Premier League - Dalglish re-opens Suarez debate

Tue, 07 Feb 00:31:00 2012

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has again defended Luis Suarez after the striker made a return to action in the goalless draw against Tottenham at Anfield.

A yellow card on Suarez

Suarez made a long-awaited comeback for the Reds after completing his eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in October.

Suarez's introduction off the bench on 66 minutes failed to inspire Liverpool to victory over Spurs but his reappearance prompted Dalglish to reopen the debate over whether the Uruguayan should have been banned in the first place.

"We don't think he should ever have been away but we are delighted to get him back," said the Liverpool boss.

"He has not played since December, so it was a wee bit unfair to throw him straight in.

"He has had half an hour and that will have done him the world of good. It is better than anything we could have done at Melwood."

Suarez is in line to come face-to-face with Evra next weekend when Liverpool travel to Old Trafford in what promises to be an inflammatory Premier League clash.

The fire was stoked further by United striker Wayne Rooney, who tweeted during the match at Anfield about a challenge by Suarez on Scott Parker that resulted in a yellow card for the Liverpool man.

(The video of that incident should play automatically in the picture box - UK web users only)

"If the referee sees that kick from Suarez and books him for it, it should be red," Rooney wrote.

It was a view shared by television pundit Gary Neville, but not Dalglish.

"He just never saw him," the Liverpool boss said.

"Who said that? Why don't you tweet Wayne back and give him your answer.

"I don't have a view on what they have tweeted, especially when I have not seen it. If Neville or Wayne were standing there and asked me the question, I could answer them.

"I don't think you can speak for either Gary or Wayne so unless they want to ask me the question, I will just plead the fifth amendment."

On the match itself, Dalglish said: "I'm really pleased with the way the team played. We kept them under a lot of pressure. We just needed the bounce of the ball to go our way and if we'd have got one, I think we would have won it.

"We are disappointed to come away with just the one point.

"But you couldn't criticise the players for their effort or the quality in their performance.

"Like everything else, if you just get a kind bounce somewhere near the goalmouth, we might have walked away with the three points."

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, who hoped to fly to the match after the end of the day's court proceedings in his tax evasion trial, missed the game because of a technical fault that prevented his plane from taking off.

In his absence, assistant manager Kevin Bond said: "We had to work really hard and defend for our lives at the end.

"We didn't create many chances but we had the best chance of the match five minutes before the end, and it just was not meant to be. For Gareth Bale's chance, the goalkeeper stood up well and it was a big moment for us, but a point was a good result for us."

Eurosport / Reuters

Comment 422 - 441 of 441

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  1. who does really liverpool though apart from the racist­ scum scoucers?

    From Lee, on Fri 10 Feb 2:24
  2. doglish says,"he has had a HALF AN HOUR and it­ will do him the world of good",on suarez. why do­ managers go on and on about the fitness of there­ players,if i was offered the money that these prima­ donnas get id pack in my 56 hour a week job labouring­ and become a footballer,these guys get the best of­ everything that money can buy in this world and the red­ carpet treatment where ever they go , and yet we hear­ manangers moan and moan and moan,belt up ,try working­ on a building site from eight in the morning till six ­ AT NIGHTand a HALF AN HOUR, BREAK!.

    From poormanfromthe estates, on Thu 9 Feb 21:34
  3. How come dalglish opened up the case again surely it­ was neville and rooney whose comment s about suarez and­ the press uptake on them that fanned the flames

    From r.winning169, on Thu 9 Feb 19:22
  4. Says Rooney the gobshite, Neville does'nt like­ Liverpool so he'll give same opinion. The ref seen­ it as a yellow so a booking it was. I never rated­ Neville anyway and he could foul I know someone who­ knows neville brothers and they say gary's the­ numbty. Shrek should concentrate playing instead of all­ these idiotic twitters, capello needed to go. neville­ concentrate on your tellytubby home.

