On the other hand, there is Luis Suarez.  Recently Suarez, a striker for the English Premier League Club Liverpool, was seen biting the upper arm of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic.  What could possibly drive a man to do this?  Suarez himself doesn’t even know.  He has called it “inexcusable behavior” and has since apologized to Ivanovic.  Does an apology fix this?  Mike Tyson thinks so: ”He bit someone.  It happens… I made amends with Evander and we got on with our lives.”  Really Mike?  Prime example of just plain stupid right there.

Regardless of what Tyson says, Suarez has been a problem for more than just Ivanovic.  In 2010, he was banned 7 games for biting Ottman Bakkal.  He also has a history of throwing around racial slurs.  He was banned 8 games for making racist insults at Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.  You would think one might learn from these suspensions and bans.  Not Suarez.  Last week’s bite has only proven that sometimes you can’t fix stupid.  While Suarez has undeniable talent (he leads the team with 23 goals),  last week’s bite has only proven that sometimes you can’t fix stupid.

English: Luis Suarez made by Paul Blank of http://www.postproduktie.nl Nederlands: Luis Suarez, foto gemaakt door Paul Blank in 2009, http://www.postproduktie.nl/voetbal/Luis-Suarez.htm . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ve just heard that Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has received an immediate 10-game ban by the Football Association for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. Frankly my sympathies are with the biter, not the bitee. I know that Premiership clubs keep their top players on a strict diet, but I do feel Suarez should have been fed prior to the start of the match. By-the-by, when I was a kid sometimes the only way to get past a defender was to bite him.

My defence of Suarez continues with the citing of ‘Cultural Differences.’  When I was last in Uruguay many, many people tried to bite me. Initially I thought it was because I was fat and tasty looking. Not so! Apparently friendships are cemented in Uruguay by biting one-another. I further submit that Luis Suarez merely wanted to befriend Branislav Ivanovic.  (Do you know what, I should have been a bleedin’ barrister.)

With his competitor being banned for the remainder of the season, Manchester United’s Robin van Persie is one step closer to becoming the top scorer of the 2012/13 season. The Dutchman, who has scored 24 goals thus far, now has some breathing space as Suarez won’t be able to add another goal to his telly (23). Gareth Bale (Spurs) is now RVP’s nearest challenger with 18 goals, followed by Swansea’s Michu (17), Chelsea’s Demba Ba and Villa’s Christian Benteke (both 15).

For those who still haven’t seen the biting incident last Sunday or the incident with Bakkal, watch the video’s below.

Love, ©Sjov.

I’m a Liverpool supporter too, so I can see mwhy some people think the ban is harsh. There is a temptation to look back on other cases where a player’s on-the-field behaviour has been punished after the act. John Terry was suspended for four games for using racist language. Suarez himself was banned for eight games for a similar reason. Roy Keane received a three-match ban for deliberately injuring Alf-Inge Haaland to the extent that it quite possibly shortened Haaland’s career. Keane only later received a further five-match ban for admitting his plan to hurt Haaland in his autobiography.

However, I don’t really see how there can be a sliding scale for banning players for bringing the game into disrepute. Essentially, any act of deliberate physical violence or prejudice on the football pitch should be punished severely. Suarez probably deserves a ten-game ban. So did Terry, Cantona, Keane etc.

Also, Suarez hardly has a spotless record. It shouldn’t really be a surprise that a player who has already had one long ban, should now face another for a second offence. Or should each incident be taken in isolation?

I would like to see diving, cynical fouls, abuse of officials and abuse between players wiped out of the sport. If Suarez’s ban deters other players from such behaviour it will be worth it.

However, consistency and transparency is the key here. Suarez can’t just be the pantomime villain who gets longer bans than any other player. Each and every instance where a player brings the game into such a poor light should be dealt with the same. Otherwise things won’t improve at all.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are put in an increasingly awkward position. Their best player is becoming a liability from a public relations standpoint, let alone from an ethical one. It is not easy for a club that preaches an ethos of doing things the “Liverpool Way” to stand by a player who is prone to racist outbursts and acts of petty violence.

However, from a performance perspective, Liverpool would (and will) struggle without the quality of a player like Suarez. Selling him will benefit everyone (the team he goes to, Liverpool’s competitors, probably Suarez himself), except Liverpool. While it might make sense from a moral standpoint to move him on, it won’t help the club on the pitch or in their accounts. Suarez’s value can only be falling with each incident. Liverpool will not get the price his talent warrants, and so won’t have the money to replace him with less volatile, yet equally talented, staff.

