Luis Suarez – A Betrayal to Embrace

Like life in general, football provides us with a wide spectrum of emotions. It gives us moments of ecstasy yet it can also crush our spirits. It can make or break days, weeks, even years of our existence. It offers the opportunity to form bonds and to partake in exhilarating adventures. It demands that you feel genuine love and utter hatred. It can leave you feeling bitter, resentful and downright betrayed. It can offer relief and fill you with optimism. Without the lows, the highs wouldn’t matter, just as in life. Football is all about emotion.

No matter how many times your team or idols break your heart you should always go back for more. No matter how corporate or sanitised the game has become these days, the emotions should remain. Negative or positive, they should be embraced. They must endure. Without them, football just wouldn’t matter.

Right now, many Liverpool supporters are in a state of turmoil. Their best and most cherished player is on the brink of breaking their hearts. They’ve been here before. They’ve been warned. It doesn’t matter. No amount of experience or foreshadowing can soften this kind of blow when it comes.

For the past couple of years, Liverpool fans have treated Luis Suarez, as their manager Brendan Rodgers so eloquently put it last week, like a son. While the rest of the country passed judgement on him, Kopites defended him and sang his name. When he fell down they picked him up again. Now, he is apparently ready to turn his back on them. And so returns that familiar feeling of anguish that was last felt in these parts back in January 2011.

When Fernando Torres traded Anfield for the Kings Road, hearts broke all over Merseyside. The turmoil of that transfer still lingers today. The scars have never fully healed. Liverpool legend John Aldridge, who has seen it all down the years, still can’t bring himself to even utter Torres’ name. He refers to him as ‘that fella’ or ‘FT’ on a good day. Why? Because Torres mattered to Liverpool fans. As the old adage goes, they hate him so much because they loved him so much. Emotion. Passion. 

Fernando Torres as a Kop idol

In truth, Torres’ leaving wasn’t really the problem. No Liverpool supporter would have begrudged him a move abroad to a European super club back in 2011. Throughout his time in Liverpool he had always talked up his bond with the city and seemed to genuinely understand it’s inhabitants. During his final season, Liverpool weren’t a good side and he remained a world class footballer dragged down by Hodgeball. Despite the apparent affection, his departure was always on the cards.

Like a relationship that had ran its course and was slowing grinding to a halt, his exit through the Paisley gates seemed inevitable. It was only his ultimate destination and callous timing that turned what should have been an amicable parting of the ways into a love affair defined and ruined by perceived betrayal. By joining such a hated rival as Chelsea, Torres had effectively cheated on those Liverpool fans who had given him their hearts.

Like anyone who has gone through a real life relationship that has ended in such a gut wrenching manner, after the initial anger, resentment and jealousy had passed, Liverpool fans searched for positives. They’d let their guard down and been taken for mugs while the man who professed unto them his undying love had jumped into bed with someone that they detested. Then, like all grieving singletons eventually do, Liverpool fans rationalised. Once bitten, twice shy. It wouldn’t happen again. Footballers had changed. Loyalty was a rare commodity and getting so attached to players was a bad idea. Love was for losers. The next time someone decided to up sticks from L4 it wouldn’t hurt so much because they’d been there before and would know how to deal with it.

Inevitably, that rationale has long since gone out of the window. With each piece of skill, each breath taking goal, each tireless performance in their famous Red shirt, Luis Suarez wormed his way into Liverpool supporters’ hearts the same way that Torres did. The Kop have stood by their latest squeeze through tough times and heartily rejoiced in the moments of joy that he has brought them. His triumphs were all the more enjoyable because of his tribulations. They overlooked his flaws and embraced his genius.This summer though, has brought a familiar sense of foreboding.

A few weeks ago Suarez was fluttering his eyelashes at Real Madrid. His heart and future seemed to lie abroad. Initially, despite the obvious disappointment, many Kopites were able to rationalise once more. They know Madrid can offer things that Liverpool can’t right now. They know that Madrid is a dream club for any Latin player and while losing Suarez would hurt, it wouldn’t rancour in the way that the Torres deal did. At least he looked like he was moving far away and going to a better place. The relationship seemed likely to end but at least he wasn't going to do the dirty on them.

Oh, how love blinds. It now seems that Suarez is merely intent on leaving those who have stood by him, unconcerned with his next destination. If Madrid aren’t interested then seemingly anywhere but Anfield will do for Luis right now. What other reason is there for Suarez’s apparent desire to follow Torres’ trail down to the nation’s capital by joining Arsenal?

Luis Suarez mocked up in an Arsenal shirt 

Sure, the Gunners can offer Champions League participation (usually not beyond February, mind) but Arsenal haven’t won a trophy in forever. They are extremely unlikely to compete with Chelsea or the Manchester clubs for the Premier League title and they certainly offer no refuge from the glare of the English media that Suarez had previously cited as his main reason for wanting to leave Liverpool.

Perhaps this is all just a long game by Suarez and his agent. Maybe it is a way to force Madrid into action. That would be more palatable for Reds fans. But if it is not and Suarez does genuinely want to set up camp at the Emirates next season then his love affair with Liverpool is destined to end in a break up laced with regret and resentment.

Some Liverpool supporters are preaching that detachment from Suarez has been their default position since he arrived. He’s just another mercenary footballer who they knew would jump the good ship Rodgers at the first chance he got, they say. He’s no different to Torres and they knew it all along apparently. Being ready for his departure has softened the blow.

Well, I cannot endorse or even believe in such level headed, clear minded thinking. Sure, it makes sense and it is a fine position in theory, but in football, emotional detachment shouldn’t be an option when it comes to your team and your best player. Liverpool fans should feel angry if Suarez moves to another English club. They should regret standing by him through his dark periods. They should be offended that their warmth and devotion hasn’t been reciprocated or appreciated.

95000 LFC fans filled the MCG and cheered Suarez on this week

Call me overly romantic or even deluded but if Suarez moves to Arsenal I want Liverpool fans to hurt. He’s their best player and a man they have taken to their hearts. No matter what anyone says, this should matter to them. Losing your best player to a direct rival is an regrettable thing. It shouldn't be taken with level headed numbness, it should piss you off. 

Because, if it doesn’t then what is the point of all this? Give me heart break over detachment any day. Feeling low is just part of the dance. Something will pick you up again, it always does in football. Raw emotion, good or bad, should be a pre requisite for football supporters. Without it, the game simply wouldn’t matter anymore.