2 Oct 2012

Redknapp warns: 'Electrifying' LFC star must follow Real Madrid striker's example...

last week, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed that he'd contacted Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) Mike Riley to discuss the alleged ongoing victimisation of Luis Suarez by Premier League referees. The chat seems to have made no immediate impact as the Uruguayan was denied another stonewall penalty during Saturday's 5-2 thrashing of Norwich City, and I think most people would concede that Suarez deserved the decision on that occasion. Unfortunately, Suarez's deserved reputation for diving goes before him these days, and ex-Reds midfielder Jamie Redknapp called on the striker to follow the example of ex-Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

Analysing Suarez's performance after the game, Redknapp - who spent 12 years at Liverpool, making 308 appearances along the way - praised Suarez's 'electrifying' performance against Norwich, but urged the striker to clean up his act. He said:

"Now he [Suarez] has to overcome the problem with referees assuming he has dived in the area.

"Less theatrics would help and he can do it. Cristiano Ronaldo overcame the same problem."


In football - as in life - you reap what you sow, and the reality is that Suarez has a well-earned reputation for diving/going down easily, and whilst it's irritating that decisions are not going Liverpool's way, it's understandable given the Uruguayan's past infractions.

I'm not saying it's right for referees to get it wrong; it's not, but this a 'boy who cries wolf' situation, and it's not something that is easily fixable. It's all well and good Rodgers being indignant over Suarez's treatment, but what does he expect? Suarez has brought this situation on himself (and the club), and as Redknapp suggests, he's going to have to work hard to change perceptions, and in my view, that means the following:

* The Suarez trademark: No more leaving the leg in and 'tripping' over the defender's trailing leg in a bid to make it look like a deliberate trip.

* No more swan-dives to the ground at the slightest brush of contact.

* A conscious decision to stay on his feet, even if there is an easy option to go down.

Despite Rodgers' very public complaints, I don't see anything changing for Suarez until he's made a concerted effort over time to change this aspect of his game.

In the meantime, his reputation will cost Liverpool more lost penalty decisions, but hopefully Suarez will be scoring goals regularly so it won't make as much of a difference.

Jaimie Kanwar


41 comments:

  1. I believe that the "Boy who cried wolf" is called Alex Ferguson.

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  2. the way i see it...again its a matter of consistency...why only suarez?? There are a lot of divers in EPL..for example Rooney, Young, Bale etc but they dont get victimised like Suarez...and guys like Young (who was publicly warned by SAF about diving) still dives and somehow still get their calls even though they already have reputations as divers...do you really think, a foul like Barnett on Suarez, if it were to happen on Young at Old Trafford, the referee would not give it...i personally don think so...So my 2 cents worth = if referees want to referee based on reputation than EPL have a bigger problem than they think. Just be fair based on what they see on matchday.

    And P.S : C.Ronaldo never "overcame the same problem". He plays for ManU. He just kept on diving all the way to La Liga and won a major share of bad calls for his dive. And still dives.

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  3. Has anyone ever counted the number of points MU got from Ronaldo's diving? and the impact on the number of titles they 'won'?

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  4. I just can't believe that u and lots of journalist in British press put the blame solely on Suarez. If Suarez was British he would most of the time got the pens. Like Rooney for example. In England is protect your own and punish the foreign ones. Terry(4games) Suarez(8). No need to say anything else.

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  5. Well said RockMalaya. Couldn't agree more

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  6. The sole purpose of a referee in any game is to remain impartial. Regardless of reputations they are to remain impartial and apply the rules of the game.When you you have rerees applying rules as they see fit because of 'reputations' the officialdom has become as corrupt as the very pwople who they perceive to be the wrong doers. I dont like divers or diving. But, hate corrupt and weak minded officials more.

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  7. Just one more thing. None of us are proffesional footballers. Many dont see or grasp what happens on the pitch. Defenders are from saints. I dont like diving. I also dont like dirty players. Sly pinches hear. Words in the ear. Dirty tackles through the back. Im trying to justify diving. But if somone was kicking lumps out of me id prob try and send them off. Divings part of the game. Always has been. It was here before johnny foreigner. They showed us how to do it properly.

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  8. It doesn't matter, referees should only give decisions based on what they see. If they see a clear foul, they can't just think, "oh hang on, this guy goes down easily sometimes, better not give it just in case he somehow dived." Like Gideonsupert, they are meant to be impartial. Games in the past should have no relevance whatsoever.

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  9. The FA need to take action on it, thats the only way to stop it. Have someone review a game after its finished, and if a player is seen to be diving or 'cheating' to gain a sugnificant advantage, i.e. a penalty etc... then apply a yellow card after the game. The cards will soon start to add up and players will have to serve a ban. It would then in future make playes think twice about it.

    Suarez is bad, and it really bugs me when you see your own players so blatantly diving, but so many players do it.

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  10. I find it really funny that everyone associated with football has come out with Suarez's reputation as justification for not awarding a penalty.
    Well, reputation should matter when there is an element of doubt in making decision. Not when it is as clear as writing on stonewall.
    I think, Premier League referees are doing too much moral policing and as Aguero stated, foreign players are targeted more for setting examples of heavy punishments.
    As a referee their job is to take a decision based on what they see on the pitch, not based on what they believe about the player involved.

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  11. Manure have practice sessions on diving simulation daily.
    It is in their training manual.

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  12. And protect Fergie at all cost.

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  13. Corruption is the root of all evil. Corruption has been rife in the bpl for years. the FA must ban footballers, managers and any person involved in the sport to own race horses. Horse Racing is the Root of corruption.

