Europa Heart Beats On

 Whoever we draw in the Champions League or Europa League qualification matches and no matter how well we play we never fail to get past them. The likes of Spurs, Villa, Newcastle and Everton have all failed at this point in recent years so they can be a banana skin waiting to happen. This one almost turned out that but as always we had enough to see us through (despite a “heart attack” moment).

  With the news filtering through that Carroll was down in London for a medical (more comment will be made on the deal after midnight tonight but for now without a replacement it looks daft, with one it could be genius) Rodgers picked a relatively youthful or experimental side, Downing started at left back which was interesting to watch after the manager’s recent words about him being able to play there. He was more than comfortable all night and provided a good attacking option, although he won’t get many more easier games as for all of Hearts’ endeavour they did not come to attack. More strangely Henderson started as the left sided forward which is never going to be his position so seemed a bit of a arse about tit way of introducing Downing to left back. Too many square pegs and all.

  It was exciting to see Morgan’s name on the team sheet and there was a definite buzz around the ground as he got the ball, the crowd were willing him to do well, I guess there was hope of a Fowler/Fulham night. It wasn’t to be but despite a few nerves early on he acquitted himself well and looks one for the future.

  We were on top the entire game with relative ease but without ever being overly dominant, it wasn’t until the introduction of Sterling (for Morgan) on the hour mark that we really looked like carving Hearts open. There is so much anticipation when he got the ball and rarely did he disappoint. Sterling is one for the now, he is bound to get targeted by opposition in the coming months but he has so much talent and pace he could be the player that helps us break down teams or mean there is space in other areas that Rodgers’ passing style can exploit.

 Allen and Gerrard were our stand out players on the night, we all know how good Gerrard is but I think we are all loving the look of Allen. Not only can he pass exquisitely but he is able sniff out danger, chase down players and come away with the ball. A quality that Mascherano had and we have missed.

  Suarez was Suarez, looked great at times and cut a frustrating figure at others, he had a couple of chances that we are going to need him to put away or we will be punished. Like we almost were. The Hearts goal came out of nothing, there had been no pressure or thought that we might concede, then yet another monumental error from one of our players put us under pressure. It was almost comical the way Reina let the ball slip into the net. There can be no excuses. Shocking goalkeeping. Over the last two seasons errors have really started to creep into his game and I expect if they continue Rodgers will have no choice but to look for an alternative. With money tight I don’t imagine this is an area he wanted or expected to use budget on.

  Thankfully Suarez made amends for any earlier misses with a lovely run and a fantastic finish to equalise and send us through 2-1 on aggregate. The goal was welcome as you could visibly see how tired both he and Gerrard were and extra time really was not wanted with Arsenal coming in just two days. The goal killed Hearts and we saw out the final through minutes with the ease that we had done all night.

  There wasn’t a huge amount of positives to take from the night but then no real negatives, it was, as always, job done. We need to stop the errors though as if they continue we will need to score two or three every game to win and that is something we struggle with.

  The club don’t often get thanked but keeping the ticket prices at £14 (Kop) was a good move and ensured a full house so thank you to them and let’s hope they keep the group matches at a sensible price.

Sublime Placement, Ridiculous Misplacement

 2-2 at home to Man City today was a good result for a couple of reasons. Firstly after being so toothless going forward last weekend it was nice to get a couple of goals, and secondly even though there have only been two rounds of matches it's nice not to be sat at the very bottom of the league table. Being bottom after two games certainly wouldn't have been any reason to panic but it would have added to the pressure on the new boss and his developing side. To be totally honest if I'd been offered a draw before the game I would've been sorely tempted to take it, though with ten minutes to go I was after nothing but the three points. And up to that point we deserved them.

 Quick, confident passing coupled with patient build up play gave us a first half performance to be proud of and real reason for optimism for the rest of the season. Special mention has to go to 17 year old Raheem Sterling, it certainly wasn't a low key game in which to give the youngster his first Premier League but he didn't look out of place or overwhelmed by the occasion or his illustrious opponents. He's obviously a long way off the finished article but the promise is there and the manager and his team mates clearly have faith in him. 

