I have to admit, for the first time I am now genuinely concerned about the future of Luis Suarez at Liverpool Football Club having previously thought we would see him in the red shirt once again when he returns from his ban. But following the worrying comments from Suarez last night in an interview with a Uruguayan radio station, my expectations and hopes have taken a serious battering and it seems that the chances of El Pistolero being a Liverpool player once the transfer window has shut are slim to say the least.
If the translations are correct, many will no doubt point to Suarez declaring his love for Liverpool the city and Liverpool the football club on a number of occasions as a pointer to him staying. But it is plain for all to see from his comments that unfortunately, if a move came his way, he’d take the opportunity to depart.
Another thing he frequently mentioned in the interview, that is seemingly his main reasoning for wanting a move, is the English media and how he feels they have never ‘valued’ him during his time in the country. I cannot help but feel this is a kop-out (pardon the pun) and will inevitably be the line that Suarez will continue to peddle in order to get a move away from Merseyside.
A man who has always displayed a life or death attitude born from his ‘street fighter’ mentality when on the pitch, for me, needs to start showing the same spirit off it. Trying to put myself in his shoes, it must of course be incredibly hard to ignore bad press, especially when you feel like almost everyone is against you, but since when did the Luis Suarez we all have loved and backed, care about what the media or nation felt? We have heard as recently as April, comments from Luis insisting he would be a Liverpool player next season, so what has changed? This suggests to me, he wants the move and will use the media witch hunt as an excuse.
Despite being arguably the most exciting player I’ve been lucky enough to have watched at Anfield, Suarez has the undoubted trouble of self-destructing which has led to the mass condemnation of the Uruguayan. However, as the Kop banner says “No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness” and it is because of this, that the Anfield support has never waned. He has been backed unanimously by the Anfield crowd whether he was on the pitch or in the stand, with the most recent example being the final day of the season against QPR where Suarez waved to the crowd as they sang his name.
It has been incredibly hard to defend Luis at times but everyone associated with Liverpool has been put in difficult situations due to his brief but damaging moments of madness, but no matter what happened the support for him was always there. Everyone knows the way the club backed him under Kenny Dalglish and once again, after the most recent incident with Branislav Ivanovic, it was made quite clear from those in power at Anfield that he still very much has a future at Liverpool.
A record of 19 games banned despite never being sent off, is quite a staggering statistic and unfortunately no good for a club who desperately needs their best players available at all times if they are to progress. Time and again Luis Suarez has let the club down, the fans down and his teammates down. But despite the troubles he brings, everyone recognises the world class talent he has and has backed him because of it. The least Suarez can do now, is return the favour to all those who have supported him, and show to us, the same level of commitment that we have shown to him.
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