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  14. F(ergies) A(ssociation) will nave none of that. Wishful thinking Will.

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  15. Lets start a campaign whereby FIFA must review every referee's performance after a game. Points deduction system for bad performance and suspension from refereeing games.
    this would put these MIB in line.


























    l

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  16. This post is purely about your dislike of suarez, last week you done another on him he replied with a hatrick and an assist.

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  17. Bent referee's don't help!!!

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  18. jamie is anite liverpool an always has been he talks out ov hes back side

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  19. and against mufc we was robbed by the ref evens and van should have been sent off if jonjo was and the ref called that a pen wot a joke that was a dive

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  20. Other stakeholders in this situation may have to do better themselves but Suarez himself has to do better, that is all he can do to better situation. No use moaning about other people, if you aren't going to help yourself. Not excusing the refs, etc, as they need to do better. All this situation and articles like this does is feed the paranoia of some fans on both sides of the spectrum, whether it be the usual nauseating anti-LFC waffle or the anti-establishment waffle, etc, or whatever is your repetitive poison.

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  21. If you look at the Norwich game...

    Suarez wasn't diving all over the place and constantly complaining. He didn't bring his usual antics to the game. He was less angered and frustrated.

    He walked away with 3 goals and 1 assist.

    Does it mean something?

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  22. I was going to post that thread was prob stuck on the dressing room wall by BR. But i couldnt be bothered. So there it is. :)

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  23. Talking about reputations. How about Fergie whinging that the ref didnt give utd another 45mins at old trafford to win the game. Is that considered fair game by the FA.

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  24. He walked away with 3 goals, 1 assist and the match ball to the cheers of the Liverpool fans.

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  25. how many games did manure win last season on extra time? there was a game that went on for almost 10mins on extra time and equalized. Fergie is an 'eyecon'. nuff sed

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  26. Well said tedious poison is right

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  27. Is there a rule for complaining about injury time? If so, lock all managers up I say!

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  28. Did you complain when we scored that injury time winner (I think Kuyt) against Arsenal last year.....in the ELEVENTH/TWELFTH minute? But I guess it was for us, so who gives a monkeys, only when its against us or by someone else, that is when it matters to have a moan(!) Got to love football tribalism(!)

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  29. I would of thought the 45 mins remark would have shown it was a flippant tongue in cheek remark. I was expecting a few dogs of the utd persuasion to bite. I guess not. :)

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  30. I can think of the Tottenham game in 2009 when thanks to a C.Ronaldo dive, they earned a penalty and got back into the game. Supposedly, C.Ronaldo had learnt not to dive by then... It appears that my memory and that of many others, except a few, failed to register this honourable change in his sportsmanship.

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  31. I think it's more the hypocrisy that gets up people's nose, Original. Fergie had the gall to say that Utd should have been given more injury time purely because they were "trying to win the game". Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely a team that was leading 3-1 at OT was indeed trying to win the game?
    Also, now he's had his rant (or "mindgame" as his fauning media luvvies like to call it), we all know they will play 'Next goal wins' at United's next home game. So long as it's a United goal, obviously......

    Paranoid?
    Moi?

    :(

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  32. I think it was an equaliser. And it was 'genuine' injury time - Carra had been unconscious for about 6 mins - instead of '30 secs to make a sub' injury time......

    And yes it was us. And it shut Wenger up a treat.

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  33. At the time, I didn't think that 12 minutes was justified. Couple of minutes too long but that is just my view. If anything, Wenger was moaning, more than usual, about it after the game ;)

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  34. And how many times did we get these? The point is Manure gets these benefits more than
    any other PL team. I hope you get the point now

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  35. Hypocrisy...what manager isn't full of it? ;)

    Doesn't get up my nose, as every manager is at it, when it comes to hypocritically talking rubbish/stirring the pot before and after the game for the purpose of getting some upperhand/influence/exposure or to simply talk crap for no reason. But of course, Ferguson is the pantomine villain and sith lord for fans, who is just plain evil and up there with Saddam, so the fans love to have a go (like me earlier ;) ), which is no surprise. The likes of Martinez, Big Sam and Pulis are some of the worse out there for some of the hypocritical crap they come out with but they barely get any grief for it from the wider audience, like the likes of Mancini, Ferguson and Wenger do. But I guess that is one of the negatives of being so up the food chain.

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  36. I don't know how many times we get these or how many times they get them, I haven't kept a record of each time we get them. Got the point you were making before but like I said, I don't know how many times they won in 'extra time', so I can't agree or disagree, as to whether it is a abnormal or unwarranted amount. Do you know or are you just simply assuming its a automatically worrying amount that plays up to the stereotype?

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  37. Can be tricky, stereotypes

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  38. Yeah agree completely. if he did not try to act like he's just been shot, it would go a long way. he has a fair bit of work to do to undo what he has created.

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  39. Jaimie writes ONLY melancholic articles about Suarez.He just wrote one claming SUarez wants to move out.Cant all of you guys not suspect Jaimie's mission here?

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  40. It just smacks of double-standards. When Rafa does it, it's a "rant"; when Fergie does it, it's "mind games".

    I don't think there is any pantomime associated with Ferguson, certainly his "fncking perch" comment was from no child-orientated traditional British Christmas entertainment, usually based on nursery tales and featuring stock characters in costume who sing, dance, and perform skits......... !!

    He IS evil, and they ARE all out to get us.

    :(

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