 The opening goal was enjoyable, a bullet header from Martin Skrtel from a pinpoint Steven Gerrard corner. I love seeing a really powerful header and Joe Hart had absolutely no chance of stopping it. Skrtel finding the space was a result of City's zonal marking system, giving the Slovakian a running jump against the standing leap of the defenders, only ever going to be one winner there.... Interestingly enough Man City actually managed to win the title last season despite using zonal marking when defending corners, anybody listening to the pundits version of our defending under Rafa Benitez would find this impossible to believe, such a heinous crime was this method of defending..

 The second half saw us going for a second goal and certainly not settling for a 1-0 win but unfortunately it was the visitors who scored next. Tevez got himself one on one with Raheem Sterling on the City right wing and put his cross in, the ball just skimmed the top of Skrtel's head taking it inches away from Pepe Reina's hand, bouncing off Martin Kelly and straight into the path of Yaya Toure who couldn't really miss. At first it looked like pretty poor defending but on closer inspection there wasn't really much more any of our defenders could do. But after being pegged back to 1-1 by the reigning champions it was a case of seeing how we would respond.

 Three minutes later we had the answer. A fortunately awarded free kick after a handball by Jack Rodwell (refs don't seem to give him the benefit of the doubt against us..) gave us a chance 30 yards from goal and with Gerrard and Suarez standing over the ball we had options. Suarez took it, bent it low around the wall and into the bottom corner beyond the dive of Joe Hart. It was the only place the ball could have crept in and Suarez could not have placed it any better, it was truly inch perfect. Even more impressive than the strike was our response to it, there was no sign of settling for the one goal advantage and we continues to carry a greater attacking threat than our opponents. 

 Ten minutes from the end Skrtel received the ball from Reina towards the left touchline and under pressure from City attackers decided to attempt to keep possession for the team, and rather than hoofing the ball forward he tried to play it back to our 'keeper but it was intercepted by Tevez who made the most of the gift, 2-2. It's the second time in two games Skrtel has been caught out and cost us a goal but other than the one mistake he was excellent today and after his performances last season the fans certainly won't turn on him after a couple of errors the way they do at some other clubs. The intelligent passing game may not be entirely suited to the big defender's game but he's good enough and intelligent enough to adapt and I'm sure he'll be a key player for us in the new era.

 Slightly more composed defending would have seen us win comfortably today against a top quality side and despite the dropped points the overriding feeling after the game is one of optimism and hope, rather than the 'oh no, here we go again' feeling that followed the majority of our home draws and defeats over the last three seasons.

 Joe Allen was awarded man of the match for his accurate passing and his ability to read the game. He already looks a good signing and appears to have settled in pretty quickly. A player with his ability to pick out another red shirt can be invaluable, but he can only ever be as good as his team mates let him be. If players make intelligent forward runs into space for him to find he can be another Xabi Alonso for us. If his team mates don't make that sort of run and he is restricted to merely sideways and backwards passes he would be more like another Jamie Redknapp, good but not as creative as his talents suggest he should be.

 All in all a positive afternoon in the Sunday afternoon sunshine, and if we can carry that sort of form into our forthcoming fixtures our results will improve. Coates did well deputising for Daniel Agger and Jose Enrique made a late return from injury so the future is looking bright. Hopefully Lucas' injury isn't too severe, though Jonjo Shelvey performed very well after replacing the Brazilian. Brendan Rodgers can be pleased with and proud of the majority of his first afternoon's work at his new home, and long may it continue.

Small Steps, Short Passes

 In the 93^rd minute of our away game at Hearts in the Europa League last night Pepe Reina kicked the ball down the pitch from a goal kick. For the 93 minutes before that he had been passing the ball short to our defenders, who in turn attempted to pass the ball short to our midfielders. We certainly didn’t dominate the match and there were probably as many chances against us as there were for us, and in this respect the game mirrored the majority of our cup games against lesser sides for the last decade. But on this occasion it was clear we were trying something new.

