Last week, Jamie Carragher questioned Robin Van Persie's loyalty to Manchester United, and accused the striker of 'letting down' his manager, David Moyes. The Dutchman seems to be unhappy at Old Trafford right now, and Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has joined Carra in condemning Van Persie's attitude.
In his column for The Telegraph today, Hansen slammed £24m Van Persie for 'complaining' about his team-mates after the recent Olympiakos loss; criticised him for creating an 'amazingly difficult' problem for Moyes, and suggested the striker is damaging United's togetherness. He observed:
"His [RVP's] reaction to being subbed at West Bromwich Albion ensures that everyone is now focusing on him and his future. There is no smoke without fire and the doubt surrounding RVP is the last thing Moyes needs.
"When you are struggling, unity is key [and] there is no way you will get to where you want be, though, if one of the first names on the team-sheet is constantly being linked with a move away or is showing signs of dissent"
Whenever I read comments like this, it just reminds of the rampant hypocrisy that pervades the modern game, and I feel compelled to highlight it. Hansen talks about the importance of 'unity', and how damaging it is for star players to show 'dissent' and create a situation where they're 'constantly linked with a move away'.
Hmmm. That sounds familiar...
I don't recall Hansen saying the same things last summer when Luis Suarez showed constant 'dissent' and disrupted LFC's 'unity' with his desperate (and repeated) attempts to get out of Anfield.
Suarez's brazen and unapologetic attempts to leave were far worse than anything perpetrated by RVP. I understand loyalty to your own team, but when this kind of double-standard is displayed, it (arguably) affects the credibility of any point being made.
Don't get me wrong - I love to see ex-Reds slam Man United, and I wish it would happen more often (!), but there should (IMO) be less blatant hypocrisy involved. I just don't see how Hansen can legitimately criticise RVP in this manner when he stayed conspicuously silent during Suarez's 'come and get me' pleas to Arsenal and Real Madrid.
At least Carra is consistent. Last summer, he slammed Suarez's behaviour as 'unacceptable', and urged Brendan Rodgers to 'take him out of the group' to prevent distractions having an adverse impact on team morale.
In any event, RVP doesn't seem like a happy man at the moment, and that bodes well for this Sunday's crunch game with Liverpool at Old Trafford. Sod's law, though - Van Persie will probably sort everything out with Moyes this week, and go into the game full of confidence...
Author: Jaimie K
In his column for The Telegraph today, Hansen slammed £24m Van Persie for 'complaining' about his team-mates after the recent Olympiakos loss; criticised him for creating an 'amazingly difficult' problem for Moyes, and suggested the striker is damaging United's togetherness. He observed:
"His [RVP's] reaction to being subbed at West Bromwich Albion ensures that everyone is now focusing on him and his future. There is no smoke without fire and the doubt surrounding RVP is the last thing Moyes needs.
"When you are struggling, unity is key [and] there is no way you will get to where you want be, though, if one of the first names on the team-sheet is constantly being linked with a move away or is showing signs of dissent"
Whenever I read comments like this, it just reminds of the rampant hypocrisy that pervades the modern game, and I feel compelled to highlight it. Hansen talks about the importance of 'unity', and how damaging it is for star players to show 'dissent' and create a situation where they're 'constantly linked with a move away'.
Hmmm. That sounds familiar...
I don't recall Hansen saying the same things last summer when Luis Suarez showed constant 'dissent' and disrupted LFC's 'unity' with his desperate (and repeated) attempts to get out of Anfield.
Suarez's brazen and unapologetic attempts to leave were far worse than anything perpetrated by RVP. I understand loyalty to your own team, but when this kind of double-standard is displayed, it (arguably) affects the credibility of any point being made.
Don't get me wrong - I love to see ex-Reds slam Man United, and I wish it would happen more often (!), but there should (IMO) be less blatant hypocrisy involved. I just don't see how Hansen can legitimately criticise RVP in this manner when he stayed conspicuously silent during Suarez's 'come and get me' pleas to Arsenal and Real Madrid.
At least Carra is consistent. Last summer, he slammed Suarez's behaviour as 'unacceptable', and urged Brendan Rodgers to 'take him out of the group' to prevent distractions having an adverse impact on team morale.
In any event, RVP doesn't seem like a happy man at the moment, and that bodes well for this Sunday's crunch game with Liverpool at Old Trafford. Sod's law, though - Van Persie will probably sort everything out with Moyes this week, and go into the game full of confidence...
Author: Jaimie K
Simple difference is that Luis Suarez did all of his 'brazen and unapologetic' attempts to leave during the off season and not during a time where the team was struggling and with heightened media attention upon the management.
ReplyDeleteAh, I see. And the excuses/justifications begin :-D
ReplyDeleteWell he tried to get himself sent off but the ref upset his plans.
