English and yet again walks. Luis was wrong but he will be punished but he should not be given any worse a punishment than any other player.
ReplyDeleteDid Fergie bin Cantona, Rooney, Rio etc for serious incidents recently????, no he did not. Liverpool should withdraw Luis before he gets banned and give him anger management therapy!!
Exactly so Jas but im not condoning what Luis did, I want the FA to give him the same even-handed treatment that Defoe received, Is that too much to ask???
ReplyDeleteYes, all doom and gloom. You don't know that quality replacements won't come in, and history totally contradicts you. Many people thought we wouldn't get a quality replacement for Torres, and in came Suarez. Good players always come along, and if Suarez leaves, another top player wil come in. He may not play in the same style as Suarez, but who cares? A striker's job is to score goals, and if someone comes in and scores 25 goals a season but doesn't have the same skill level, that will be fine.
ReplyDeleteyour a fool
ReplyDeleteGomez? That would be nice!
ReplyDeleteIt's a different scenario because the ref actually saw the Defoe incident whereas the Suarez scenario will have to be dealt with by the FA
ReplyDeleteBut this is the problem with the FA laws, Defoes incident was seen by the ref, so no further action gets taken, where-as Suarez's wasn't, so they can take action. Still Suarez deserves a ban. I think he will get 5 games.
ReplyDeleteFA isn't like the legal system, in terms of placing importance on the doctrine of precedence. Also like force said/implied, Kevin Friend may not have seen the incident, whereas the ref in Defoe incident did. Potentially a big difference there, which means the circumstances aren't the same. (Its a stupid rule though, where the FA won't intervene if a ref has already dealt with it)
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, just because Defoe got away with it lightly, doesn't mean Suarez should too.
Hmm. Clubs will still want him but after this, he has put us in a bit more of a difficult position, in terms of negotiation power, maybe.
ReplyDeleteIts a stupid rule. FA should have a retrospective committee like the MLS and French do, who can still act regardless of whether the ref has seen it or not.
ReplyDeleteRight let's get one thing straight. What Luis Did was completely wrong. He has no excuse for it and both LFC will punish him accordingly and you know the FA will punish him as harshly as any foreigner can get. (John Terry Anyone). Luis has admitted he was wrong and let himself and LFC down badly and has apologised to all concerned and in person to Ivanovic who to his credit no pun intended didn't make a meal of it. So basically the guy made a mistake and has said sorry to everyone who was injured by his actions. It is now up to LFC and the FA (God help Luis) to decide on his punishment. What everyone seems to forget here is that although he made a terrible mistake the guy is a human being and we all have moments and actions we can hang our heads in shame over. Yes as mistakes go his was a whopper but he didn't murder anyone or bite Ivanovic's arm off so why not keep the Witch hunt to the appropriate level. Obviously Luis has anger management issues and requires the help of a psychologist to deal with these and had he born in this country it would probably have been spotted in his school years and treated accordingly as our system is more advanced than in his native Uruguay. We all recognise what a talented footballer he is and a flawed genius like so many others such as Best or Cantona or Maradona. The point is his flaw has been exposed he requires treatment for it and when all is said and done none of us are perfect. Luis will learn this harsh lesson, he is in the last chance saloon and hopefully LFC give him the opportunity to redeem himself. Cantona turned out ok and his crime was far worse.
ReplyDeleteMan United did ban Cantona for four months (basically till the end of that season), before FA imposed a heavier ban.
ReplyDeletewhat ever way we look at the whole agrument what is selling him going to achieve and if he doesn't have the morality to play for lfc again then does he have the right to ply his trade for another club the fact is he is bringing his own name down not liverpool's as we are not supporting his actions john barnes has a great view on the fiasco, I don't no if we are aloud to put links to other websites but here it is http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/328/8665107/-
ReplyDeleteI can honestly see where you are coming from and I am
ReplyDeletenot going to make any excuses for what suarez has done as it is inexcusable but the fact is we have to punish him and move on there is no reason for us having to sell him I mean what is that going to achieve, players on other teams have done poor things but that doesn't mean that the club go out and dump the player i say we deal with things internally and move on like fergie did with cantona at the end of the day he new that the guy was a quality player so we should take a leaf from his book.
What the fuck was he thinking? I just can't comprehend it. Do you think he has mental problems?
ReplyDeleteTalk about selective journalism! You said last night Rodgers would support Suarez and hours later Rodgers did the opposite condemning his behaviour. You got that completely wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou also wrote last night about how sturridge should've started based on how he started the second half. This is naive and wrong. Leaving sturridge on the bench clearly meant when he came on he was hungry and changed the game.
Back to Suarez, John Barnes on talksport did a great interview this morning making some excellent points. What Suarez dd was entirely wrong but if we decide to sell him then who will buy him? If his actions reflect the club's morals then they reflect the morals of whichever club he signs for.