 The style of play may be in it’s infancy and at the moment it’s probably easier to find fault with than to see the positives, but there is a revolution happening at Liverpool Football Club, the seeds have been planted and hopefully over the season it will grow and turn into something special.

 Firstly the faults, as I just said, it’s quite easy to pick them. In order to keep possession you need team mates around the man with the ball, so if the centre back receives the ball 20 yards from his own goal and the midfield drop back to give him a simple pass you end up with too many players deep inside their own half leaving the forwards very isolated. This was pretty clear last night and without Raheem Sterling’s individual play we would have struggled to make any impression in the final third. And if you don’t do that then you don’t score goals which are quite important when it comes to winning matches. Another issue is that playing this way can magnify the significance of any individual errors. Martin Skrtel was caught in possession looking for a pass on Saturday and seconds later the game was beyond our reach. Playing exclusively short passes from the back can be very pretty but without a bit of variety in the play it can become predictable and easy to play against. Teams can commit men forward to put pressure on our defenders as they move the ball from side to side if they are not worried the ball will be played over the top leaving their defence exposed. The key to any style of play is variety and the short, simple passes that keep possession are all well and good, but they cannot be the sole way of playing.

 Now on to the positives. Keeping hold of the ball means the opposition have to chase you, and that is far more tiring than when you are dictating the game. A tiring opponent is always easier to beat than a fresh energetic side and I can see Liverpool developing a habit of winning games fairly late on once the other side begin to grow weary. Playing possession football also encourages our players to think quickly whilst at the same time developing a calmness on the ball, two key aspects that all successful sides must have. If we can continue making progress in our evolution and begin to play the same kind of football further up the pitch the rewards could be there for us.

 The next few fixtures, Man City and Arsenal at home, Sunderland away and Man Utd at home are not ideal for experimenting and there is a good argument to be made for using tactics the players are more familiar with for the next month or so. Playing aggressive, attractive attacking football is something Liverpool should be doing, but we shouldn’t forget the need to win games along the way. Losing 3-0 at West Brom was unexpected and if we don’t get things right there is the potential for not winning at all in our first five league games, which would put extreme pressure on the team and the management. The long term goal of playing how Liverpool should is worth a few defeats and struggles along the way but how many is something we need to be very careful of.

 Thankfully for Brendan Rodgers he is at Liverpool. The supporters (some radio phone in regulars excluded) know their football and if the signs are there that we are on the right path they will be noticed. Liverpool is one of the few clubs where results are not everything, enthusiasm, ability and passion count for almost as much as winning and fans will be patient as long as they see positive signs. But these signs eventually have to turn into a finished product. Like I said, the seeds have been planted, let’s all hope they grow quickly.

Show Some Heart

 For tonight’s game at Hearts we’ve left a few senior players at home and will be relying on some of our squad players to put in a performance. This is a really good chance for three players especially to stake a claim for regular first team football.

 Charlie Adam has been linked with a move away but has said he wants to stay. He showed glimpses of quality last season, including one goal and two assists in his first two home games, and if he can show he can be an effective member of the team then maybe he has a future under Brendan Rodgers. When Adam came on against Gomel in our 3-0 win some of his passing was excellent and this could fit in well with the style of play we are attempting under the new boss. If Adam is serious when he says he wants to stay than tonight is a good opportunity for him to show his determination and quality.

 Jordan Henderson played well in patches last term but also had long ineffectual periods in the first team. He’s still young and has an excellent attitude and a long future ahead of him but the signing of Joe Allen and the return to fitness of Lucas will make it much harder for him to get into the starting eleven. He has spoken well this season about his first year at Anfield and his evaluation hasn’t been particularly different to that of most reasonable minded kopites. He knows where he did well and where he needs to improve and tonight will give him a chance to show he can put what he’s learned into practice and not just words.

