Unruly Suarez is a liability regardless of skills

In all aspects, a bad-mannered person is a disgrace to himself and his employer. Forget about the talent and skills to be showcased. Remember Didier Drogba’s scenario-red card and loss to Manchester United in European Champions League final some time back?

Friday, May 03, 2013
Silver Bugingo

In all aspects, a bad-mannered person is a disgrace to himself and his employer. Forget about the talent and skills to be showcased. Remember Didier Drogba’s scenario-red card and loss to Manchester United in European Champions League final some time back?  And I’m sure anybody who loves football and witnessed the grimace on Luis Suarez’s face, while trying to bite Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic during a fiery 2-2 draw the other Sunday, there and then hated the Uruguayan.The Liverpool fans must get me right; the Merseyside super striker isn’t alone in making ethical errors but the gravity of the acts and their regularity are a shame to him and the club. The attempt looked really bad, whether he sunk his teeth in or not, it looked so inhuman!When he clashed with the Red Devils’ left back Patrice Evra last season and later refusing to shake hands in a return match, it cost him and the club nine matches.  It was an invaluable loss. And playing bitter rivals Everton this Sunday and the remainder of the without him, will make it even harder Liverpool to finish sixth on the table. And it’s on record this is the ‘Bad boy’s’ third ban for such misbehaving. While still at Ajax Amsterdam, he was banned for six games for biting an opponent! Yet this time round, the disgraceful incident happened at a time he was a top candidate for Play of the Year Award alongside Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and Robin Van Parsie of United. And of course, he would end the season the Top Scorer were he to appear in the remaining three games. There’s no double about Suarez’s talent and skills on the pitch, which is only rivaled by the world class strikers in the company of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo or Van Persie but his antics make him a liability to his teams.Humanity first, career next.  What makes Messi the best player on the planet isn’t the rollercoaster talent and natural skills, he’s an enviable social being and rarely gets booked.Corporate sponsors are attached to such big clubs like Real Madrid, AC Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man United, who have superb marketing strategies because the clubs have enviable images, iconic players and huge fan bases around the world.And I’m sure the Suarez fracas will have negative impact on sponsor’s expectation. Plus the club’s image isn’t going to escape this.  This really explains why Liverpool legends Jamie Redknapp and Graeme Souness insist the Uruguayan fully deserved his 10-game ban.They became what they are because of Liverpool FC, they loved it and still love it and many of them are playing ambassadorial roles. No wonder the bad-boy has been fined heavily by the club and put under serious cautions. Indeed Suarez will be offered all the help in the world from his manager Brendan Rodgers and his staff but unless he needs it, it won’t change that demonic element evident in his conscience.Plus the player himself wants support on the pitch in every match, score goals and widen his fan base.  Fortunately, he has personally revealed: "My wife has made observations like, ‘You were arguing with the referee and the defenders too much; you didn’t really seem up for it; you might as well have not been on the pitch.” What he needs to do now is simply a resolve to reshape his future. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. He just needs to regret it and manifest remorse on and off the pitch because no one will be shoved into it, he should be thinking: "What have I done? How can I get sorted out?”