So, I can understand the club sticking by Suarez in the short-term. I can only hope that they can work with him to improve his temperament, to make him a better player and a better person. There is now plenty of time for club and player to do so.

Suarez has until this Friday to make an appeal to the decision.

“He tasted like chicken”

Luis Suarez, Liverpool striker, will today be dealt extremely harsh and punitive measures by the FA, after biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic. Or he might be told not to kick a ball about for a little while.

The renowned international star - whose every move is watched around the world by Liverpool’s legion of fans, which includes impressionable children - bit the Chelsea defender during a game on Sunday.

In a statement later, Suarez apologized for his behaviour and said “Obviously I shouldn’t have physically and violently assaulted another sportsman.

“On the other hand, what the hell is the big deal? I was just really hungry. Starving, in fact. You know how you can’t eat before a big game? Well I hadn’t had my Weetabix, and I felt really peckish.”

A Liverpool spokesman said that Suarez’s behaviour was ”Bad, but, not like, really bad. It’s not like he bit someone in a pub. Or in Sainsbury’s. Or on the bus. Or anywhere that would, in normal life, get him sectioned or arrested. It was just on the pitch, and besides, he’s famous. So it’s fine.”

Rick Head, president of the ‘Football Krazy Fanclub’, said “He did the…you know, with his teeth. But they aren’t like us. They’re like gods. And they’re great sportsmen. We can’t judge them by our standards, even when they’re rolling on the floor to get penalties, time-wasting, raping teenaged girls, match-fixing, or trying to eat one another on the pitch. Who are you to judge them?”

Biting in football has been about for a while now, this post talks about this sort of biting behaviour and reveals some interesting historical examples. R.F.Wilson reports from London. A football fans point of view about the Liverpool vs Chelsea game played in the Anfield stadium this week.

Luis Suarez bit Chelsea’s defender Branislav Ivanovich’s arm. It’s a new exciting development in the way footballers tackle their opponents, although Suarez has actually bitten another player in the past.

English: Luis Suarez and fellow uruguayan players celebrate the first scored goal in the 2011 Copa America final against Paraguay in the Estadio Monumental of Buenos Aires. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Liverpool FC stood by 40,000,000 deal  for Luis. The punishment was came about from the Football Association who  hit him with a 3 match ban and a fine. Apparently he was bitten at school and never really got over it.

They expressed hope that it would not result in full-blown outbreak in English football. Stirring Trouble: This is about the Suarez incident from the former Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, who bit a colleague whilst looking a page 3 model  in 1988. Mr Thompson now runs the New York Times.

Stirring Trouble Internationally ‘… Has Suarez Bitten Off More Than He Can Chew? Nope, He’s OK, He’s Staying On At Liverpool…’

My Google Profile+

The passion and desire to play well overwhelms him to say the least and the Uruguayan Suarez but his is talent worthy of the baggage he comes with? The answer is yes given Suarez is being eyed up by the might of Real Madrid this summer.

So why is the FA so dead set against Suarez? First they gave him a ban lengthier than that of John Terry for the same offence (racism) last season. Furthermore, they are looking to discipline him with another reported 8 match ban for biting this season. This you could say is slightly hypocritical of the FA given Jermaine Defoe was yellow carded a few years ago for biting and that was it in terms of his punishment, but then again he is an England striker so what would you expect.

So let us not get stupid regarding his future with Liverpool. His critics are saying he should never wear the reds shirt again, but why is this? If he left Liverpool another a team would willingly sign him up in a second, such is his quality as a striker.

However, if I was Luis Suarez I would be looking to leave Merseyside anyway, given the league he plays in is on an apparent witch hunt against him and he cannot play in the champions league at a club like Liverpool which looks a million miles of been good enough to finish in the top 4 anytime soon of the Premier League, which is what a player that possesses his ability inevitably desires. He needs yet another fresh start and if he has one then I just hope his passion doesn’t get the better of him at his new club

Players on the Suarez Menu:
Aaron Hamsey
Mcdonald Mariga
Andy Carrot
Bacary Lasagna

The fang’s favourite…

13/2 for Player of the Year. Might be worth a nibble.

Suarez gives Liverpool some added bite.

Liverpool are toothless with Suarez.