 Andy Carroll has been more strongly linked with a move away than he has been with staying at Liverpool but so far he is still our player. If rumours are to be believed he has turned down one or two moves as he wants to prove his worth to the new manager and stay at Anfield. With Suarez/Downing/Borini looking like Rodgers’ preferred starting forward line Carroll will have to make the most of the opportunities he gets in the red shirt. Tonight he faces a defence he should be able to bully, the way he did Chelsea’s for half an hour at Wembley and for ninety minutes at Anfield a few days later at the end of last season. He is another who has quality but if he really wants to become a success at Liverpool he needs to prove it not with words but with actions and, most importantly, goals.

 The fact we have a team with something to prove gives me a good deal of optimism for tonight but if our luck on Saturday is anything to go by Carroll will probably miss the game injured, Adam will get sent off and Henderson will be anonymous. Fingers crossed the gaffer has everyone motivated and prepared and we deliver a solid performance leaving us on the verge of qualification for the group stages of the Europa League.

Luis Suarez - Manchester United Legend?

  As part of my research for this website I’ve been having a look over the last few weeks at season previews from supporters of other clubs, sometimes three or four previews from each club to get different viewpoints. The first thing that stood out for me was how unoriginal the majority of them are and for that reason I decided not to do a preview, it’s pretty obvious that I’d like to see my team play attractive attacking football, improve on last season’s position and beat our local rivals home and away. The other thing that stood out for me was the amount of times Luis Suarez was mentioned in season previews for other teams, on some occasions he was mentioned far more than any players at the club the fan was supposed to be sharing his opinions on.

 Football is built on rivalries and I’m not naïve enough to suggest we should get behind our enemies better players, but it’s interesting to have a look at how often hatred really just becomes an act of hypocrisy. I used to look forward to watching Arsenal because I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Robin Van Persie strike the ball so cleanly past goalkeepers, now I’d be happy if he missed the majority of the season through injury and I’ll be made up if his transfer turns into a nightmare. I’m not claiming to be whiter than white on this issue, I’m just looking at when things go too far, or what exactly supporters (of ALL clubs) will overlook when one of their own strays from the path of righteousness.

 The majority of the bile directed at Suarez has come, not in the least bit unexpectedly and not totally without reason, from Manchester United supporters. ‘Racist shit’, ‘despicable human being’, ‘cheating c*nt’ and ‘moaning f*cking Scouse bastard’ have all appeared more than once in some form or another, but I’m curious to know how much of this is a considered, well thought out examination of someone’s character and how much of it is just having a go at one of their most hated enemies better players. I’m going to take each charge one at a time and contrast and compare the supporter reaction to that of when one of their own commits an indiscretion.

 ‘Racist shit’. That is what he has been labelled ever since the FA found him guilty of calling Patrice Evra ‘negro’ on the balance of probabilities earlier this year. The charge was never 100% proven beyond all reasonable doubt but for the purpose of this article I’m going to assume the FA got their facts completely correct and Suarez said every word Evra claimed. The FA report and Patrice Evra himself claimed it was a racist remark and both said they certainly didn’t believe Luis Suarez to be an actual racist. In calling Suarez a racist Manchester United fans are actually saying they don’t believe elements of what Patrice Evra said during the FA hearing. When Liverpool supporters say the same thing about Evra they are criticised and accused of supporting racism. Rio Ferdinand recently faced his own FA charge for use of the phrase ‘choc-ice’, a way of saying a black person has lost touch with his heritage. In my opinion remarks made on Twitter when somebody is sat at home in the evening fall outside of the FA’s jurisdiction and a player should not be banned for something said on the internet, and in this respect I completely agree with the decision to fine but not ban the defender. The player and his club decided not to appeal Ferdinand’s fine, therefore accepting that the player was in the wrong. In terms of making one racist remark, one man during the heat of an argument and one man reacting to something somebody else had said on Twitter, is Luis Suarez any more of a racist than Rio Ferdinand? With a purely analytical head on the answer is no, he isn’t. What will the Old Trafford crowd’s reaction be to Ferdinand? Total support, he’s one of their heroes.