    From keith f, on Thu 9 Feb 19:13
  5. the past is the past leave it their,well done shrek and­ co it looks on paper that you won the augument getting­ suarez banned but looks like thats all your gonna win­ this season mu has bins ,always look on the bright side­ of life ho ho ho

    From JOHN K, on Thu 9 Feb 18:16
  6. rooney your a dirty scumbag who constantly foul players­ week in week out!!
    -hope liverpool beat you suarez with­ a hatrick....

    From geezer, on Thu 9 Feb 17:06
  7. 437 Jay...the incident concerning the referee giving a­ free kick against Rooney is Irrelevant, the fact is­ Rooney elbowed another player in the head with­ malicious intent to cause harm. Rooney has been a­ nasty violent player on more than one occasion so he­ obviously never learnt from his ticking off by the­ officials. So maybe next time Rooney lashes out we­ should all brand him a violent thug that has no place­ on a football field and start a load of forums slating­ him. Whether you like it or not Suarez made a mistake­ in naive ignorance, he has been punished (like Rooney­ was), he has apologised and he is doing what he can to­ make sure it doesn't happen again, so lets give him­ the benefit of the doubt and stop crucifying him. No­ it's not acceptable to call another player and If­ there's an instance where he actually uses racist­ language then i for one will lead the calls for a ban. ­ It's also not acceptable to swear at other­ players, or to mob the referee, or to make snide­ remarks at other managers/officials, or to try and get­ players sent off, or to dive to get penalties/free­ kicks but tell me a team that sadly doesn't have­ players and managers that do that. Man Utd­ players/managers are well known for doing all of them­ so will you be crticising them the next time that­ happens or will you just think it's part of the­ game and ok because it's your team doing it? And­ will you also lead the call for a ban on Rooney the­ next time he's violent and kicks out or elbows­ another player becuase violence is just as bad as­ racism and needs to be stamped out of football. And i­ for one don't wish any player to be hurt as­ it's just a game and not a war so lets hope Scholes­ doesn't go in to harm another player eh...like i­ said, violence is just as bad as racism!

    From mac3po2002, on Thu 9 Feb 8:10
  8. Memo for Jay at post 426. Negro is predominately used­ in the English speaking world when referring to a black­ person. In Spain and Portugal Negro means black. ­ Nowhere in the world is it offensive to call a black­ person either negro or black. Virtually everywhere,­ blacks prefer to be called black, recently Alan Hansen­ was corrected when he called a black player coloured. ­ He was reminded that the correct reference should have­ been black. So Suarez was banned for calling Evra­ black. John Terry should have been banned, not for­ calling Anton black, but for adding the expletive C***­ after black. Instead of being banned he is allowed to­ have his lawyers arrange with the magistrate to have­ his case heard after the Euro championships. Jay,­ next time you are charged with an offence to be heard­ in a Magistrates Court pop down to the court and tell­ them when it will be convenient for you to be tried! ­ I'm sure they will look on your request most­ favourably.

    From peterobrien989, on Thu 9 Feb 8:04
  9. Check out "The Bite" on You-Tube...this­ guy's an ANIMAL!

    From plonkmorton, on Thu 9 Feb 6:09
  10. Interesting people knocking Liverpool. which other­ Premership team is in all competitions they entered­ this season??I guess what they mean is that their own­ team is doing badly.

    From Peter, on Thu 9 Feb 6:07
  11. If Evra said to me what he said to Suarez about his­ sister I'd of said a lot worse than Suarez did.

