As a football writer the game has dictated that I have had to write about some of the more unsavoury aspects of society. Racism, hooliganism, fascism, but now a new ‘ism’ has caught the media’s attention. Strangely, even to me, I’m about to write about cannibalism.
It seemed that Liverpool striker Luis Suárez was destined to make the headlines this week after the eventful game he had against Chelsea on Sunday. Sure, he scored a dramatic late equaliser, he made a delightful pass for Daniel Sturridge’s goal, he gave away a penalty for a blatant hand ball. But all of these headline grabbing acts have been swiftly forgotten. Because, as you already know unless you live under a rock, Suárez also bit Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanović.
Yes, that’s not a misprint, that’s not some sort of football slang that you’ve never heard before. Suárez literally took a bite out of Ivanović. If, like me, you’re in the overwhelmingly large majority of the country who has never bitten anyone else then you will find this occurrence quite odd. It’s hard to imagine being in the frame of mind where biting someone seems like the thing to do. What seemed even odder though was that the incident seemed to come completely out of the blue.
There was no build up, nothing. Ivanović and Suárez were next to each other but that was it. No one was kicked, pulled, pushed, anything. But then, what would you expect to be the lead up to a biting? I don’t think Ivanović could do anything to make you think ‘wow, I hope Suárez takes a chunk out of him’. This bizarre, unjustifiable and downright savage act has landed the Liverpool striker in hot water. But then we’ve become pretty accustomed to seeing Suárez as some sort of hate figure. His rap sheet is getting more and more notorious all the time.
He served an 8 game ban for the racist abuse of Man United’s Patrice Evra. He has been caught up in diving controversy on more than one occasion and was accused further of being a cheat when he appeared to score with his hand for Liverpool against non-league Mansfield. Similarly many will remember his deliberate goal-saving handball in the World Cup against Ghana and subsequent celebrations when the resulting penalty was missed, ultimately eliminating the African nation from the competition.
Those who followed his time in Eredivisie with Ajax will know that this isn’t even the first time he has bitten an opponent. A 7 game ban was handed out to him in the Netherlands for this incident involving then PSV's Otman Bakkal. His reputation is well and truly in the gutter. But it’s the reputation of his club that Suárez should be more concerned about.
As former Liverpool player and manager Graeme Souness rightly predicted in Sky’s post-match analysis, the images of this incident have been shared around the world. Liverpool, by association, have had their worldwide reputation called into question. They will have to be careful how they handle this situation, certainly much more careful than they were in their handling of Suárez’s accusations of racism. How they respond to this could be viewed as their condoning (or not, as the case may be) of his actions.
The FA, however, have confirmed that they do not condone the actions of the Uruguayan. They quickly dished out a large ban, much larger than Liverpool felt was warranted, 10 games to be exact. This means that Suárez will miss the rest of Liverpool’s games this season as well as their first five league games and first league cup game of next season. Should Suárez still be with the club next season, that is.
Because Liverpool are faced with a difficult decision now. Many have called for the Anfield club to cut their losses on Suárez. There shouldn’t be any way back for someone who would do something like this. And in an ideal world there wouldn’t be. But this isn’t an ideal world and Liverpool will have to think carefully about what they do with him.
Man City found themselves in a similar position with the enigmatic Mario Balotelli. City had to weigh up the pros and cons of Balotelli and decide whether his talent was enough to justify the baggage that he came with. In the end they decided that he wasn’t and he was shipped off to AC Milan.
Of course this is a much easier decision to make if you have a huge squad and millions of pounds to spend on a replacement if you need to, as City do. Liverpool do not have that luxury. World class footballers do not grow on trees. Liverpool, in their current state, do not have many. Suárez IS one and he would be nearly impossible for Liverpool to replace. They are still a big club but don’t have the funds or the lure of Champions League football to attract one of the game’s best.
So expect to see Suárez remain with Liverpool next season. They can’t really afford to do anything other than stick by him, yet again. Of course there is still a chance that Suárez will be the one to end this relationship. Liverpool look set to miss out on European football and the world’s best players want to be in the best competitions.
Liverpool deserve better than that though. The player needs to repay them for their support and the only way he can do that is on the pitch. It will be early October when Suarez can kick a ball for Liverpool again, I hope for their sake he is ready to make headlines for all the right reasons when he is next called upon.