Tag Archives: luis suarez

Liverpool, Manchester United & Luis Suarez

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It’s no secret that Manchester United are one of the most disliked teams in the English Premier League.  You can dislike them because of their success, because of their legions of far flung fans who will never get to see them live but buy into the ‘dream’ or perhaps because of the perceived arrogance of the players and manager.

For some of us lower league supporters though, the reason is a little different.  Manchester United is the embodiment of the ruthless business ethic that took hold of the Premier League in the early 1990s;  before the Glazers took over it was the PLC which used its reach and influence to hoover up the spare fans and pounds from every provincial town in the country and by extension help many of those town’s clubs on their way to significant financial difficulties.  That those smaller teams managed to survive owes nothing to any ‘trickle down’ wealth from the Premier League but everything to local supporters and communities and occasionally a charitable benefactor.

My point is that there are very good reasons why we still want Manchester United to lose when we watch them play but on Saturday lunchtime, Liverpool’s Luis Suarez somehow managed to make us forget all that and back United against possibly their biggest rival.

What happened all dates back to the well-reported racism incident between Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra which led to an eight match ban for Suarez and a general recognition that he was in the wrong.  Saturday’s match was the first meeting between the two players since the incident and all Suarez had to do was shake hands with the man he abused in the pre-match line up.  Evra offered up his hand and Suarez ignored him, instantly re-igniting the whole unsavoury business.  The guilty party had failed to shake hands with the victim and that is why, in that moment, we suddenly didn’t mind if Manchester United won the match.

Far, far too late on Sunday, Suarez apologised to everyone involved (apart from Evra) after Liverpool’s owners apparently realised the negative effect on Liverpool FC was getting out of control.  Manager Kenny Dalglish, who has so far rather unwisely stood by Suarez, was also asked to apologise after berating a Sky Sports journalist who asked him about the missing handshake.  Dalglish said he never saw it.

This whole sorry saga should never have reached the point where Liverpool’s owners had to step in to advise their employees to do the right thing and it remains to be seen whether the apology will draw a line under the affair.

 

Luis Suarez – The Full Picture

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In the last post we wrote about how Liverpool’s Luis Suarez had been handed an eight match ban by the English FA for racist comments made to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.  While most thought Suarez would be found guilty many, including us, wondered about the severity of the punishment.  Eight games is a long time in a busy footballing period and it wasn’t particularly clear whether Suarez’ intent was malicious or naive.

Patrice Evra - Luis Suarez

Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez

However, following the release of the FA’s comprehensive report on the incident on New Year’s Eve (why?), it has become pretty clear why the FA has handed down this punishment.  Evidence given by Suarez and Evra conflicted somewhat but in the end it was clear enough that Evra’s testimony was the more reliable.  According to the report the incident on the pitch went as follows:

Evra (after being kicked): Why did you kick me?

Suarez: Because you are black.

Evra: Say that to me again.  I’m going to punch you.

Suarez: I don’t speak to blacks.

Evra: I’m going to punch you.

Suarez: OK, blackie, blackie, blackie.

Suarez then gestures at Evra’s skin

Evra: Ref, ref, he just called me a fucking black.

After the match Evra told his manager, Alex Ferguson, what had happened and Ferguson followed exactly the correct procedures by heading straight to the referees room to report the incident.  The FA then took control of the investigation, resulting in a pretty comprehensive report and the eight match ban.

Suarez’ explanation of his use of the word ‘negrita’ (blackie) as a friendly term was completely undermined by the tone of the player’s conversation and the intensity of any match between Manchester United and Liverpool.  One would hope that Liverpool and Kenny Dalglish will now back down in this matter and stop insisting on Suarez innocence.  For his part, Suarez has said he will not be using that word again, at least in this country.

 

 

Luis Suarez Gets 8 Match Ban For Racist Abuse

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After a lengthy investigation, the English Football Association has finally decided that Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is guilty of making racist comments towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.  The 8 match ban is a real statement of intent from the FA although the £40,000 fine is not much of a financial deterrent.

Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra

Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra

Perhaps the FA are anticipating a strong appeal from Liverpool and Suarez which might end with a slightly reduced ban, or maybe they really are focused on eradicating racism from the English game.

The interesting thing about the Suarez – Evra episode is that there probably was no malicious intent here; Suarez claimed to be speaking to Evra in the same way as he had always down to black players in his own country, Uruguay.  However, calling a black player a ‘Negro’ may be acceptable in one country but is obviously not acceptable in another – Suarez has been living in Europe since 2006 and resident in the United Kingdom for almost a year and it seems inconceivable that he can not have been aware of the racism issues here and the high profile anti-racism campaigns.

John Terry and Anton Ferdinand

John Terry and Anton Ferdinand

Liverpool will definitely appeal against the punishment, they’re argument being that this was one man’s word against another and that it was Suarez himself who freely admitted what he said as he didn’t think he had said anything out of place.  If Suarez had said nothing, there would have been no evidence against him.  Chelsea’s John Terry must now be wondering what fate awaits him after television cameras captured him (possibly) saying something racist to QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

For Liverpool, pending any successful appeal, they’ll have to make do without Luis Suarez until the second leg of the Carling Cup final on 25th January.  Notably, Liverpool will have to do without their star player for two matches against Manchester City and one against Newcastle.  It’s fair to say that Liverpool feel they’ve been treated unfairly and won’t be letting this one go without a fight.