    From Peter, on Thu 9 Feb 6:03
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    caeserthegiza Look up a video of the rooney elbow on­ mccarthy. The ref DID give a free kick and gave rooney­ a talking to. He didnt think the incident was worthy of­ a card and that was the reason why the FA couldnt act­ on it.
    What Suarez did deserved the booking he got and­ he was lucky not to get more.
    What Saurez said to Evra,­ whether its acceptable in Uruguay or not, is NOT­ acceptable anywhere in Europe. When he said it once,­ you can say he is just making an honest mistake. When­ he says it a number of times, seeing how each time Evra­ gets more and more worked up, then it is deliberate and­ intended to be read as an insult. The fact that he was­ reprimanded because he was told what he said is NOT­ acceptable, he should be apologising if for nothing­ else, than accidently causing offence.
    Suarez is a­ horrid person. Deliberately cheats in world cups, doing­ something Maradona got blasted for doing for years.­ Handling the ball to ensure his team gets the­ advantage. He is the guy that BITES his opponents when­ the refs back is turned. And then he says he respects­ everyone.I hope Evra does shake his hand on Saturday,­ just so the world sees who the bigger man is. Then I­ hope Scholesy hits him with a classic Scholesy­ challenge just to show him what we really think of him.

    From Jay, on Thu 9 Feb 5:56
  13. all the writing about Suarez and Liverpool being­ racists can we not move on and get back to playing­ football, the press are no better and as for Wayne­ Rooney regard the source just shows what a brain­ he's got!!!!

    From will, on Thu 9 Feb 5:34
  14. I am a white British male and have never witnessed­ racism in my country(Scotland). I have however worked­ in Africa and been subjected to racism from people in­ Africa. This Suarez deal is just nonsense. Some people­ just want to be victims so they can exercise the racism­ card with no come backs - I say no, it works both ways­ but only seems to be recognised one way.

    From BRIAN, on Thu 9 Feb 5:04
  15. 426 Jay who the hell are you? Do you f**king think that­ all the countries in the world has the same mentality­ as Britain? Britain is a racist country, where as some­ race's prefer not to join the main stream, they­ chose to alienate themselves, causing hostilities to­ occur. South America doesn't have that mentality,­ which makes you are F**king racist. Suarez is more of­ man than you will ever be. By the way, I'm not­ white, and I was born in Africa. Idiot! As for the­ other race mongers out, suck on this.

    From Simple Jack, on Thu 9 Feb 2:58
  16. 426.@ Jay...no, i'm neither dumb or stupid. Are­ you? I ask because you fail to see or comprehend just­ what i'm saying. The fact is people like yourself­ seem to forget that Suarez comes from a country where­ terminology is different to ours and to be honest the­ one thing he can be accused of is being naive but not­ racist. He has apologised for his mistake, he's­ taking English lessons so he understands our way of­ addressing others and he's making an effort to not­ make the same mistake again and i don't think he­ should be vilified because of it. In South America­ people have a certain way of addressing each other in a­ teasing but not malicious term...i.e my little black­ friend...my little fat girl...etc. We may not­ understand it as we come from a country which­ doesn't use such terminology and in ignorance we­ instantly accuse then assume we are right.

    From mac3po2002, on Thu 9 Feb 2:06
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    doglish only signed john barnes so he could abuse him

    From owl, on Thu 9 Feb 0:25
  18. MOVE­ ON.....................................................­ ...............................

    From Valerie, on Thu 9 Feb 0:19
  19. Neville and and brain transplant rooney are only­ tell you what they have been told to say, the sad thing­ is rooney knows hes a twit and thinks tweeting is what­ every one is telling him to do lets face it Neville and­ rooney can not think a M&M between them, ­ and as for scott parker, last week it was city, ­ this week it was liverpool, teflon rednap has got him­ playing to his best ! rolling around on the pitch with­ his team mate's arms in the air !! this will be­ the tacticks of our new england manager

    From stephen.crick56, on Wed 8 Feb 22:09
  20. @Jay Honestly you are one being dumm. I speak spanish­ live in ecuador and negro aint racist at all. But­ folowwing your logic, wouldnt evras comment about­ suarez nationality be also racist? ohh no it aint­ because he is coloured. from my expirience couloured­ people are by far the mos racist people, between­ themselfs and toward any other person. Just see what­ happened in rwanda.

    From odimitrios, on Wed 8 Feb 21:24
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