EPL: Don't expect loyalty from you 'heroes'

By now, even the most ardent Liverpool loyalist must have realised the awful truth.

Luis Suarez, in spite of the extraordinary loyalty that the supporters showed him, is prepared to do whatever it takes to leave the club.

This, of course, is no surprise at all to everyone else.

After all, Suarez took his first European club, FC Groningen, to court in an effort to force a move to Ajax.

He piled pressure on Ajax to force a move to Liverpool.

Now, with a declining Liverpool failing to even qualify for the Europa League, he's going to force a move elsewhere.

Everything would be easier if Suarez was honest enough to come out and say, "I've loved my time at Liverpool, but I believe I should be winning trophies and I can't do that here".

If Suarez had said that, or words to that effect, most Liverpool fans would solemnly agree, pat him on the back and let him leave.

He's a Champions League-standard player.

But Suarez can't say that because he would miss out on what we must laughably refer to as "loyalty bonuses".

Instead, Suarez told the world that he was very upset by the media in England and how they had treated him.

Surprise

It wasn't Liverpool he wanted to leave, it was the English journalists.

Boy, is he in for a surprise when he finds out that London is in... England.

Now, we have the game of poker.

Suarez wants to move, but cannot say it.

Liverpool want a good price, but have admitted it.

Arsenal want Suarez, but not at an extortionate price.

In the background, Real Madrid stand and wonder if they should sit down for the next hand.

There is a temptation with Suarez to shout, "WE TOLD YOU SO!" at Liverpool, to ask them why they ever believed that he, of all people, would be different.

It should probably be resisted.

Like Arsenal supporters last year, they are coming to terms with the fact that in football, your heroes will always let you down.

At the height of the race row with Patrice Evra, many of those Liverpool supporters backed Suarez beyond the realms of credibility, sacrificing the good name of the club to make their point.

When Suarez chose not to shake hands with Evra several months later, some distributed grainy pictures of the incident to try and prove that it was the Frenchman who had caused the trouble.

When Suarez bit Branislav Ivanovic like an extra from World War Z, there were Liverpool fans who claimed it was a lot of fuss about nothing as their hero's teeth hadn't even broken Ivanovic's skin.

If Suarez walked into a cattery and gunned down a family of kittens, there would be Liverpool fans who would insist that the kittens fired first.

This is not a phenomenon exclusive to Liverpool.

We all know very well that, if Javier Hernandez and Glen Johnson were to be involved in an identical race row, the standpoints of Liverpool and Manchester United's supporters would reverse in an instant.

We know that many football fans up and down the country have always changed their views to suit their loyalties.

But nowhere has this expediency been as sustained as it has at Liverpool.

You can tell them that their club have survived the loss of better players, and better men, than Suarez. They lost Kevin Keegan to Hamburg, and continued to win European Cups.

They lost Ian Rush to Juventus and spent the money assembling one of the best club sides of the era.

They lost Fernando Torres to Chelsea and finished a place higher in the table.

Suarez will leave, the money will be spent and life will move on.

Liverpool will still be there long after Suarez retires.

But, right now, no Liverpool fan will want to hear that.

They will know only that their trust and their faith have been betrayed.

And it will take a long time for them to recover.


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