 ‘Despicable human being’. Luis Suarez donates all of his pay from international appearances to charities at home in Uruguay and here in England. He is a family man with a young daughter who he clearly thinks the world of. The most popular name on the back of Man Utd shirts is Rooney. A man who cheated on his pregnant wife with prostitutes. The longest serving player at Man Utd is Ryan Giggs, a man who had an eight year affair with his brother’s wife. How do the people who call Suarez a despicable human being react to these players when they step out in the Man Utd shirt? They support them, they are their heroes.

 ‘Cheating c*nt’. Suarez goes down easily, not all the time, but he does. He looks for contact and will sometimes make sure the ref knows he’s been fouled. A good example of this was against Arsenal at Anfield last season, his shin was clipped by the ‘keeper’s shin but he was already in the air on his way over, clearly looking for a penalty and the ref fell for it. Ashley Young won two penalties for Man Utd towards the back end of last season that very nearly won them the league, both occasions any contact was greatly exaggerated if not entirely made up. Wayne Rooney dives sometimes, Nani is incredibly prone to theatrical falls, and who can forget Cristiano Ronaldo in a Man Utd shirt, possibly the best player ever to play in the Premier League, but also a grade A diver. How do the Old Trafford faithful respond to these players? They cheer them, they are their heroes.

 ‘Moaning Scouse bastard’. Yes, Suarez does question referee’s decisions and he does complain when things don’t go in his favour, and he has perfected the expression of injustice often seen on the face of the modern footballer. But he’s not alone in this. Wayne Rooney has been sent off in Europe for sarcastically applauding a refereeing decision, and how often have we seen him chasing a ref half the length of the pitch to have his say or to argue with a decision? Ryan Giggs spends more time with his arm in the air asking referees for decisions than anything else these days. Who can forget Roy Keane running after the ref, eyes bulging, veins popping out in his neck, for daring to give a penalty against Man Utd at Old Trafford? And how many times has Alex Ferguson been in trouble for comments made about or to referees? How does the home crowd react to these people? They sing their names, they are their heroes.

 Luis Suarez is a figure that gets the Manchester United fans wound up, they hate him, they hate him as much as anybody they’ve ever hated. If he had joined them in January last year instead of Liverpool and had exactly the same eighteen months in England, with the same controversies, the same actions and the same pieces of sublime skill, would they hate him as much as they do, or would he be well on the way to becoming a Manchester United legend? I think we all know the answer to that.

 Believe it or not the aim of this piece is not to have a dig at Man Utd fans, it’s more intended as an observation of football fans as a whole. There are probably hundreds of examples of Liverpool fans behaving in the same way (almost certainly involving Gary Neville), in fact you could probably write a similar article highlighting the hypocrisies of whichever set of supporters you choose with only a small amount of research time. It’s easy to boo opposition players and without that rivalry football would only be half the sport it is, but if you’re going to cross the line into blind hatred and full on abuse of somebody you’ve never actually met you should make sure it’s for the right reasons. There has been plenty of talk about football needing to emulate the spirit of the Olympics recently, but this needs to start with the fans. Usain Bolt is from Jamaica and he went right up to the crowd in London who were respectful of his achievements and gave him the reception he deserved. Could you imagine Demba Ba scoring a superb late winner for Newcastle against Aston Villa and going up to the Villa fans after the game? He would get anything but applause.

Luis Suarez - The Contract Coincidence...

 I’m sure it hasn’t escaped anybody’s attention but Luis Suarez has signed a new contract at Liverpool claiming the supporters are unbelievable and they are the reason he signed the new deal. Only a couple of days before this I wrote a fairly long piece sticking up for our Uruguayan number seven. I’m not saying there’s a link between the two but it’s one hell of a coincidence…….

