Liverpool’s CL campaign could be over before it started
Luis Suarez is by far Liverpool’s best player. Last season
he was the Premier League’s best player. Can he become the Champions League’s
best player? Well, maybe one day but probably not next season as he will miss
the first three games of the group stages if the ban is upheld. The
ramifications of that could prove fatal to Liverpool’s hope of progressing from
their group, or it may not. However, what cannot be in doubt is the fact that
his loss is a huge blow to Liverpool. Of course, this is assuming that he was
not going to leave for Spain after the World Cup, regardless of what was about
to happen in Brazil...
That thought may have been in the mind of Brendan Rodgers
when he brought in Rickie Lambert for £4 million at the start of the summer, a
purchase that looked like a shrewd acquisition at the time. It could now prove
to be a decisive one. Suarez’s silly indiscretion makes Lambert pivotal to
their early season hopes. Can he step up? Well, he has managed to make the
transition from League One to the Premier League seamless so that bodes well.
This is his chance to become a cult hero at Anfield – don’t bet against him.
FIFA won't tolerate any more antics from Suarez
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, when the bite
marks in Giorgio Chiellini's shoulder were still smarting, it had been
suggested in some quarters that Suarez should be banned for two years, the
maximum punishment available to FIFA. World football's governing body was never
going to go to such an extreme - rightly so - and the nine games/four months
they dished out in the end was probably about right. Critics of FIFA claim that
players like Suarez get special treatment, such is their global marketing
appeal for the game, but the severity of this ban went a long way to disproving
that. Suarez's tournament is over - it may be all the poorer for that, at least
in terms of his quality when actually playing football - but at least FIFA sent
out a clear message that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.
Suarez is now walking a tightrope
Three strikes and you're out, so they say. Well, Suarez may
live to fight another day after a third indiscretion, but surely a fourth will
signal the end for him. He is now walking a very fine line; another bite will
be truly unforgiveable. Indeed, Suarez can expect any further indiscretions to
be viewed in a dim light from now on, a situation he has entirely brought on
himself. The scrutiny of his every move will be more intense than ever once he
finally returns to a playing field, and should he step out of line again, he
could well be kicked out of the last chance saloon he now finds himself in.
The apologists must take a long hard look at themselves
Who can possibly stick up for Suarez now? Well,
surprisingly, there are many, mostly from his native Uruguay, who see the ban
as the result of some kind of English media witch hunt and FIFA vendetta
against the striker and his country. It is nothing of the sort. Those
apologists must surely now have to change their tune; Suarez has bitten three
players on three separate occasions. Once would be an aberration, twice is
pushing it, but three times? There is no defence left. As for his club
Liverpool, who have done their fair share of closing ranks around Suarez in the
past, it remains to be seen how they will react to this latest incident, but
there is a strong case for them to change their tune. And with Barcelona reportedly
not fazed by taking on a man with such a tainted reputation - and willing to
offer one or two quality players in exchange - the club could yet cut their
losses and salvage something from the sorry situation.
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