I’ve watched the clip dozens of times. Suarez had his hand out, but with Evra looking non-committal, Suarez skipped his 'offered' hand. If he grabbed Evra’s hand he would have been seen as forcing the United man to accept it. The sad truth is that yet again Britain’s press have got themselves worked up over a handshake – although I don’t remember Wayne Bridge getting so vilified when he refused John Terry’s hand.
Evra then escalates the issue by grabbing Suarez and ensuring everyone saw. This is the same Patrice Evra who kissed his shirt’s badge to the Kop, when he was supposedly “in shock” at being accidentally kicked by Suarez in October. The same Evra who was in a rage over losing the coin toss in October, and the same Evra who started the very row that has blown up into the mess it now is.
It’s also the same Evra who was called a “liar and a man of low morals” by his own FA in 2010, and “unreliable” by the English FA only five years ago (when he claimed a Chelsea employee had racially abused him, before deciding that actually… it didn’t happen.) Finally, it’s the same Patrice Evra that was so angry and upset that Luis Suarez had used the ‘offensive’ term negro he claimed in the report that he doesn’t like to even pronounce the word, let alone hear it, and yet he was quite happy to bandy the term around in relation to
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
My view prior to the match this weekend was that Suarez should have been left on the bench. It would have given the Old Trafford crowd a sense of anticlimax, and they would have had no-one at whom to aim its ire.
In truth, Suarez actually performed with a lot of self-control, but United were hyped up by his presence in the starting line up. Evra, trying to clatter Suarez after 30 seconds, almost put Rio Ferdinand in hospital. At the end, Suarez left the pitch in a dignified manner, unlike his accuser who needed referee Phil Dowd to have a word with him before finally retreating into the tunnel, which is a whole other story.
Subsequently, I’ve not heard of any charge brought against Evra for inciting the crowd. Yet he ran 60 yards to jump around Luis Suarez in front of the Stretford End. Surely this act of indiscipline is as close to Emmanuel Adebayor’s dash to his previous club's (Arsenal) fans after he scored against them – it warranted a £25’000 fine and a suspended 2 match ban for “extremely provocative abuse.”
If Kenny Dalglish had decided to leave Suarez out, it could be seen as another sign of his guilt over the racism issue. It’s therefore a decision I’m glad I didn’t have to make. But in being seen to have refused Evra’s handshake, Suarez has sealed his reputation as the most detested footballer in the land.
Of course, Alex Ferguson has had his say. “He’s a disgrace” screamed the headlines on Sunday morning, as if Fergie had written them himself. “Suarez should never play for Liverpool again.”
Who the hell is Alex Ferguson to tell Liverpool how they should conduct their business? This is after all, the same Ferguson that stood by Peter Schmeichel over claims of racial abuse aimed at Ian Wright (stating that Schmeichel couldn’t be racist because he went to South Africa with Manchester United two years before.) He stood by Roy Keane who admitted to purposely injuring (and ending the career of) Alfe Inge Haaland. He stood by the players that refused to shake Patrick Vieira’s hand. He stood by Rio Ferdinand after he failed to turn up for a drugs test, and finally… he stood by Eric Cantona (who’d already attacked a referee in France) after an EIGHT MONTH ban for assaulting an idiotic fan in the crowd. Suarez doesn’t shake the hand of his accuser and is a “disgrace” to the club? Hypocrisy at it’s finest.
So what exactly did Suarez do wrong, and what does the future hold?
The only certain fact (as Suarez admitted it, and both men involved agree) is that he used the word ‘negro’ which is an everyday word in South America.
He definitely didn’t shake hands with Evra this weekend. If Evra was going to or not is a pointless argument. What really should be asked is would you shake the hand of someone that you really didn’t like? (and had a damn good reason to as well)
He’s vilified by the English press, and fans. The same way as my girlfriend’s housemates believe him to be impossible to defend when I doubt very much they’ve read the report, but what’s been said in the press and made up their own minds.
“He was found guilty!” is all I ever hear, when I question anything to do with the case. But shouldn’t ‘guilt’ relate to a court of law? –
hard evidence, judge, jury etc. Not the ‘independent’ panel I’ve already discussed?
“He admitted it!” others scream of Suarez. Some even say that he admitted to calling Evra “a negro.” Which is just a lie, and I’m not even going to entertain this point nor the people making it.
In truth, Suarez, despite his faults, hasn’t actually done anything wrong. I agree that the affair could have been handled better, but realistically
the man himself hasn’t done anything wrong. Or if he’s perceived to have done something wrong then he certainly doesn’t deserve the treatment he has received.
A lot of fellow fans are fearing that Suarez may have to leave Liverpool, and I resigned myself to this a few months back; a move abroad, for a large transfer fee, might do everyone the world of good. I don’t want Luis Suarez to leave Liverpool Football Club, he’s the first person to banish the ‘curse of the No.7 shirt' in some time. The shirt that was made famous by, his now Manager, Kenny Dalglish and subsequently passed through the hands of Robbie Keane, Harry Kewell, Vladimir Smicer, and Nigel Clough – it’s now finally in hands that are worthy. Sadly though, amongst opposition fans, press, and even rival teams, he’s become the pantomime villain, responsible for all the ills of the English game.
If he stays, then he has my, and I'm sure 99% of all educated Liverpool Fan's support. He’s served his punishment and will sadly continue to do so at every away ground in the country, even though the actual evidence of his guilt was so flimsy. If he stays at Anfield and it adversely affects the club, and results, then as much as I love his skill and desire to win, we will have to yet again look for a new star man, as Liverpool always have done.
It’s a shame it’s come to this, when a player of such serious star quality has become such a figure of hatred in the press and eyes of opposition fans.
If you’re an LFC fan not convinced of Suarez’s guilt, you’re pretty much damned in the eyes of others. If Suarez has indeed been guilty all along, then he’s got more than a lot to apologise for. But if he has been innocent, he’s been given an unimaginably tough time.
People can’t see past the red-topped finger pointing, and this is where the problem is – not with Luis Suarez.