Somewhere in the depths of Saturday 11th February 2012 there was a football match between the two historical giants of English football. Unfortunately the pre and post match actions have drowned out a particularly dire affair which saw Manchester United win 2-1 on a day that will be forever about greetings (the lack of) and being the “better man” (which ironically looks to be an act of incitement).
Stuart Downing must be the only Liverpool player who left Manchester happy, happy in the knowledge that his woeful display will have been hidden somewhat by the charade that engulfed the final whistle.
It’s probably best to get my personal view point out early. The trouble with that though is it’s my view point; I’m not Luis Suarez so I can’t think for him or even put myself in his shoes. When I saw him snub Evra (and he did, let’s be honest) my initial reaction was one of support, why should he shake the hand of an accuser he believes exaggerated a situation? To a certain degree a very large part of me still thinks this now, if it was based on my life and my work, I too wouldn’t want to shake the hand of someone I didn’t like, but that’s the problem, I don’t work in the public eye, I don’t have the country’s media (who bay for my blood) analysing my every muscular movement. This is where I think Luis was ill advised (by himself and ultimately the club).
You shouldn’t live your life by trying to make others happy, but when you are part of a bigger scheme, a bigger movement, sometimes you have to do things you don’t want for the greater good. The greater good in this instance would have been a quick burial of all that had gone before. Instead the refusal played right into the hands of the suitors who love to hate Suarez so much. Within minutes Oliver Holt, Daniel Taylor and the other laughable anti LFC brigade were out in force. Fuel for the fire Ferguson started the day Suarez made the Champions look like a Sunday league side.
Be under no mistake, the way Suarez ripped through the heart of his Manchester United defence last season took Ferguson right back to his early years at Old Trafford, playing second fiddle to Dalglish and a successful Liverpool team was not going to be an option for him AGAIN. From that day on Ferguson did all he could to undermine Suarez, he called him a “diver” a “play actor” and other such petulant acts that hardly define a knight of the realm. As for Saturdays comments: Ferguson would be well advised not to throw stones from his glass house.
Many in this country and across the world will find the actions of Ryan Giggs (allegedly paying for an abortion of a baby inside his brother’s wife), Rio Ferdinand (deliberately missing a FA drugs test), Wayne Rooney (indulging in sexual relations with a prostitute whilst his wife was pregnant) and Eric Cantona (Kung-Fu kicking a rival fan) grounds for “never playing for a club again” over the refusal of a handshake. On this matter alone Ferguson has shown his hypocrisy to be as great as his over inflated ego.
The club have issued 3 strong statements this afternoon from the player, the manager and a director. If Suarez has gone against the earlier wishes of the club he will be disciplined and rightly so.
Of more concern to me though is the continued laughable actions of the Liverpool Football Club PR machine, who is seriously running this area of the club.? At times it appears to be Nicolai Poliakoff’s legendary creation at the helm, pouring buckets of water over themselves with ill advised actions or late actions. In today’s 24 hour media circus you can’t afford to sleep on it, these statements, if they are sincere, should have been released 24 hours earlier, or maybe, just maybe, the player should have been told in no uncertain terms that he must do the perceived “right thing” on his way out of the dressing room.
Luis Suarez is a free man, not convicted by any legal process, he has no criminal record for any actions committed or otherwise, so is free to operate on his own terms of greetings and endearment. However by not griping the seriousness of the situation and explaining the gravitas to the player properly the club have let down their number one star AGAIN.
Luis Suarez has come out and expressed regret for his actions on Saturday. I look forward to a similar apology from Manchester United in regards to their inappropriate comments about Luis Suarez’s Liverpool future, as well as an apology from certain media commentators (Sky News’ Charlie Thomas). I won’t expect an apology from George Galloway who is probably too busy trying to find the next mass murderer / dictator to cosy up to.
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