Handshake furore makes grown men look like kids.
Nice to see we have our priorities in order. When racism creeps back into our game, the England manager resigns on a point of principal, the FA acts on a point of principal, and Harry Redknapp shows the ineptitude of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (in one way or another), we all get our knickers in a twist over a handshake or two.
Some say the pre-match ritual of shaking hands with your opponent is redundant. It's meaningless, we wouldn't miss it if it were gone, but these same people agree handshakes should be exchanged after the game. The thought occurs that a handshake, before or after the game, is materially the same. Why can't you respect an opponent before the game as well as after? Only when you've tried to metaphorically (and sometimes literally) kick the shit out of someone can you respect them. Nonsense.
If the handshake is meaningless why do people feel the need to go out of their way to avoid it? Why did the FA feel the need to cancel the pre-match handshake between QPR and Chelsea? Why did some QPR players, Wayne Bridge, Luis Suarez or Rio Ferdinand not shake hands? If it's something that has absolutely no impact on life in any guise, why be a dick about it? Next we won't have players sharing the same tunnel, the same stadium, the same car maker, watch designer, or the same wag.
Personally I think the handshake is important. The pre-match handshake signifies the start of the contest, a sign that while the other team is an opponent they are also a footballer. That as much as player X represents one team, player Y represents the other, and hopefully the game will be played in the right manner and the opponent, whoever they may be, will be treated fairly and with respect (as a footballer, not necessarily as the person they are away from the game).
Just because you shake someone's hand does not mean you condone their actions. Football is not about John Terry or Luis Suarez or Patrice Evra or Bradley Woods-Garness (Sutton Utd player before you ask), the game is much, much bigger. If I was lined up against someone who I personally disliked, I would not avoid shaking their hand, because that says more about me than it does about them. I applaud Patrice Evra for trying to shake Suarez's hand on Saturday because it showed that no matter what someone else did, Evra was not going to let that change who he is. If I had a problem with John Terry I would not want to show he had got to me; in fact I would grip his hand tighter, let him know he was in a fight (then I'd yank his hand towards me, pulling him off balance and making him look a fool).
Professional footballers have a responsibility, a responsibility to the game and the next generation of players who are playing in the schools and the parks across the country. Rather than be dragged down by the lowest denominator on the pitch why don't we try to raise the bar and meet the highest of standards?
Showing posts with label Evra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Evra. Show all posts
Monday, 13 February 2012
Suarez begins the end of his Liverpool career
Countdown begins on Uruguayan's exit from English football
Luis Suarez does not get it. It really is as simple as that. As fine a footballer as he is, the Liverpool number seven does not comprehend the behaviour expected from a professional footballer, especially one in England, and that is why only a year after he made the move to Merseyside the countdown to the end of his Liverpool career has begun.
His racist comment to Patrice Evra at best showed ignorance of English culture. That could and should have been written off as a misunderstanding. Liverpool's defiance was repulsive to common decencies, their unwillingness to accept the punishment and move on a mistake, and Kenny Dalglish's victim playing disgraceful. The Scotman's stance went beyond the kind of partisan attitude that we normally expect from tribal football - it was just plain wrong.
How much Suarez was involved in Dalglish's comments is hard to say. The former Ajax man felt hard done by but whether Suarez compelled his manager to speak out on his behalf or whether it was a misguided attempt from Dalglish to support his man, we cannot know. What we can do is examine Suarez's behaviour since the first Evra incident and it does not flatter the Uruguayan.
Predictably Suarez faced a certain amount of abuse from Fulham fans at the game at Craven Cottage on December 5th. Suarez reacted by showing the finger at the Fulham fans as he departed the pitch. He then escaped the spotlight during his eight game ban, only to return against Tottenham with a kick to Scott Parker's midriff and the kind of histrionics that we come to expect from the South American. And then there was the game against United.
Not shaking Patrice Evra's hand saw any sympathy or understanding for Suarez completely evaporate. There was also a petulant boot into the dugouts after the half time whistle was blown. While Suarez later apologised (apparently under pressure from the club's owners) one has to wonder why Suarez felt Evra was to blame for the eight match ban the Liverpool player received, and why Suarez did not draw a line under the episode from Anfield in November.
