Luis Suarez And The Illusion Of Loyalty (A Sequel)

Luis Suarez is on the phone watching telly, as the PFA chief Gordon Taylor confirms there is no cast-iron-buyout-clause and Liverpool Football Club have been right all along – that there were only verbal assurances and no written clause to abide. On the phone is Pere Guardiola, yet there is a cold silence. The telly goes off and the two indulge in a heated conversation. What follows is anybody’s guess. This might be over-fetching our imagination but it isn’t difficult to fathom a similar situation developing in the Luis Suarez camp right now. The situation is so delicately poised that nobody has a clue of what might develop tomorrow or day after. Arsenal or Liverpool? Real Madrid maybe?

Tabloids and rumour mills can’t get enough of Luis Suarez right now twisting every word spoken by any party to create their own set of breaking news. WeAi??talked about Wayne RooneyAi??in this column a couple of weeks back, and how the concept of loyalty has evolved and dissolved over the past few years, and how the the England striker is both the accused and the victim. Luis Suarez however is a completely different entity. Ever since he put foot on English soil, he has been controversy’s favorite son. The proverbial prima donna whose antics were well known thanks to his goal-saving antics at the World Cup. And despite being a brilliant footballer, the baggage associated can never be kept aside. But here we attempt to look at the situation from Luis Suarez’s and the fans’ perspective. In what happens to be the most intriguing transfer saga of the summer, we look at the evaporating concept of loyalty, how rivalry and agents play their part, why fans can’t win and why Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez is one of a kind.

When Arsenal added an extra pound to their bid of 40 million, it drew extreme reactions from various parts of the footballing world in different proportions. What the bid actually did however, was act like an optical prism. Ever since the bid was made the Liverpool faithful have littered forums and social networking sites with vitriol towards their star striker. Yet, the fans will rather have him stay at the club than be sold to Arsenal; will rather not sell their 4th place to a fellow challenger and continue keeping an unhappy player at the club. This brings us to the funny yet weird concept of rivalry.

If a Borussia Dortmund player moves to Schalke, he is considered a traitor. If the same player moves to Bayern Munich on today’s given date, he is still a traitor. But what if he had moved to Bayern 10 years back when they were far off on the league table? Rivalry is either local or traditional. Arsenal don’t fit either of those, senso stricto. Hence if Luis Suarez were to join Real Madrid, the fans will be less bitter towards the player. Just like if Robin van Persie moved to Juventus last season, Arsenal fans would’ve been warmer towards the Dutchman. But as a player does it actually matter? When you’re in a position as sophisticated as that of Suarez, who is desperate to play Champions League football, wouldn’t you move when a club comes calling and shows a strong inclination in getting your services? Or will you wait for a supposed non-rival to put in a bid?

As a player there are certain priorities and once met the player is more than happy to move. Rivalry doesn’t feature anywhere near the list of those priorities. Fans might be disappointed in the player, but why should a player forgo his desire to play in an elite club competition for the sake of fans’ feelings? It eventually comes down to ambition – of the player and the club. Especially If there was a verbal agreement as claimed. All it means is that the club had agreed to let Suarez leave if the latter’s ambitions (read Champions League football) were not achieved last season. Arsenal meanwhile are in the Champions League. Only makes sense for the player to move after unfulfilled promises then? However, didn’t Luis Suarez want to move, because of England and the English media just a couple of months back?

This opens an entirely new can of worms, one which might lead to a never-ending debate. Fans of any club have a soft corner for all their players. Liverpool fans had the same for Luis Suarez till before this saga began. Racist comments against Evra? Evra is a c*nt. Negrito is a friendly gesture in Uruguay. The FA is unfair. Biting Ivanovic? He did it in the moment, he isn’t a cannibal, 10-match ban is harsh. All these over the course of two-and-half seasons, one has to credit the Liverpool fan-base for always standing by the player. However wrong, however inappropriate may his behavior be, Suarez has always had the backing of the fans. Till his intentions of moving to Arsenal, slowly and steadily became clearer.The fans feel let down because they stood up in support themselves. Because they never shied away from a barrage of hatred towards the player from every nook and corner of the world, defending his absolutely non-explainable actions. They feel cheated when the player they supported so desperately, is now himself desperate to move. When the Luis Suarez camp threatens about taking matters to court, seeking legal advice or filing complaints at the PFA, the fans are made to look like fools having supported someone, who was undeserving of all that love and adoration. But if so was the case, why put in such an effort at the first place? It is no secret of the kind of person Luis Suarez is. Nor did he come out and make a plea to the fans to support his case. The fans chose to back him. Not Luis’ fault surely?

As a professional perhaps not, but as a footballer who was so attached to the fans not so long ago, he sure has put more than just a foot wrong. He could explain it to the fans by mincing words in one interview after the other, but the fact remains he has all intentions of making a move, to Arsenal or elsewhere, a move that will more or less put a lid on Liverpool’s top four hopes for another season and that is what most of the disappointment revolves around. But is it solely Suarez’s fault that he wants a move? He seems an easy target but surely it couldn’t be his doing alone that Arsenal were made aware of the clause/agreement. Pere Guardiola takes centre stage, obviously.

The Spaniard has been a very loyal agent to the Uruguayan striker and has been a key component in the entire saga thus far. Like almost every football agent, he has been doing his job perfectly, trying to get his client the best possible deal. The only hindering block being his attempts thus far, have not only bore no fruit but also distanced the player from the fans. Probably Suarez wasn’t even intending to move this summer, but has been suggested otherwise by his agent? Better wages could be a bonus but it’s unlikely he will earn much more than he already does if he goes to Arsenal. But the agent fees and bonuses could probably be too tempting for Pere who has probably no footballing interest in which club Suarez plays for. If Arsenal seem a better deal and if there could be a way the agent could push it, he probably will irrespective of what Suarez thinks.

After all, Luis Suarez has been on record saying how he loves Liverpool and will always respect the club. Or is just save-facing PR from the player? Will the fans forgive him if it transpires that it was all a big misunderstanding on part of the agent and Suarez only did as directed? Probably. But who is to say he will not look for a move next season again if Liverpool fail to finish top four? What is the true test for his loyalty? Should Suarez even be loyal to a club where he has spent just 2 and a half years? Or should he be just be thankful and grateful to a club that showed their complete support in the toughest of times? But then the same club also had a much proclaimed verbal gentleman’s agreement with the player, which they no more agree to. Talking of verbal agreements, Luis Suarez also verbally agreed Ai??with Dalglish to shake Patrice Evra’s hand a year or so back. It’s a vicious circle, one where Luis Suarez cannot win. But so can’t the fans. They have invested their support in him, and with things getting uglier and more twisted by the day, there is every chance Suarez can still move. That too, to Arsenal. Or he might just stay, an unhappy player kept against his will. Suarez will probably never get back the support of all the fans and rightly so.

This transfer saga will go on for quite some time and as we percolate down to the bottom of this transfer window, it will become clearer that loyalty is probably just a one way traffic. Fans will remain loyal and players clearly won’t. Fans might continue to remain hopeful but they would know that the loyalty card is a mere consolation and cover up of a much bigger picture. Luis Suarez is the easy target and is thus victimized irrespective of what happens next. But there remains no doubt that Champions League football is reason enough to dissolve any precipitated loyalty in any footballer today. Perhaps Arsene Wenger has been right all along. Perhaps 4th spot is actually trophy-esque in it’s own way. Perhaps.

Tags: Arsenal FC Liverpool FC Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez And The Illusion Of Loyalty (A Sequel)

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