Do you know what you don’t see a lot of anymore? Players kissing the badge on their shirts, whether it be celebrating a goal or after a big victory. Is this a time honoured show of passion that we miss? Or is it not bothered with as our own cynicism won’t allow us to enjoy it anyway?
This week, Liverpool fans would have warmly received the news that, amidst interest from Juventus, striker Luis Suárez had penned a new long term contract with the club. In a statement provided by Liverpool Suárez reaffirmed his delight at signing a new deal at a club that he has developed such affection for. Even though all he has received back from the football community (including one or two Liverpool fans) is criticism. It’s one thing to like playing for a club, but don’t go over the top about it. You judge:
"To sign a new contract with Liverpool is unbelievable for me because I am so happy here at both the club and also in the city, that is important for me and I am very happy with my new contract. When you are a kid, everybody wants to play for Liverpool. I am here now and it is a dream for me, and now I am a Liverpool fan. I am happy off the pitch because the people of Liverpool are good with me and my family. I try my best on the pitch and when you are happy off the pitch, you are happy on the pitch. I want to say thank you to the fans because they are our 12th player. The supporters of Liverpool are unbelievable. Five or six years ago I watched on TV the stadium and the club, and now I play here and the supporters have helped me. That's very important for me."
That’s a shortened version, there was more.
Common sense would suggest that it’s nice for fans to hear a happy player laying praise on his club. But perhaps we’ve all heard it too many times before from players who have been wearing a different colour shirt the next time we see them.
Spurs fans will remember their hero and captain Robbie Keane finishing the season by saying how happy he was at Spurs and how he was determined to help the club finish above Arsenal in the league the following season. Fast forward a month and Keane was doing everything in his power to force through a move to Liverpool, the team he had ‘always supported as a boy’.
Of course Keane said in interviews how he always liked Celtic as a child too and that Wolves mean a great deal to him as they were his first club. Not to forget how he’d always had an affinity with the fans of Leeds, West Ham and countless other clubs he has played for. Keane probably shouldn’t be vilified for this as he’s not alone in this attitude.
And it is this attitude that has made us the way we are, cynical. A player caring passionately about our club doesn’t mean as much to us anymore as we have heard that one before. Any memories we have of our heroes passionately kissing the badge on their shirt (the traditional and most obvious way of declaring love for a club) are tainted by the memory of that player leaving not long after.
One of the most iconic images of Leeds United’s most recent season in the Premier League was that of Alan Smith kissing the badge after scoring a crucial goal in the club's relegation dog fight. But this is probably a memory that most Leeds fans don’t care much for now, since they know that at the time Smith was just months away from a big money move to bitter rivals Manchester United.
A ‘Leeds Man’ through and through, now donning the red of the other United. It’s easy to see why that would leave a sour taste for a Leeds fan. And we’ve all got our own stories just like this no matter who we support.
So do we want the badge kissers back? There would certainly still be a portion of the footballing community who would welcome that level of commitment. But could we really appreciate it the way we once did having seen all that we’ve seen? Knowing that the player responsible could be gone within months?
Manchester City fans may initially like to see something like this from Sergio Agüero or David Silva. But if the likes of Real Madrid come calling next summer then they could be moving on. We may think it will never happen, but then once upon a time we couldn’t have pictured Fernando Torres going to Chelsea, Carlos Tévez to Man City, Emmanuel Adebayor to Spurs, or Andy Carroll to Liverpool, or.....well you get the idea.
Maybe the football club based public displays of affection should be reserved for the one-club-men, the Ryan Giggs’ and Steven Gerrards of this world? But I suppose everybody is a one club man once. Sol Campbell and Wayne Rooney were one club men once upon a time, but Spurs fans and Everton fans respectively aren’t throwing any ticker tape parades for these two.
Whether we want to see players show some commitment or not is a strange point and one that we will never all agree on. But it doesn’t matter really. As, whether we want to see it or not, it isn’t happening. The one-club-men are a dying breed and that sort of passion from a player to a club may not really exist any longer.
A modern day footballer plays for the club that suits him best, whether that be because of stature, success or just how much they pay.
So perhaps we should take off our cynical hats and applaud Luis Suárez for his public love-in with Liverpool FC. Things like that don’t happen as much these days, so maybe it’s good when they do.
Or we could just take it with a pinch of salt.... I expect he loved playing for Ajax once too.