Ironically if anything this little incident may make Suarez even more loyal to lfc and mean he stays for longer.
Maradona, zidane, cantona's, keane. Great players can have a dark side. Suarez clealy needs help with his without compromising his greatness.
For every one of your told you so articles there'll be two where you were wider of the mark.......
Nice to see Rodgers is not afraid to state there is nobody irreplaceable and that he could make any decision. I hope there is no Luis Suarez in the LFC roster any more come August.
ReplyDeleteIf both the club and the player make a serious commitment to clean up his act, than it is somewhere palatable for him to stay. The club can't afford to be evasive and hope to brush it under the rug as soon as possible, just because he is the star player. Got to be some proper act by the club to illustrate they mean business in terms of not putting up with this kind of stuff from Suarez.
ReplyDeletewell at least your hero john barnes agrees with me that we should keep suarez ,doe,s that make barnes a lesser hero now in your eyes
ReplyDeleteLovely Luis is going nowhere, I dont agree with removing his nashers, or muzzeling him. As with most of Luis actions and his attitude to football they are those a child. Liverpool players can be bitten without action Defoe bit Mascherano but we know Luis will get a ban 4 probably 4 or 5 games.
ReplyDeleteme to but we all know its not going to happen
ReplyDeleteI agree Jaimie, it's actually a f***ing hilarious sight. It just happened so suddenly. The way he bit him after suddenly turning his head toward his arm was priceless
ReplyDeleteTHERE ARE ONLY TWO PLAYERS IN THE WORLD WHO COULD REPLACE SUAREZ AND THEY'D COST MORE.
ReplyDeletejaimie hes not a victim he deserves his punishment but he only deserves the same kind of punishment as defoe its called even handness
ReplyDeleteWhat was Suarez doing in our penalty area ? he would keep defenders out of it by staying up - why was Sturrisge not on from the start, two very obvious poor management decisions.
ReplyDeleteEr, no. Why would it? He's entitled to his opinion just like anyone else.
ReplyDeleteWhat Suarez did is indefensible but was funny for anyone bar Ivanovic the fancy Serb dish.
ReplyDeleteThe FA though have to go by precedent as there is a precedent to this when Defoe fancied an Argie and PACMANed Mascherano' arm but was not punished because the FA accepted the ref had seen and dealt with the incident.
I would still not jump on the sell Suarez bandwagon because to date I have not seen a top player sold because he was controversial and the Defoe example is a case in point because he was not sold for his vampiric bite but did leave for Pompey but his past indiscretion did not deter Spurs resigning him. Cantona and Rio both got 8 month bans for violence and non adherence to drug testing but were not sold for this and later went on to become club legends.
Chelses fans are frothing which may incidentally provide Suarez with a dessert but are clamouring for Mourinho to return despite his eye gourging tendencies.
I would want Suarez to clean up his act but don't want him sold. He is in an unfortunate position in which whenever he does something, his past indiscretions he was punished for from before he touched down in England is brought into play when he is being judged though he doesn't help himself.
I don't see many saying a player received a red card last season so when he repeats an offence that last red should be shouted about.
The PFA remained quiet about a horror tackle that went unpunished 2 weeks ago but commented on this munching incident the very same day it happened.
Since Downing was not doing much on the pitch, why did he not pass Suarez his beloved mate brew after Ivanovic served the nibblets without sauce?
Precisely!!!
ReplyDeleteWhen you go for a header or when you get nudged your hands don't go up. It's human nature and reflexes. It was deliberate.
ReplyDeletejust saying barnes sees the bigger picture
ReplyDeletesorry m8 got to disagree on that one
ReplyDeleteSaying thigns liek I told you so amkes you sound pathetic
ReplyDeleteHow can you make a million predictions and when you finally right say i told you so
ReplyDeleteYea i disagree also, you try jumping with your hands by your side, and see how 'natural' it feels...
ReplyDeleteI've just had a browse around on other LFC forums and it's amazing and pathetic that the majority are still make allowances and excuses for his behavior. Mainly arguing that he scored the equalizer so we should just slap his wrist.
ReplyDeleteSuarez is a disgrace to Liverpool. The FA should ban him for a lengthy period, fined both by the FA and the club and then sold in he summer to highest bidder. I don't want players that dirty the Liverpool name at the club. I don't care if it's Gerrard or Messi, it's about ethics.
So disappointing.
Plus I remember when Jamie made the "10 reasons why we should not sign Suarez" article and a mass of people where attacking him because of this, and remember he said that the controversy wouldn't necessary just be cheating related. Well, Jamie, you Sir are vindicated.
Sell him in the summer.