 Personally I think the fact that the length of the contract has not been announced means he has probably not signed for any longer than the four years he already had left on his previous deal, but I would imagine his wages have been substantially increased to reward his performances and to fend off interest from other clubs. After the events of last season I wouldn’t be surprised if there is also some kind of ‘good behaviour’ clause in there, the club were kind of stuck in how they could respond to his fine and ban and would certainly want to protect their own financial investment in the player.

 Let’s hope he keeps improving and can help fire us to success over the coming seasons, the fans have really taken to the skilful, tenacious South American, and it would appear he just can’t get enough of us as well.

In Defence Of Luis Suarez

 Over the last week or so I've been reading more negative press and negative comments about our Uruguayan number seven. His crime? Being booed at the Olympics. He really hasn't done anything wrong or anything controversial and yet the crowd reaction to him has generated more talk about him, 99% of it unfavourable. There's quite a lot to mention here, so where to start?

 I'll begin with events in Cardiff, where the GB fans (more on which later, if I don't write too much on Suarez...) jeered the Uruguayan anthem. Luis Suarez was fined and banned for eight matches for calling Patrice Evra 'negro' during a Premier League game, despite his protestations of innocence. Now I could be wrong about this, but isn't showing your dislike of a player found guilty of racial abuse by booing and jeering through a national anthem about as ironic as you can get? I'm sure many Uruguayans will have been just as offended by this as Evra was by anything Suarez said, especially at a tournament such as the Olympics which traditionally uses sport to unite nations, rather than to create tension between countries. again this is only personal opinion, but once you've disrespected a national anthem so vociferously and publicly you lose any moral highground when it comes to matters of race.

 Suarez was subjected to a great deal of abuse at Old Trafford when Uruguay played there last week, which isn't surprising and certainly isn't anything out of the ordinary for football. I don't think there is anything wrong with the Man Utd  supporters having a go at the Liverpool player, that's just football rivalry and without it our game would suffer. What will be interesting though is the reaction of the Man Utd fans to Rio Ferdinand this coming season. As soon as the Suarez affair came to prominence there was a large number of Man Utd fans jumping straight onto their high horses - 'he should be sacked', 'we don't want that in our game', 'it's like the KKK at Anfield'. Generally making the most of the opportunity presented to portray all things Liverpool as racist and unacceptable. Now Rio Ferdinand has made his own racial slur and, unlike with Suarez, there is very real proof of what Ferdinand said. He has denied his FA charge of improper conduct but I've no idea how he can possibly justify that, he quite clearly used a racially offensive term and found it funny, and then tried to defend it by saying it was a term for someone who was being fake, which as a defence is up there with 'he was eating the grass'. The Manchester United supporters who were so outraged that Suarez used the word 'negro' have now got two choices, either be consistent with their views and boo Rio Ferdinand until he is forced out of their club, or defend their own player and prove that they were never really bothered about the racial aspect of the Suarez/Evra saga, they just used it as an excuse to have a go at their most hated rivals.

 Another justification for Suarez' treatment by fans at the Olympics has been that he cheats and dives and moans at officials all the time. I'm not going to say he is an angel and this is all false, but it is greatly exaggerated. Without getting nasty about it, I would honestly like supporters of any other team to get in to comment on here if they feel their team has ever lost a match as a result of Suarez cheating. Incidentally if anybody wants to know what a real piece of play acting looks like, click HERE or HERE. Suarez was accused of diving against West Brom to win a penalty, when if you look at it it was one of the latest tackles you'll ever see and it was a blatant penalty. He was accused of diving to win a penalty against Arsenal at Anfield, and while he did go down under slight contact, there was a definite impact on his shin from the Arsenal goalkeeper, and before any Arsenal fans or staff make any sort of a deal over it, they should remember the story of a Croatian striker named Eduardo. The player who took a clear dive against Celtic in the Champions League and rightly got a ban for it, so what did his club do? They appealed the ban. And which club was this? A clue is they play in London and they're nicknamed the Gunners. What I'm basically saying is get your own house in order before you go moaning about other people, and if you want to be strong on issues like this, maybe you you should lead by example. The three players I saw in the Premier League last season most guilty of diving and play acting were Ashley Young, Gareth Bale and Nani, two of them were eligible to play for Team GB and I wonder if they would have been booed as loudly if they had been called up by Stuart Pearce.