I cannot see a way back for Suarez. Clearly he feels no personal responsibility or wrong doing. His apologies have not gone far enough nor to the right people. His initial attempt amounted to the classic non-apology apology ('I'm sorry its your fault you are angry') while his latest admission of guilt has mainly confined itself to the damage he has done to Liverpool FC rather than Patrice Evra.
The lack of respect for the opposition, as shown by the biting of a PSV player while he was playing for Ajax, his constant diving and play acting, complaining and gestures, the joy when Uruguay overcame Ghana after Suarez handballed on the line, and the incidents with Evra, does not look like changing anytime soon. The pressure from players, managers, pundits and fans will only increase, and everything Suarez does will be under the microscope. Suarez is unlikely to change and eventually he will move on. He might blame Liverpool's lack of Champions League football, trophies, cup finals, or the old favourite unworthy wages, but he will move on.
Suarez does not get English football culture and I doubt he ever will. Only when he seals a move away will we start to understand just how uncomfortable he found his time here. The clock is ticking on his time in England and although Suarez may blame everyone but himself, we all know who is to blame.
Luis Suarez does not get it. It really is as simple as that. As fine a footballer as he is, the Liverpool number seven does not comprehend the behaviour expected from a professional footballer, especially one in England, and that is why only a year after he made the move to Merseyside the countdown to the end of his Liverpool career has begun.
His racist comment to Patrice Evra at best showed ignorance of English culture. That could and should have been written off as a misunderstanding. Liverpool's defiance was repulsive to common decencies, their unwillingness to accept the punishment and move on a mistake, and Kenny Dalglish's victim playing disgraceful. The Scotman's stance went beyond the kind of partisan attitude that we normally expect from tribal football - it was just plain wrong.
How much Suarez was involved in Dalglish's comments is hard to say. The former Ajax man felt hard done by but whether Suarez compelled his manager to speak out on his behalf or whether it was a misguided attempt from Dalglish to support his man, we cannot know. What we can do is examine Suarez's behaviour since the first Evra incident and it does not flatter the Uruguayan.
Predictably Suarez faced a certain amount of abuse from Fulham fans at the game at Craven Cottage on December 5th. Suarez reacted by showing the finger at the Fulham fans as he departed the pitch. He then escaped the spotlight during his eight game ban, only to return against Tottenham with a kick to Scott Parker's midriff and the kind of histrionics that we come to expect from the South American. And then there was the game against United.
Not shaking Patrice Evra's hand saw any sympathy or understanding for Suarez completely evaporate. There was also a petulant boot into the dugouts after the half time whistle was blown. While Suarez later apologised (apparently under pressure from the club's owners) one has to wonder why Suarez felt Evra was to blame for the eight match ban the Liverpool player received, and why Suarez did not draw a line under the episode from Anfield in November.
I cannot see a way back for Suarez. Clearly he feels no personal responsibility or wrong doing. His apologies have not gone far enough nor to the right people. His initial attempt amounted to the classic non-apology apology ('I'm sorry its your fault you are angry') while his latest admission of guilt has mainly confined itself to the damage he has done to Liverpool FC rather than Patrice Evra.
The lack of respect for the opposition, as shown by the biting of a PSV player while he was playing for Ajax, his constant diving and play acting, complaining and gestures, the joy when Uruguay overcame Ghana after Suarez handballed on the line, and the incidents with Evra, does not look like changing anytime soon. The pressure from players, managers, pundits and fans will only increase, and everything Suarez does will be under the microscope. Suarez is unlikely to change and eventually he will move on. He might blame Liverpool's lack of Champions League football, trophies, cup finals, or the old favourite unworthy wages, but he will move on.
Suarez does not get English football culture and I doubt he ever will. Only when he seals a move away will we start to understand just how uncomfortable he found his time here. The clock is ticking on his time in England and although Suarez may blame everyone but himself, we all know who is to blame.
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