Get Rid of Luis? Bite Me!

A message to all the Reds who want to see the back of Luis. Matt Sproston says “bite me!”

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The inevitable has happened with a mediocre Man United strolling to the title in perhaps the poorest English top flight championship race in living memory. But never has a Man United title win been so welcome in Liverpool because if there is one thing that the press enjoy more than getting at Luis Suarez, it is fawning over United.

By the time the United hysteria has died down hopefully Luis’ punishment will be known and we can move on. Undoubtedly we will be forced to revisit it time and again but he and we are pretty thick skinned. We’ll ride this one out.

The club has indicated that they see no reason to get rid of him and to their credit seem to have learned from recent PR catastrophes. The early statements diffused the situation partly but you can bet your bottom dollar that despite admonishing him in public the club will be looking to keep Suarez onside in private. He is simply too good and too valuable to lose on the cheap.

Calls for sacking or immediate transfer were never going to happen. The club could not take some sort of moral high ground as they bought him during a period of suspension for exactly the same offence. So they fine him and await the FA to do their worst…

I expected the press to have a field day the minute I got a text at Anfield saying what had happened. However, I must say that I am baffled by the number of Liverpool fans advocating that we get rid of Suarez. I can understand other fans saying it – his performance yesterday was a classic example of his genius and the threat he poses to every team. But why would a Liverpool supporter want to discard their greatest asset?

If you are a morally upright individual and aggression upsets those morals then who am I to judge you. I think you are probably following the wrong game though. Football is a dirty, morally repugnant business and a bit of a bite is the least of the problems in the game.

Look at it on a cold commercial basis. One week ago what was the market value of Luis? £60 million sounds about right. Better than Torres. Not as good as Ronaldo. What would it be if Liverpool let it be known that he was up for sale? £20 million? £25 million maybe?

But just to prove that it’s not all about pounds and pence, think about this. Actually how bad was it? Take out the unusual nature of the incident. Take out the fact that it is a bit nutty (because that is what it is, not deranged or psychopathic or sick as I’ve read). What are you left with in reality?

Put it this way. What is worse, a bite on the arm which causes no injury (the bite was on the forearm and Ivanovic was pointing to his bicep, I know Luis is toothy but…) or having a 14 stone athlete fly in at 20mph two footed at your shins? Or a headbutt? Or an elbow to the jaw? Or being spat at? I know which I’d prefer when I’m playing.

The incident was unpleasant. Nothing more, nothing less. It deserves punishment and will undoubtedly receive more than it really deserves (expect 6 games). But is it really serious enough that we should get shut of one of the 5 best players in the world? Don’t be daft.

The incident was born of frustration. Giving away a silly penalty at a time when we were clearly on top caused it. He loves the club and wants to win. He let the club down and I have no doubt that he is gutted. Did he do it for selfish reasons? Of course not. He did it because he cannot help himself. He has a devilish streak. That is part of what makes him great. Think back to all the great teams we’ve had and they all had players with that element. Maybe it wasn’t quite as bizarre as Luis’ but it was there. When Carra goes we’ll lose another of those players (pound coin randomly thrown into a crowd…)

So United win another title. That’s what we need to be focussing our attention on. If we are serious about closing the gap, catching them and overtaking them we don’t want to get rid of Luis Suarez.

In fact we need more like him, not less.

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