 The moaning at officials accusation has a little foundation, he regularly asks for free kicks when he feels he has been fouled, but he's far from the only player who does this. Robbie Savage spent years moaning at referees, as has Craig Bellamy. Ryan Giggs has made a career of asking referees for decisions that blatantly should go against his team, and who can't recall countless occasions of Wayne Rooney or Roy Keane running full pelt at match officials, frothing at the mouth demanding their team are awarded something. It's not something we want in football but we need to stamp it out from everyone, not just choose one player and hammer him alone for it.

 Luis Suarez was also the played 'fouled' by Jack Rodwell in the Goodison derby last season, resulting in a red card for Rodwell. This should never have been a sending off but it was purely the mistake of the official and not a result of Suarez doing anything untoward. And the Evertonians who saw fit to blame the Uruguayan for this obviously forgot Steven Pienaar's ridiculous challenge on Mascherano at Anfield for which he was only booked, or Fellaini's two footed jump/stamp on Kyrgiakos in the same game, for which the Greek was the one who saw red!

 Luis Suarez' pre Liverpool action for Uruguay against Ghana in the world cup has also been brought up when he handled on the goal line in the last minute of extra time to prevent a goal. Ghana missed the resulting penalty and Uruguay went through in the shoot out. It certainly wasn't a sporting action by Suarez, but if you asked any manager or supporter if they would want their own player to do the same you would get a unanimous 'yes'. Phil Neville did the same thing in the last minute of a Merseyside Derby, denying Lucas a last minute winner and taking the sending off instead. Dirk Kuyt stepped up and scored the subsequent penalty so the incident is often forgotten, but anybody saying non-English players bring this kind of thing into the game is wrong. And if somebody did the same thing for England in a major tournament you can bet your life the English media would support them and thank them, and certainly not condemn them.

 I think the main reason for the treatment of Suarez is clearly the whole incident with Patrice Evra, but I find it hard to believe John Terry, Rio Ferdinand or Emmanuel Frimpong will face the same levels of hatred for their indiscretions of a similar nature (I also find it hard to believe the FA will actually have the bottle to find either Terry or Ferdinand guilty). Suarez never really had any strong proof against him, only one man's word. Terry has been caught on camera clearly calling some one a 'f**king black c*nt', Ferdinand quite clearly and openly claimed 'choc ice, hahahahaha, that's a classic' and Frimpong called a Spurs fan a 'yid' on a website for all to see. The evidence against all three is clear to see and while I don't particularly want players to get abuse from supporters it would be nice to feel Suarez isn't getting special treatment purely because he plays for Liverpool. for what it's worth I have a little sympathy for Frimpong, I think if a random stranger contacts you on Twitter and says they have prayed that you break both your arms and legs then you should be allowed to say whatever you like in response, but maybe that's just me.

 Finally I'd like to change the subject a little on to something a bit more positive. When England play in the Euros or at a World Cup it seems there are as many people who want to see them lose as their are want to see them win, but with the GB football team in the Olympics it feels like everybody has backed them and that's exactly as it should be. I think the main reason some people (myself included sometimes) want to see England fail is they can't bring themselves to cheer for certain players like Rooney or Terry or Gerrard, depending on who they support. The lack of big names to dislike in the GB team seems to have helped people to get behind the players who were there and I've really enjoyed what I've seen of Team GB over the last week or two. And it also goes to show you can add the other home nations to England, but penalties are penalties and we just can't score enough in a shoot out to win...