FanPost

Luis Suarez: Barcelona Are Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place

Luis Suarez was recently banned from all ‘football-related activities’ (with the exception of transfers) for four months after the Uruguay v Italy clash, ruling him out of nine international matches and the beginning of the domestic season. Giorgio Chiellini, the Italian player bitten by Luis Suarez, has called the Uruguayan’s subsequent ban "excessive" and fears it will lead to the player becoming alienated. Diego Maradona has also spoken in support of Suárez, attacking the "FIFA mafia" and likening the ban to being "handcuffed" and thrown in "Guantanamo". On the other hand, Mark Lawrenson of BBC Sport deemed the punishment to not be excessive enough: "Say my boy was about 11 or 12, how do you explain to your lad who's a football fan exactly what Luis Suarez keeps doing?" he told BBC Sport."He is now a persistent offender and I thought actually the ban would have been much harsher."

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Barcelona have recently been strongly linked with Luis Suarez, but some questions will need to be answered. Is this potential signing a good sporting and footballing decision? How are Barcelona stuck between a rock and a hard place and what does it mean to Barca’s ‘Mes Que un Club’ image?

This writer is of the opinion that the four month ban is a bit harsh to say the least. It’s clear that FIFA wanted to make an example out of him and perhaps rightly so, but missing nine international football matches is a lot (he is likely to be banned for well over a year of international football), never mind the four month domestic ban. The international ban can be as long as FIFA want it to be but extending the ban to club football is just not right. It sets a dangerous precedent that could come back to haunt FIFA. If a player intentionally and persistently either headbutts, elbows or breaks someone’s limb, they are very unlikely to be banned from domestic football, and no one would bat an eyelid. This passivity was best seen in the France v Ecuador clash when defender Mamadou Sakho viciously swung his elbow at Oswaldo Minda and escaped unpunished. This passivity was then repeated later in the same match when Olivier Giroud elbowed Gabriel Achilier and this was also ignored. How did the general secretary of FIFA reply to these incidents, you might ask? "The Disciplinary Committee has not seen a reason to open a case". Yet Suarez gets the rulebook thrown at him. As Greg Stobart of Goal.com says: "The Suarez situation is unique, but violent play is far more of an everyday issue that football authorities must address". Is a bite really so much worse than an intentional elbow to the face? Nonetheless, this is a debate for another day.

Despite the polarising sanction imposed by FIFA and the poor image that Luis Suarez has again shown to the world, Barca and Real still want to go ahead and sign him. Further to this, they both feel that the incident could even be worked in their favour. Zubizarreta and Luis Enrique consider Suarez to be the perfect player for his intensity, hunger and goals. Negotiations will therefore continue and all that Barca are waiting for is for Suarez to publicly apologise and to ensure that such an incident is not repeated again while wearing a blaugrana shirt. If this gesture is provided, then any doubts about his move to Barcelona are likely to disappear. Barcelona’s president Bartomeu feels that the situation changed the moment the forward sank his teeth into Chiellini's shoulder, and that Liverpool are no longer in a strong negotiating position. This is clearly arguable since Suarez is Liverpool’s player and they clearly do not have to sell. But one would imagine that Liverpool would be rather happy to sell Luis Suarez for £40-£50 million and Alexis Sanchez or Pedro, in fact, it can be argued that they would bite (excuse the pun) Barca’s arm off for such an offer, and rightly so.

While it is only rumours at the moment as a lot will depend on where and whether the likes of Alexis and Pedro want to go, yet the potential deal is a bit reminiscent of a Samuel Eto’o in his prime plus £35 million swap for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This deal looked bad in foresight and it looks even worse in hindsight. When was the last time such a one-sided swap occurred in European football? It only happens in Barcelona.

According to Lluis Mascaro of Sport.es, before the Chiellini bite, it was a done deal. Suarez’s future was defined. He would play at Barcelona for the next four years. The club already had an agreement with Suarez and Liverpool agreed after pressure from the player and he would cost around £50-60 million. The incident has delayed the signing, but not Barca’s intentions of incorporating Suarez into Barcelona. If anything it has increased it. The Premier League might well prove to be a living hell for the Uruguayan next season, according to MARCA. This is exactly what the Board of Directors and management at Anfield fear and more and more of them are calling for his departure. Barcelona are looking to capitalise on the situation. If at first it was considered that the player's rescission clause could be brought down from £80 million to £70 million, now the figures being mentioned are around the £60 million mark. Interestingly, Suarez's agent is Pep Guardiola's brother, make of that what you will.

The argument that Suarez should be bought and that the end justifies the means is clear. He is an outstanding footballer who needs no introduction. He is a player whose mentality is great as he always gives 100%. The four month enforced rest may in actual fact help him both physically and mentally. He could come back in November as an even better and a more refreshed player in the same way he did Liverpool last season. In fairness £50 million for Suarez can be seen to be a relative bargain in today’s market. Indeed, unproven players like Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana are moving for an excessive £31 million and £25 million respectively.