I dont think they will sell him. for a number of reasons. 1, clearly he is our best player, 2 will other teams be as interested in him now? 3, his transfer value will have probably just dropped by 10 million. 4, Ian Ayre has said they dont want to.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand I think they should to send a message, and out of priciple. But on the other I dont purely because he is (when behaving himself) exceptional, and im not sure how easily we would replace him.
He should and will get a ban, but will it teach him enough of a lesson? Im not sure... I thought he was getting better, but he almost seems to have a relapse every few months.
Suarez has been fined 2 weeks wages approx £260,000, the fine has been donated to the HFSG........................NOW THAT IS A GOOD GESTURE!!!
ReplyDeletegood gesture by suarez. condemnation where condemnation is due, but credit always where credit's due.
ReplyDeleteLFC choosing only to fine Suarez is a disgrace. Forget getting rid of Suarez, it's Ian Ayre should should be sacked. He is the defacto head of LFC, and his handling of everything club-related is an absolute joke.
ReplyDeleteand as the owners have probabley told ian ayres what to say maybe we should sack them two,jaimie the club will not sack him no club would
ReplyDeletei dont think you can believe him, he can hardly say we are selling him, he would go for free. you have said so yourself about other players. i suppose your argument is we shouldnt put business before anything, but i dont think its viable: there is no point halving his value
ReplyDeleteExactly. Calling for Ayre's head is stupid. Half his job is to play pretend politics anyway. He knows what he's doing.
ReplyDeleteNo, my argument is that Ayre should've pushed for a Suarez ban. He should've convinced the owners this was the right course of action, and he should've refrained from eulogising Suarez in his 'punishment' speech. This is not too much to ask.
ReplyDeleteIt's not stupid at all. Ayre is responsible for LFC's response to major incidents. He screwed up the Suarez-Evra response with unnecessary defensiveness, and now this. He should go.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the big deal, he been fined, he will get banned done? Matters over, why would we sell a world class player? everyone saying we done the right thing by coming out and saying he will be dealt with. Lets all move on now, lets talk about Sturridge and he will now get a chance to play down the middle:) see how him and coutinho link up
ReplyDeleteDear God the faux outrage surrounding this is incredible. Grandiose talks of crisis and the club in an extremely difficult situation etc etc.
ReplyDeleteReally? I mean really? We're a mid table team on the back page of every worthwhile newspaper in the world why sacrifice the lamb. Does Suarez have mental issues? probably. Is he a sublime footballer? definitely.
Liverpools good name, moral, ethics or any other clubs for that matter? Where does this come from? Do you really think morals or ethics come into play at any Premiership. Have you seen them hotdog things they sell at anfield? Give me a break. all that eroded 20 years ago by the way and the almighty Liverpool were at the forefront of pushing for that change. Unfortunately we then bungled the advantage we gave ourselves every step of the way since. Characters like Suarez are keeping Liverpool on the back page of every worthwhile newspaper in the world. Without the controversy we are a mere mid table club. If that's what you want, put yourself out of your misery, save yourself the wait and go support forest. For the ones to young to remember and ask questions like "who's this Nicol fella keep shouting his mouth off", they are one of only 8 clubs to win back to back European cups.
RIP Ivanovic, Chelsea, the children, Liverpools morals, ethics, high horses, English way of life... you will be sadly missed
Exactly my point, well said.
ReplyDeleteDefend who? I was saying Suarez should be sold!
ReplyDeleteA disgrace to humanity. Really. Writing comments on your fancy internet whilst children are starving all over the world. You're a disgrace to humanity.
ReplyDelete100% with you mate. The Evra incident had the facts so muddied up with 18 different interpretations that even I wasn't sure where to stand with LS. This, however, is black and white. Pure and simple Suarez is a cheat and a thug and has no place at Anfield. You don't bite a player for the second time in your career and try and pass it off as something that can be remedied. This is a chronic problem that even the "he grew up playing street ball" arguement can't bail out.
ReplyDeleteI love watching him play more than any player today, even Messi because I'm watching a genius play for my liverpool football club. But the club just fining him and donating the money to make it seem ok is just laughable (if you read her comments, even the chair of the HFSG said they would have rather him not offered the money in light of he insident it is tied back to).
"No one is bigger than the club!"
LFC should have banned him for the rest of the season and since they fell well short of that with their punishment, it shows that LS has become bigger than the club. We think we can't operate without him. The reputation of LFC that has been built over 121 years but is currently being dragged in the mud by LS and if we keep this empathy up towards incidences like this we might not have a reputation in-tact.
One of the best I've seen play for us but it's time to cut him lose. Even if its a 35-40mil, we need to take money and continue our rebuilding project without the terrible press that has followed us ever since LS joined
Would you rather get 15m for Suarez or 35-40m? I rest my case.
ReplyDelete