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Dominic Matteo: Luis Suarez taints the Liverpool legacy
I grew up supporting Liverpool Football Club and my earliest years as a player taught me all about the Liverpool way.
They’re a club built on history and proud of their history; fiercely proud, like few other teams.
Part of your remit as a Liverpool player was to protect their reputation – through the way you played, the way you conducted yourself and the way you wore the badge. It was a brave man who brought the club into disrepute.
Luis Suarez might be an outstanding footballer but nothing in what he did at Old Trafford was befitting of a Liverpool player. He stepped out of line and embarrassed his club and his manager, Kenny Dalglish. In my eyes, he crossed the line in a big way.
The more I think about him refusing to shake hands with Patrice Evra, the more stupid it seems. Suarez might feel aggrieved or hard-done-by over the allegations of racism that he faced but he took his punishment and served it.
More to the point, he promised Dalglish that the matter was behind him by agreeing to shake Evra’s hand. To go back on that promise was outrageous and showed a lack of respect and discipline that no manager of Dalglish’s ilk can ever accept.
No one would even be talking about this had Suarez done the right thing. You’d have seen a few photos in the papers and a bit of coverage on the TV but the handshake would have been lost in the game itself. It became a big deal once Suarez decided to make a point and play up to the cameras.
I can’t understand why he thought that was a good idea. If there’s one footballer who needs to get out of the limelight and off the back pages (at least for reasons other than his talent), it’s Luis Suarez.
He’s become a bit of a public enemy and he’s going to struggle to have a long career in England if he carries on like this.
I’m not saying that he should allow himself to be victimised but he needs a better grasp of public opinion. Everyone saw Saturday’s game as a chance for him, Evra, Liverpool and Manchester United to draw a line under this argument, as they surely needed to do.
Instead, we had Liverpool fighting fires for the rest of the weekend.
Some people won’t share this opinion but I felt sorry for Dalglish. There’s no denying that his post-match interview with Sky was poor but I genuinely think he’ll have been caught on the hop.
One minute your player’s promising to shake hands, the next minute he’s refusing to do so in front of a hostile crowd and millions of viewers.
I don’t doubt that Kenny knew or was told about the incident before he was interviewed – nothing escapes a manager’s attention these days – but he’ll have struggled to understand it.
He’s a passionate and protective guy and someone who seems suspicious of the media. The last thing he was going to do in that interview was cut Suarez to shreds, not without taking time to work out exactly what had gone on.
He was in the thick of a huge Premier League fixture and had a million and one other things to deal with. If he’d been sat at home watching from an armchair, I’m sure his reaction would have been different.
Regarding Sir Alex Ferguson’s reaction, arguing that Suarez should never play for Liverpool again, I don’t think it was his place to say that.
Criticise Suarez by all means but leave his punishment to Liverpool. All the same, he’s not 100 per cent wrong.
What Suarez showed on Saturday was a selfish streak which brought Liverpool’s image and reputation into disrepute through a lot of negative coverage. He went back on his word and left his club to deal with the fall-out.
If Suarez expected no fall-out then he’s not very bright. If he knew it was coming then he’s completely out of order –- especially after giving Dalglish his word.
A club like Liverpool have grown over the years through players and managers who took them to exceptional heights. That’s true of Manchester United and Leeds United too. You should never play for these teams without appreciating what other people left behind.
When I became captain of Leeds, I was well aware that better players and captains had worn the shirt before me. The challenge was to meet their high standards as best I could, but above all do nothing to damage them.
I’ve no doubt that Dalglish will be sitting down with Suarez to talk this over. He could do worse than get lads like Jamie Carragher or Steven Gerrard in on the act. They’re examples to Suarez of the character expected of a top Liverpool player.
As I said, this was never Ferguson’s decision to make. But if Suarez can’t see a problem with his actions last Saturday, perhaps he is at the wrong club.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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Comments
There are 5 comments to this article
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lufcalifornia
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 02:34 PMI also think the way Dalglish acted throughout was shocking , im all for defending your player but theres a line and he crossed it.Hes the new Fergie
stevem28
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 02:17 PMNot a word or mention about that ferdinand pulling his hand away so he did not shake suarez hand. Oh i forgot the redrags own the FA and the press and they can do what they like. Who really cares about what happends over in lancsshire and everyone jumping on the bandwagon to defend the redrags again.
bramley whites
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 12:00 PMDom the paper says it all yorkshire evening post ! not botherd what goes on at that side of the country as long as yorkshire cricket beat the red scum sorry to be blunt but true
Liam123
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 11:30 AMStorm in a tea cup, who cares?
Aberboy
Thursday, February 16, 2012 at 11:24 AMAnother good piece, but why he's saying all this in a Yorkshire daily paper I'm not sure.
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