So Suarez hasn’t exactly been an angel on the field but he has produced some moments of magic and skill that has benefited the teams that he has played for. The football world first recognized Suarez as world class player at Ajax. At Ajax he played 110 games and scored 81 goals which is pretty impressive considering he is not a conventional “Number 9″ striker. For Uruguay he has played 62 internationals and scored 31 goals which gives an output of a goal every two games he has played. For Liverpool (His current club) he has a similar ratio and has become a leading talisman for the club leading the front line by himself. Along the way he has picked up many personal accolades such as Copa America Player of the tournament in 2011 and the Eredivisie Golden Boot.

So will Luis Suarez be remembered for his footballing skills or his on field antics? Personally I believe that if he continues to grab the headlines for the wrong reasons then he will be remembered for his on field antics. However, if he can change his ways over the next five years and concentrate more on the football then he could be a world beater that would be remembered for magical goals and personal accolades. Only time will tell on this question but I can tell you now, Luis Suarez will be grabbing the headlines for some time to come…

Luis Suarez has been undoubtably one of, if not the best players in the Premier League this season. At times he has carried his Liverpool side and he could be no more deserving of his player of the year nomination. But now it seems his chances may have gone out of the window after BITING Branislav Ivanovic’s arm.

This incident mares an otherwise excellent game of football in which Suarez scored a last minute equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw against Chelsea. The event happened after Ivanovic tackled the Uruguayan in the area and the ball bobbled out wide. Suarez then decided to try and take a chunk out of the defender’s arm and inadvertently knocked him to the ground. The bite went unnoticed by officials and the game continued.

Suarez has also been punished for a similar event whilst playing for his former club Ajax. The striker was given a seven match ban for biting the shoulder of PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal.

My opinion on the matter is simply how pathetic. His actions will no doubt see him receive a lengthy suspension and bring shame upon the club. There is no doubting his incredible ability but he cannot go around biting/racial abusing/spitting when things aren’t going his way, I think a lot of growing up is in order.

Suarez’s punishment is yet to be decided as for it now it seems the latest chapter in his controversial career has just been written. I’ll leave you with a clip of the incident.

I have to begin by expressing my disappointment. Amazingly, Arsenal enjoyed an astounding 71% possession, a feat rarely accomplished even by the greatest of teams, and yet during that time, they managed only three shots on target and of those, only one went in and it was as a result of an error in the Fulham defense. This is dismaying to say the least. Next week we play United at home and if we can hardly manage an eleventh place team, how are we supposed to beat the league leaders, a team against which we wil undoubtedly not dominate possession. Our inability to score is only one of the issues that we will face come Sunday. We are without our main striker. After the clumsily stupid late Olivier Giroud tackle, Arsenal found themselves to down to ten men during the  90th MINUTE. More importantly we find ourselves without a traditional frontman. Although Arsene Wenger has often opted to use Walcott upfront, I believe that he would be demolished by United’s large center backs and that Podolski would be the better option. Despite the fact that he has not been started in recent games, he adds a spark that has been missing these past couple of weeks. Seen when he came on and scored against Norwich last week, that spark is exactly what we will need if we are to defeat United. To speak a little more on Giroud himself, I along with many others, have noticed that he has been playing rather poorly as of late. He has been winning fewer headers and setting the ball less than he was even several weeks ago. While it is always devastating for a team to lose a lone striker to suspension, with the right replacement, I believe that Giroud will be better off after several weeks of rest.

Now to address the game by itself. If possession was the stat that counted, by all counts, Arsenal would have won, but unfortunately, possession counts only when it leads to goals, which today it did not. Our lone goal, courtesy of Per Mertesacker, was scored by virtue of the fact that Laurent Koscielny’s marker did a poor job. Not to belittle Koscielny’s header across the face of goal, but had he been more properly marked, we would very well be sitting in fourth place right now. Sitting behind a Chelsea squad who plays tomorrow if you are on the west coast of America, and today if you live anywhere else.

Arsenal F.C. 0-0 Everton F.C.

I want to briefly discuss the implications of Tuesday’s game. While I was unable to watch because I was at school, I want to register my thoughts on the outcome.

Going into the game, the result that we truly needed was a win. As long as we won, we stayed above the rest of London. We didn’t, and as a result now have to worry as both Chelsea and Spurs have games to make up, and possibly, but hopefully not win. While the situation, is less than ideal, the scales are tipped ever so slightly in our favor. Firstly, the opponents. Chelsea has to make up a game at Anfield and a game against Tottenham, while Spurs have to play at the Etihad and travel to Stamford Bridge. What is certain is that points will be dropped, what isn’t certain is how many. In an ideal world Liverpool and City both emerge triumphant at the end of the weekend, and when Chelsea face Spurs, they go on to tie. Results like these will likely guarantee a third place finish for the Gunners. That’s not to say that our boys in red are out of the woods. Coming up next weekend, a final showdown against United will be very important in our race for third place. The other factor that benefits us is that we already have the points. While that statement is obvious, what I want to point out is that Chelsea and Tottenham have to play knowing that if they drop points, they will stay below. Arsenal do knot have this added pressure, in being two games ahead we know that it is still possible that either Chelsea or Spurs will drop points while those two teams have to face the reality that Arsenal hasn’t.