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Bit of a catch 22 situation though. If they criticised their own club they'd be accused of disloyalty and undermining the club/manager/players. if they don't they couldn't say anything about other clubs without being accused of hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteI don't really get the point of this article. So Alan Hansen didn't (to your - no doubt - accurate knowledge of everything he does) have a go at Luis Suarez in the summer but is at Robin Van Persie. The situations are completely different. Suarez was agitating for a move during pre-season and his suspension, so he wasn't in the team and it clearly had no negative effect on Liverpool because they started the season flying. When he came back into the team, he'd accepted he wasn't going anywhere and just concentrated on doing what he does best - putting the ball in the net. However, at Manchester United, Van Persie's apparent unhappiness certainly isn't helping his team with the struggles they're having - and it's the topical news story of the day. I'm sure if it was role reversals in terms of the teams involved then Alan would be saying the same thing - though maybe with a little less relish.
ReplyDeleteIt's James' point of view...just as you have yours. Ridiculing comments by classifying them as excuses or justifications is uncalled for
ReplyDeleteJamie will only rest when Suarez is sold...
ReplyDeleteOf course you are hurt by hansen you support man utd...every day you write some negative garbage about lfc
ReplyDeleteThis article is not about Suarez; it is about Hansen's double standards. As per usual though, you - like so many others - have picked out something that conforms to your personal expectations, and ignored what the article is actually about.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should get off your high horse and acknowledge the smily face at the end of my comment, which means it's lighthearted.
ReplyDeleteAh I see, it's ok for you to express your opinion on your site but if anyone else expresses an opinion, they're making excuses. Come down out of your ivory tower and take part in an intelligent debate rather then putting down peoples opinions.
ReplyDeleteIf there is one thing I've learnt from Professional football, its that everyone talks s**t.
ReplyDelete"I will never leave." Leaves next summer.
"If it were me, I wouldn't stand for it." - Stands for it, when its them.
"It wasn't a penalty." When its their team penalised.
"It was a penalty." When their team benefits.
I could go on, but you kind of get my point.
All I know is that Man U have the players to seriously damage our title challenge. Sure they're a team in crisis but so were we for most of the past two decades and we still managed to beat them plenty of times. Van Persie, Rooney, Mata can be as dangerous as anyone on their day. Good news for us is that our strikers can also do some serious damage to their shoddy backline. This could very well be another high scoring game. One can only hope RVP has his moaning cap on that day. I say we'll squeeze a 3-2 victory but that's only because I don't want to think about not winning.
ReplyDeleteSuarez needed Europe football n he made his frustration known as his team-mates not playing to standards xcept fr few..... RVP made his frustration known cause he trying to escape a sinking ship lmao.... So Hansen feel Suarez case need not be mention as critical as RVP issue . . . Due to Suarez outburst ,indirectly the players have all improved n more committed giving fans An exciting display of Football whereas RVP outburst gonna create dressing room unrest n puts another hole to a sinking ship :P ............. Thats the difference YNWA lol
ReplyDeleteBut Jaimie, don't you know that Suarez would never leave us... he loooooves us.
ReplyDeleteApples and Oranges much?
ReplyDeleteTotally different situations. Criticizing teammates in the post-match interview, and acting like an ass when getting subbed off are totally different than vying for a move and having a contractual dispute in the off season.
Maybe he just couldn't be bothered to follow up on the train of endless articles on Suarez/ didn't give a fuck as he was chilling on a yacht in the med as it was summer... Just cos he didn't write up on it doesn't mean he's being a hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteRobin van persie was lied to when he joined scum'chester utd, old blues nose told him he was not retiring. So I can understand why his heasds not right, he feels he's been let down. He wont be the only one looking out either, scum'chester utd shot themselves in the foot when they give sherk that £300'000 a week contract. He was the worst player on the pitch last week for england, its great just watching scum'chester utd fall apart. Roll on this weekend till we kick ass. Lol
ReplyDeleteAh...I just got it. If you ridicule posts with a smiley icon...it's lighthearted fun! I am new here so i shall take that as a good lesson.
ReplyDeleteNow where the hell is that horse of mine?? :) :) :)
I wasn't ridiculing the post in any way.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but you obviously bare a grudge against Suarez... The RVP case is totally different, but you want the same standards for something that can not be compared.
ReplyDeleteI will be very surprised if RVP is still at UTD next season. That ship is sinking very fast. There are even rumours that Utd are arranging friendlies during next season to try make make up revenue for the loss of CL money :-o
ReplyDeleteI cannot see any high profile signings turning up at old toilet this coming summer...
If you were to make this comment last season, you might have an argument based on several posts he had written which would support your position.
ReplyDeleteBut by and large this season, JK has been quite defensive of Suarez, and ultimately realistic overall.
In this particular post, he used Suarez as an example but was not the main focus of the article, and the point he made about Suarez is simply true.
