Ben Twelves comments on the incident that will dominate the headlines this week, yet another Luis Suarez controversy.
CONTROVERSY is something that has followed Luis Suarez throughout his footballing career so far as we know, but another thing that cannot be denied is the amount of football ability that he possesses. And it is because of his talent that such a dilemma has now been caused for anyone associated with Liverpool Football Club.
The incident on Sunday with Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has again put Suarez in the media firing line and it has no doubt left many debating what should happen next to the striker.
Firstly, as every football follower knows, Luis Suarez is an exceptional player, but he does carry an excess baggage that infuriates many, even supporters of Liverpool and as the incidents keep on coming, it becomes harder for some to defend him. Others will back the clubs most exciting player regardless of his actions due to club loyalties and there will be another section of people, including myself, who will judge him on his footballing ability alone as ultimately, he is a footballer.
However, before voices everywhere start calling for the club to move Suarez on for ethical reasons, it’s worth remembering that football has no morals. It abandoned them all a long time ago. And it is for this reason that the club should and must not cave in to the demands of the national media, other clubs supporters and football’s busy bodies, by selling the most exciting and best player not only at Liverpool, but in the Premier League.
Of course, no, they didn’t, because those players were valuable assets to their respective clubs. And let me just clarify something here – I am not defending what Suarez did, it is inexcusable. What I am saying is that it would not be right for Suarez to be made the scapegoat or the focal point for wider issues within the ‘beautiful game’.
Suarez is too important for Liverpool to just move him on. He is the most exciting and spontaneous player I’ve watched in a red shirt and it is no secret as to how valuable he is for the team on the pitch. If the club want to progress, it very much needs him to stay at Anfield. Despite Brendan Rodgers’ warning that “no-one is irreplaceable at Liverpool” following Sunday’s events, with the situation the club is in on the pitch, it will be extremely difficult, bordering on the impossible, to replace Suarez with another player of that quality, regardless of what money the club was to make from any sale.
Having Luis Suarez banned but safe in the knowledge that he is OUR flawed genius again once the inevitable punishment has been served, is quite clearly a better option than not having him altogether and because of his unparalleled importance to the club, they simply must back him, again.
While Suarez will no doubt face retrospective action, and rightly so, from the club and the FA, those in power at Anfield must not bow to moral pressure from a footballing world that picks and chooses its moral codes when it needs one by selling the Premier League’s top scorer.
Yes, what he did is inexcusable and as previously stated, I am not making excuses for his actions, but there is absolutely no way, that Suarez should be the first example of a player that is sold purely because of a case of moral outrage.
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