As a result I had to think outside the box and ask the questions that people didn’t even realise they wanted to know the answer to.

Did Frank Lampard score any of his 200 Chelsea goals on his birthday?

No, he didn’t.

Has Frank Lampard ever used a goal as a present to Christine Bleakley?

Possibly. Lampard has never scored for Chelsea on Valentine’s Day, however he did score on Christine’s birthday in Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat against Newcastle at St.James’ Park earlier this year. Whether or not this is all Frank got Christine for her birthday is unknown.

Has Frank Lampard ever given goals instead of sweets to trick-or-treaters on Halloween?

This seems likely to me as Lamps scored more of his 200 goals (a whopping 5) on Halloween than on any other day of the year (apart from the 27th of March on which he has also scored 5).

Which Prime minister has overseen the most Frank Lampard Chelsea goals?

Having occupied 10 Downing Street for almost twice as many days (since Lampard made his Chelsea debut in August 2001) as the either of the other two, it is no surprise that Blair saw the most Lampard goals. However when time in office is taken into account, Gordon Brown emerges as the winner with Frank scoring on average every 16 days of Brown’s premiership. The figure is about 1 goal every 24 days for both Blair and Cameron, with the Labour man just edging it.

This outcome is particularly odd as in 2007 Frank revealed he was a supporter of the Conservative party and a big fan of David Cameron

Which Coldplay studio album was the soundtrack to the most Frank Lampard Chelsea goals?

Here we are looking at which Coldplay album was the latest released at the time of each goal.

The anthemic tunes of Viva La Vida were the accompaniment to a third of Lampard’s 200 goals, just pipping the more electronic X & Y by 4 goals. When we take into account the length of time each album was Coldplay’s latest release these two albums are still the top 2, however X & Y is now the leader with a Lampard goal going in every 18 days as opposed to every 19 days when Viva La Vida was the latest release.

Viva La Vida’s power as an inspirational album/single is in no doubt after it served as the official pre-match dressing room anthem for FC Barcelona’s unprecedented 2008-09 season. And Chris Martin can now surely add 65 Frank Lampard goals to his career achievements.

Which Harry Potter film inspired the most Frank Lampard Chelsea goals?

An extremely close contest sees the Order of the Phoenix emerge as the winner in terms of most goals, with 20% of Lampard’s goals going in during the period it was the latest release. However when we again consider how long each film spent as the latest release, the Half-Blood Prince takes it with a goal going in on average once every 17.5 days.

Throughout the Half-Blood Prince, the character Professor Snape (played by Andrea Pirlo) acts suspiciously evil, culminating in the murder of Professor Dumbledore. At the time Frank Lampard was vying with Pirlo to be considered the best central midfield player in the world, and it seems plausible that seeing the way Pirlo behaves in The Half-Blood Prince gave Lampard that extra incentive to perform well and score lots of goals in order to stick it to him.

(Ok so it’s Alan Rickman who plays Snape in the films not Andrea Pirlo but he looks a hell of a lot like him!)

So congratulations to Frank on scoring 200 goals for Chelsea, an incredible achievement. Here’s hoping to (at least) 3 more and your deserved place in the record books.

goal data from http://thechels.info/wiki/List_of_Frank_Lampard_goals

Very…arty.

That’s it?

Basically last year’s kit with the gold trim replaced with white trim?

I mean, it’s…fine.

Maybe there’s a SPECTACULAR new home goalkeeper kit to go with it!!

Shouldn’t the paint be black? Or yellow?

Or not.

Again, it’s fine.

I might even like it better than the field player kit, but that’s not saying much.

My fear now is that if they have a new away kit it’s going to be an exercise in awfulness in order to make up for the tepidity of the new home kit.

Sorry, I dozed off for a second.

He was the reds boss for 5 years overseeing Liverpool’s participation in the Champions League each and every season he was at the club. On top of that, he led the Merseysiders to European glory in 2005 and to the final again 2 years later.

