Luis Suárez – The Modern Footballer
Luis Suárez’s footballing ability has been clear to see since he joined Liverpool in January 2011 – his pace, technical skills and raw goalscoring ability have shown him to be right at the top level of football, and this was recently echoed by journalists and football coaches from around the world who shortlisted Liverpool’s Uruguayan striker for the FIFA Ballon D’Or award.
Unfortunately for Suárez though, he’s quickly becoming one of the most loathed players in the Premier League. Kenny Dalglish’s argument claiming Luis Suárez is some kind of angel who only gets stick because ‘people try and find it easy to criticise him because he is such a good player’ falls short when you compare him to Man City’s widely-admired Argentine Sergio Aguero, a similarly gifted player playing in a similar position, who isn’t on the end of pantomime boos from fans and criticism from the press week-in, week-out.
As for Suárez, there’s smoke and there is a fire– and sticking his middle finger up at celebrating Fulham fans wasn’t the first time the Uruguayan has unnecessarily got himself into trouble, as you can find below…
Handball-Gate
When Suárez handballed the ball on the line against Ghana in the Quarter Final of South Africa 2010, he wasn’t the first and won’t be the last to do such a thing to keep his side in with a chance of victory. Despite not being a particularly sporting gesture, it’s unfair to criticise Suárez for doing something many footballers would be likely to do.
However the aftermath to the incident showed Suárez’s darker side, his uncontrolled celebration on the sidelines when Ghana’s Gyan missed the following penalty showed he wasn’t a man with any sympathy for opposition fans who he’d effectively cheated out of reaching the Semi-Final. His antics rubbed salt into the wounds of desperate Ghana fans, and the post match interview where he remorselessly claimed he had ‘made the save of the tournament’ added insult to injury.
Cannibal-Gate
Then in November 2010, Suárez was labelled the ‘Cannibal of Ajax’ after outrageously biting Otman Bakkal on the shoulder during a 0-0 draw against PSV. The incident was missed by the Dutch referee but Suárez was banned for 7 league games and fined an undisclosed amount by Ajax. He eventually apologised in a grovelling video on his Facebook Page. We all thought El-Hadji Diouf was bad for spitting at people…
Diving & Feigning Injury-Gate(s)
Throughout his career, Suárez has never been afraid to roll around on the floor in order to try to get an opposition player sent off. Regarded in English football as the most disrespectful thing to do to an opponent, it’s part of Suárez’s game to trick the referee into believing he’s been hit in the face. Until such behaviour is punished retrospectively, he won’t change.
N*****-Gate
Suárez was accused of repeatedly racially abusing Man Utd’s Patrice Evra during the 1-1 draw against Man Utd in October 2011. After completely denying the claims made by the French defender who has said that cameras show ‘you can see him say a certain word…at least 10 times’, Suárez has been charged by the FA for Racial Abuse.
If found guilty, it’s likely the minimum punishment will be a 6-game ban – but all eyes will be on what Dalglish and Liverpool’s board decide to do with the player, do they allow a racist to carry on playing for their club? I suspect he’s too good for them to let go…
Middle Finger-Gate
Then finally, if he hadn’t had enough of FA charges, it’s likely Suárez will be facing another one for sticking his middle finger up at Fulham fans after seeing his team lose 1-0 at Craven Cottage. With Twitter rumours that the middle finger salute can be translated to ‘Merry Christmas’ in Uruguayan culture proving to be unfounded, it’s likely Suárez will be getting a fine arrive in the post.
Now who says modern footballers are overpaid twats?
The Future England XI - The Best Young English Players
where the heck is sturridge better the all the strikers up...
Man City: The Long Trail to Success & Inauthenticity
Gutting and at the same time exciting...
Upcoming XI – Players To Watch In 2011
pathetic...