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Can Luis Suarez Win Player of the Year?
We love him. Other fans hate him. The press are split on him.
But there is no doubting the boy from Salto is a genuine world class talent.
Much was made of his abilities when he came to us from Ajax on deadline day in January 2011. We all saw he was something special, but many questioned whether he would ever score the goals his talent suggested he should.
Luis Suarez's Stats
As the above stats show, Luis has got better year on year since he’s been with us.
This season, Luis been outstanding & his 18 Premier League goals clearly show this is his best season at Liverpool & there’s room for it to get even better.
But over at the Theatre of Screams, they have a certain player on their books called Robin van Persie who’s form this season as well as last has also been outstanding. This season so far RVP has scored 19 Premier League goals.
Also Swansea City’s bargain of the decade Michu has also displayed class notching up a total of 15 Premier League goals so far.
But the two that get the most attention are Suarez & van Persie – mainly because of the clubs they’re at & what the goals mean to each team.
With van Persie, Manchester United are sadly marching on to towards the league at a frightening pace. Sure; it doesn’t help that City have been crap, but unless there is a massive collapse, the title will be headed over to the red side of Manchester & that will mainly be because of one man – RvP.
Then you have Luis. Liverpool, under new management this season are yet again in a season of transition. Since Brendan’s arrival, there has been a massive turnaround of players & staff – both incoming/outgoing & due to the team trying to find itself under Brendan’s guidance, the results have been anything but consistent. But Luis has been. He has scored a total of 23 goals so far & without those goals, good God only knows where Liverpool would be right now.
So who has performed the more remarkably?
A player who at Man United has chances put on a plate for him? A player who is surrounded with quality players? And a player who is performing in a steady & consistent environment week in week out?
Or a player at Liverpool who has seen mass change in the team; A player who has been much of the time unfairly lambasted by the media & has had the opposition fans massively against him? A player who has had to create most of the chances he scored from himself? And let’s be honest, a player who has performed at a world class level in a team that hasn’t been?
Both players have been & continue to be superb, but for my money & most will be unsurprised by this – Luis Suarez, if he continues in the same vein as he has should win the Player of the Year award. I feel his performance has been the more remarkable.
But What Do The Press & Pundits Think?
Fat fuck Martin Samuel said of Suarez:
"Yet, imagine if he was the Footballer of the Year. There would be uproar, protests, arguments, quite probably resignations. A breakaway black union without doubt, if he won the PFA vote, a very awkward few weeks for representatives of the media if he topped any poll of journalists."
Tony Evans said of Luis:
"This is not Ian Callaghan. Suárez is obnoxious. He bites people, he handles on the line in crucial World Cup games, he is a horrible, niggly cheat."
Kevin Keegan on Luis:
“You have to take away the diving and the racism. But if he doesn’t win it, that will be a major player in it. You have to say rightly or wrongly: Do you want the player of the year to be the best player, or the best player slash role model?”
Kevin Keegan on RvP:
“It's not very easy to make a move from Arsenal to Manchester United. But Van Persie has been in the Premier League a fair few years. He was top scorer last year, he knows all the players and he knows what life is like, whether it be Manchester of London. They are big advantages."
John Barnes on Luis:
“Although Van Persie may score more goals, from my point of view Suarez would be my player of the year because of what he has done individually. My favourite player in the world - and I would bow down and kiss his feet - is Diego Maradona, and I say forget about whatever your moral standpoint is. From a footballing perspective, it’s Suarez every time for me in terms of what he has actually done. Playing for a bad team or a good team, for Liverpool or Uruguay - he will do it.”
Martin Keown thinks Rvp shades it:
“There is a long way to go but what we can say now is that his goals are having a major say in the title and who is going to win it. But for me, Van Persie is playing with a hunger and drive, almost like on a personal crusade. He’s giving Manchester United a different dimension. If you took him out of the team now I don’t think they would be seven points clear.”
Robbie Fowler on Suarez & RvP
"Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez and Michu have been the three best players. If they keep up their form it will very interesting to see who wins it at the end of the season. It's very hard to compare Van Persie and Suarez because they are different players. Van Persie is probably more of a set striker, where he will be doing all his work around the final third. Suarez has got the ability to drop anywhere and create chances as well as score them.”
Brian Reade says ‘Suarez v RvP should be about 'football, not character’
English football has decided he’s a Joey Barton-scale scumbag, and won’t rest until he plies his trade elsewhere. Presumably it’s just the accepted wisdom that Suarez isn’t a very nice character, so it’s best to rule him out on “role model” grounds.
In which case how did Eric Cantona (kung-fu fan-kicker), Jack Charlton (Black Book score-settler), Roy Keane (self-confessed kneecapper), George Best (alcoholic womaniser), Pat Jennings (gambling addict), Wayne Rooney (prostitute-user) and Kevin Keegan (criminal perm-wearer) ever win the award?
When it comes to deciding a season’s finest footballer we should leave loaded moral judgements to the Mary Whitehouse brigade and go with the one who has consistently drawn gasps of admiration from the paying public. The only two candidates are leading their respective lines at Old Trafford tomorrow. May the best genius win.”
So there you have a flavour.
Most of us will probably think that Luis could & should win the player of the year award.
But what do you think?
Will he win it or are the obstacles in his way just too big?
YNWA
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