There is the argument that the end does not justify the means. Suarez carries too much baggage. In a similar way Aguero can be seen to be too injury-prone. Suarez would of course improve the attack but is he really that much better than Alexis? Is he worth it? It's unclear where he would fit in at Barca. No matter where he is placed, Barcelona will always lose right-wing play. Indeed, it can be said that he is the antithesis of Pedro and Alexis in some ways since he is not the best player off the ball and he is not the best at moving and creating spaces. In addition, the problem with Luis is that he never seems to learn. It's really only a matter of time before he bites again or does something else which falls foul of the FIFA Code of Conduct, where he would be given a suspension that is even longer than four months. He's clearly a brilliant player, and no one is disputing this, but he has some serious problems.


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Barcelona are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The big problem that Barca face is that if they don't buy him, then Madrid in all likelihood will. They have followed Luis Suarez for quite some time and will be ready to pounce on any hesitation. Real always had the advantage, but this all changed very recently according to Guillem Balague who told Sky Sports: "Conversations with Real Madrid have been taking place for quite a while and they thought they had an advantage over Barcelona. But it all changed over the last couple of months when the player let his representatives know that it was Barcelona that he wanted to go to."

"Barcelona are still the favourites to get him as half of his family – his parents in law live near Barcelona – and he goes there very often. His first daughter was born in Barcelona and his wife spends a lot of time in Barcelona. But it doesn’t close the door to Real Madrid and prior to this last incident he hadn’t closed the door to staying at Liverpool. But that seems difficult now."

Madrid are unlikely to enter the bidding as per Balague’s reasoning and also because Suarez does not fit in a system with BBC, especially with Florentino Perez being very eager to renew Benzema’s contract after the World Cup.

It’s difficult to escape the thought that this is a bit of a lose-lose situation. Buying Luis Suarez is like being stuck in an airport with excess baggage. To the contrary, not buying Luis Suarez is like being stuck in an airport with lost baggage. Which do you pick? This uncertainty is shared by most Barca fans. In a poll taken by the Catalan website Sport.es after his third bite, 61% of fans do not want Luis Suarez. But this means that 39% do indeed want him. Barcelona want to make it crystal clear in the player's contract that there will be heavy sanctions should he bite again or commit other such unsportsmanlike acts. The situation is exacerbated by FIFA’s threat to ban Barcelona from either wholly or partially make transfers in the next summer or winter and is therefore another reason why Barca seemingly and understandably do not want to let this opportunity slip.

Another problem for Barcelona is the lack of alternative strikers and forwards. Barca have already been rejected this season by Reus, Aguero and possibly even Higuain (although he looks like a Plan B now). A pattern seems to be emerging. The competence of the Barca board has to be called into question. If it's between Barcelona and Madrid for Suarez this season, as a Barca fan, I'd much rather he comes to Barcelona. Suarez on the pitch would strengthen both Barcelona and Real considerably. He is one of the few genuine world class strikers in world football. It's a gamble either way and I’m not entirely sure that Luis Suarez is worth the hassle.

Barcelona’s ‘Mes Que un Club’ demise is well-documented. It raises the question, is ‘Mes Que un Club’ just a slogan or is it something more? It’s arguable but historically it really meant something, now it doesn’t appear to be anything more than a mere slogan. In a year which has seen Barcelona embarrassed with the Neymar transfer scandal, the departure of president Sandro Rosell and the potential transfer ban, the club must ask whether signing Suarez is worth it. His third biting incident as a professional not only brings his image into question, it heaps pressure on his international side and club team. Do his talents as a player outweigh the hassle? Interestingly, Jamie Carragher wrote in his column for the Daily Mail: "This latest controversy is something the club (Liverpool) can do without", but after a few years of mishaps, Barcelona may feel the same. In adding the talk of building a brand new stadium and having a mega-money shirt sponsor, it seems that the principles behind ‘Mes Que un Club’ have been forgotten.

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Sadly, instead of ‘More Than a Club’ it now appears to be ‘Just Another Club’.

Do I want Suarez in Barcelona next season? It’s a difficult one and I’m not sitting on the fence. Barcelona would most certainly be a better team with Suarez in it, but at what expense? It now looks like a done deal and with his level of intensity, hunger and talent, he’s bound to be a resounding success if he focuses on the football and avoids any potential future troubles. A front 3 of Neymar-Messi-Suarez with the three constantly interchanging is a frightening prospect. Taking everything into account, I suppose it’s worth a risk, but it would be a big blow to lose both Alexis and Pedro as a result. It would be an even bigger blow if he commits any further indiscretions and further tarnishes Barcelona’s ‘Mes Que un Club’ image. Barca fans certainly won’t be complaining if he ends up scoring the winner in the 2014-2015 Champions League Final.

Yet Barcelona must think long and hard and ask themselves whether a player, in equal parts match-winner and liability, is worth risking the cash and other personnel for.


<em>This does not represent the views of Barca Blaugranes or SBNation</em>