I think that when we are heated we can all say things that are wrong and he made a huge error choosing to say something racial. I think that his excuse of it not meaning that in his country is a pretty rubbish excuse. But, if it is not an excuse then that is what he fully believes, be it right or wrong in everyone’s else’s eyes. He is a grown man with his own mind and if he believes it was not meant in the way it was portrayed. He pleaded guilty because he believed so strongly in it and he was given (rightly so) an eight match ban. Not an eight match ban and a public hand shake to the man that got him the conviction.
A lot of people think he is racist, was wrong and should have been the bigger man and shook hands. In my eyes I think he believes he wasn’t in the wrong, and he really doesn’t like Evra over this and as a man with passion for the game, who may be very headstrong in the heat of the moment he chose to stick to his believes and turn down the handshake. No matter what, he is his own person and we can’t bully him in to doing something he doesn’t want to do. I feel he could have shook his hand and put it all to bed, but I think it would have played in his mind over and over again, because I think he fully believes he wasn’t in the wrong.
Evra can’t take the moral high ground when seconds after he and Ferdinand made a tackle which looked very aggressive (with intent some may say) which thankfully didn’t make contact with Suarez. During half time he approached him in the tunnels, which was obviously going to ignite something. At the final whistle he danced around in front of Suarez kissing his badge when the game ended. Not in my opinion very grown up and matching the school boy playground antics which I think this whole scenario took.
Evra and Suarez
Liverpool bounces back every time, but this bounce back seemed to take such along time. This is another blow, but we are much bigger then that ‘No one is bigger than the club’ and I think the media interest has really put pressure on the whole situation. Liverpool controversy was played out behind closed doors and since those two Americans took over they brought controversy to the forefront. Now our new American owners have settled that part down we need to get it back behind closed doors, get the boards dealing with these issues. We need to concentrate on any cup available. Suarez is a great footballer with passion, speed and artistry that we lacked with Torres, he made a mistake, he did his punishment and brought a bit of controversy. Bring on Wembley.
Football is amazing! Even people who support the same team can argue over one thing but still share the excitement a goal brings. If you hand a timid person a dodgy pie and a scarf they explode into song when they YNWA plays. That is why it’s the best sport in the world.
My opinion is my opinion, but one thing I do know is if someone feels they can do no right, then they start believing that and then we’ll end up with another Torres - bad times!
The Suarez Defence League has been out in full effect this week. The Uruguayan President jumped to his defence; Diego Lugano (PSG Defender) said, "Everyone in football knows it is a big circus. Take into account that England is historically a colonial country and racism is a sensitive subject, but we all know it has nothing to do with what happened between Luis and the Manchester [United] player [Vera].
ReplyDelete"It's a football argument, and many false moralists and hypocrites have profited, and Luis is the only innocent party in this situation."
Then we had Steve Mandanda, Marseille’s goalkeeper saying "Today, the debate is closed. Suarez is a quality player. In a group, we do not all have the same religion, the same desires, the same education."
"So we have to deal with it, accept the idea of another and to live successfully in a community."
Whatever else, it seems to add support to Suarez stance that he did not to anything wrong, and in his country it the initial incident wouldn’t have been seen as problem. The evidence doesn’t support this this view and at the end of the day these are his countrymen and play alongside him in the national team.
Rachel, you make some great points about Suarez and the fact that as a grown man he is entitled to decide his own destiny and as such make his own decisions. I believe in this instance, he fundamentally betrayed a manager who stood by him right or wrong and left him looking like the proverbial idiot in betraying his trust. A simple “boss I’m not comfortable in shaking Evra’s hand”, would have at least prepared the club for any potential fallout. Also, while you are certainly correct about Evra’s overzealous celebrations at the end of the game, especially in front of Evra, it was Suarez who stoked the fire which lost us the impetuous in the game and drove a Man United side hell bent on confrontation in the tunnel at half-time and on the pitch in the second-half.
As grown man, I would be loathed to want to apologise for something I hadn’t believed I’d done, but I would be beside myself if helped dent the already damage reputation of one of greatest players to ever grace the football arena.