The guy said a lot of things last year about being loyal to the club, and was anything but in the summer. Now, all of a sudden, he's loyal again. But if Real Madrid comes knocking on the door this summer and dangles the lucrative carrot in front of him with a bunch of dollar signs, don't be shocked if Suarez takes a bite out of it (especially if they put Ivanovic's face on it) :)
Of course RVP is unhappy. He didn't leave Arsenal for money. He left them to find glory, thinking that the grass was greener in Manchester. Sure, it was in the first year, but now at the moment Utd are very far behind Arsenal. Sitting down at 7th place is basically defeating the purpose of transferring himself to Utd.
ReplyDeletei have to say one thing for your talents - you can discuss any topic under the sun but it will finish at Suarez!
ReplyDeleteEven here the issue wasnt rvp or hansen blasting him but to compare with the reaction when suarez wanted to leave!
Yes Suarez wanted to leave. Yes he went about it the wrong way. But as JH has just admitted the 40 million clause was in his contract. He wants to spend his peak years winning things - who wouldnt ? If you were suarez would you be able to look back at your best years surrounded by downing, carrol, shelvey, jay spearing etc? When the likes of ronaldo and messi are showing of their medals what would suarez show - hence his desire to move. And hence his frustration when liverpool denied the clause etc. It all ended in that interview in the daily telegraph.
There is no doubt in my mind that much of the shenanigans were down to his agent and the incompetency of our hierarchy who knowing full well his value to the team inserted only a 40 million clause.
Anyway lets enjoy the time he spends with us - hopefully he will bring success to us as well. One things for sure in my 40 years as a fan i have never seen a player work so hard with the ball and off the ball and that too someone who is a centre forward.
Can you imagine the reaction of any other player who found himself moved from a position where he was scoring more than a goal a game for the benefit of the team and he never cried foul? This guy is sincere to us and is grateful for the support he gets of the fans.
Yep, blatant hypocrisy from Hansen, but he effectively retired from the kind of quality punditry with which he made his name and reverted to shoddy laziness about 5-6 years ago.
ReplyDeleteGet a fuckin life 23 comments about a shite article. You Never write pro LFC there is always a down side with you. Come out of the closet and write about Man Ure you fuckin tool piss off
ReplyDeleteIf it's not about Suarez how come you brought it in to compare what was and wasn't said during that period. During Suarez demand to leave Anfield he never accused any of his team mates of undermining his work rate. The team was on holiday. Hansen is critical of Robin Van parsie because he's disguishing reasons for his execuse to leave. I don't think Suarez would be in RVP's position right now if LFC won the league title last year.
ReplyDeleteJamie k you talk utter cow dung!!
ReplyDeleteYou talk utter cow dung
ReplyDeleteIn fairness the Suarez thing was not happening during the season. He also was not talking about other players "taking up" his "positions". Give Luis his due when the football is on he is working hard and not complaining. This is not true of RVP and this is very important. Like Hansan said when our in trouble you really don't need this kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteJust read James, first comment. Very well put James.
Lighthearted or not you have still tried to belittle a very valid point of view. I said at the time that I will never sing Suarez's name again and have stuck to it so far, but Hansan talks of being in trouble and not needing this kind of thing which is obviously talking about the ongoing season and the timing of RVP's distancing himself from whats going on. Suarez has always worked hard and not blamed his teammates for his own shortfall to the press. Especially during an ongoing season.
ReplyDeleteYou instantly trying to belittle or brush away valid points with the same old comments seems a fearful of debate and has been quite common recently ;-D
Football is a business, it does not remain static, if everything remained static I would still be earning £3.50 an hour from being a 16 year old. Wages have gone up, but look at the size of our squad compared to a few years ago, higher wages, more people, it's only natural to spike. Commercial sponsorship is a must as well as foreign tours as we are not competing in Europe and our stadium is well below the capacity it should be for our status/following. Stop being dramatic, without spending we will not be able to keep up or change, yes we are doing well this season but how many competitions are we left in. Also, we may struggle next season especially as we will not have as many loans out as we will utilise the whole squad. Wouldn't mind if we dropped Coates, Aspas, Johnson, Skrtel, Toure and Allen to fund a new LB, CDM and CB. On a plus note, excited to see what Borini, Coady, Suso, Wisdom, Assaidi, and Adorjan do when they come back from loan, plus Teixeira, Sinclair, McLaughlin, Sama and Ibe will get some pre season action again with the first team. Missed out Harry Wilson and Yesil who hopefully we'll see in action. That's a lot of potential considering Nemeth and Morgan just didn't cut it in my eyes. We're almost there, BR and FSG are building foundations for sure :)
ReplyDeletePosting a comment on you own blog defending yourself whilst pretending to be somebody else jamie? Poor you.
ReplyDeleteYou can call it an excuse but Suarez attempts to leave were never conveyed on the pitch. He was far and away our best player last season prior to his attempts to leave and has been again this season since. RVP is both not performing and being petulant on the pitch and is even worse off it. He is causing a lot of damage right when United need him most. The same accusation could not be levelled at Suarez. At least not in regard to his attempts to leave last summer
ReplyDelete