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.
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