Since he left Anfield he has not had the same success with other clubs. Benitez was out of work in the summer and openly stated he was unhappy not to have received interest from Liverpool for the then vacant manager’s job. Now, he has his chance to prove the Reds board wrong for their apparent ignorance.

However Benitez will be able to look forward to one thing and that is for a set of fans to actually appreciate him for his hard work, something he has not been getting since taking over at Chelsea after the sacking of Roberto DiMatteo. Liverpool has a reputation for giving warm welcomes to familiar faces, with the exception of Michael Owen and the infamous El hadji Diouf.

The game is set up to be a close encounter with both teams desperately needing the points to secure European football next year. However, Liverpool’s run of form has been poor, picking up just 2 points from their last three games something Brendan Rogers urgently needs to change with games rapidly running out.

As for Chelsea they have been far too inconsistent since Benitez took to the helm, but they will be favourites going into the game and in turn will be hoping Fernando Torres finds his scoring boots again against his former club. However, it may be difficult to emerge from the shadows when you are playing on the same pitch as the magician that is Luis Suarez, who remains the premier Leagues top goal scorer so far this season.

Arsene Wenger has praised his Arsenal team for bouncing back from a “very, very difficult position” and believes they can now go the rest of the season unbeaten.

Tuesday’s 0-0 draw against Everton was the first time the side have failed to win in five games and left them two points ahead of a faltering Tottenham Hotspur, although having played a game more. It is, however, a marked difference from the situation after their last defeat, when Spurs’ 2-1 North London derby win left Arsenal seven points behind their neighbours.

Wenger said: “I believe we will do it [finish in the top four] but it is down to our performances. It is down to us performing until the end, as we did recently. We bounced back from a very, very difficult position but we still have a lot of work to do.

“It could [go the last day]. The only way we can deal with the situation is to win our games. We won eight of the last nine and had a draw against Everton, which can happen to anybody. I believe that we just want to keep that strong run going until the end. We know for us it is needed to be successful.

“We have put a fantastic run together. We want to continue that. I said to you many times that we have no room to drop points after we lost against Chelsea and we lost against Tottenham. After the Tottenham game I told you we have no room to drop points and that’s where we are. We know that if we play well we can win everywhere.”

Favorites:

Robin Van Persie: When Manchester United recruited the former Arsenal man last summer some saw it as an expensive gamble considering the injury troubles the Dutchman had suffered during his time with the Gunners. But Fergie is usually right and so it proved as RVP forged a lethal partnership with Wayne Rooney to blitz all before him. Robin van Persie is generally regarded as the difference between Manchester United and the rest this term.

Luiz Suarez: The Uruguayan has to be among the nominees this year for his sheer persistence. However, after patchy form and racist slurs marred his debut season, he would have been forgiven for turning tail and retreating to one of the more forgiving leagues. Instead, he has learned from his mistakes and now stands three goals ahead of Van Persie in all competitions.

Gareth Bale: Most people’s overall choice, Bale won this award two seasons ago and has rocketed to 8/13 odds on. He has fired Spurs to third in the table almost single-handedly and is also third in the scoring charts. Comparisons with Messi and Ronaldo are all over the media as Bale dribbles and shoots his way to global fame. His consistency level has increased dramatically and at only 23, the future is frightening for the Welsh wizard. Daniel Levy will have to be at his most resilient to keep the Spanish giants away from this one.

Underdogs:

Juan Mata: To call Juan Mata an underdog is something of an injustice to the silky skills of the Spaniard, but as attacking midfielders go, he must be considered some way behind Bale. Besides, it’s nice to have two products of the world’s greatest footballing nation regarded as longshots for a change. Mata has without doubt been Chelsea’s best player this season, forty five appearances, seventeen goals and twenty two assists say so and watching him play confirms it.

Michael Carrick: A different kind of player to Suarez, the Manchester United man is in many people’s opinion long overdue some personal recognition for the mileage he lends to the Utd cause. Carrick is too often seen but not observed. It is too easy to overlook him as a sideways passer without giving him the credit he deserves for his all round game. He holds the team together and as well as being an excellent retainer of possession has attempted more attacking through balls than anyone this season.

Michu: It would be a surprise if the Spanish hotshot scooped the award in his debut season in the Premier League, however much he deserves it. History shows that it’s the glamour clubs that produce the winners, but if stats were votes then Michu would have a strong case as he is level with the Manchester United man on percentage of chances converted. Not bad for a midfielder who cost twelve times less than RVP.