John Henry and co have to think long and hard about keeping Suarez. The risk management assessment is quite insane.
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I wear my heart on my profile name. -
I think that this is all about maintaining his value in the market.Liverpool prepared to keep disgraced Suarez despite four-month ban
Jun 26, 2014 22:37 By James Pearce
Suarez banned for nine international matches and from “all football activity” until late October
Liverpool FC are prepared to keep Luis Suarez at Anfield – despite the striker being hit with an unprecedented four-month worldwide ban.
The Reds are still coming to terms with the huge implications of the Uruguayan’s punishment for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.
FIFA’s disciplinary commission have suspended Suarez for nine international matches and from “all football activity” until late October. He has also been fined 100,000 Swiss francs (around £66,000).
That means the 27-year-old will miss up to 13 Liverpool matches – nine Premier League games, three Champions League group matches and a Capital One Cup tie.
Uruguayan Football Association president Wilmar Valdez has vowed to appeal against the “excessive” verdict and the Reds will await the outcome.
Despite the ban, which also bars Suarez from all stadia and even training with his club, the prolific frontman could still be transferred this summer – but the early indications are that Liverpool aren’t ready to wash their hands of him.
Owners Fenway Sports Group stood by Suarez when he bit Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in April 2013 and vowed to help him conquer his demons. They are likely to do so again.
Suarez’s future was already the subject of intense speculation with both Barcelona and Real Madrid keen to secure his services.
However, Liverpool had made it clear they had no interest in selling and that Suarez would only move on if someone met the release clause in his contract – thought to be around £80million.
Even if one of the Spanish giants hasn’t been put off by Suarez’s lengthy ban any offer this summer is bound to be significantly reduced in the knowledge he would be unavailable for a big chunk of next season.
And despite the embarrassment the striker has once again heaped on the club, there is little appetite inside Anfield to off-load their top talent at a knockdown price.
Principal owner John W Henry, chairman Tom Werner, chief executive Ian Ayre and manager Brendan Rodgers held urgent talks in the wake of FIFA’s judgement and more discussions are planned for Friday.
In a short statement Ayre said: “Liverpool Football Club will wait until we have seen and had time to review the FIFA disciplinary committee report before making any further comment.”
Anfield officials have vowed to adopt a “measured, calm and thorough” approach to the latest shameful disciplinary episode in Suarez’s career and there could be no further comment publicly until next week.
Having had no contact with either FIFA or the Uruguayan FA, the Reds want to establish exactly what was said in Suarez’s defence and how the world governing body reached their verdict.
Liverpool are also seeking legal advice over the fact they have no involvement in the process and no right to appeal – despite the outcome having such huge implications for the club.
Suarez earns around £200,000 per week which means over the course of his ban the Reds could be faced with paying him in excess of £3million.
The previous record ban at a World Cup was the eight-match suspension given to Italy’s Mauro Tassotti for breaking Luis Enrique’s nose with an elbow in 1994.
The scale of Suarez’s punishment has infuriated his homeland with Uruguayan FA president Valdez saying: “We are preparing our appeal now, we have three days to do it.
“It is an excessive decision and there was not enough evidence and I have seen more aggressive incidents recently.
“It is a severe punishment. I don’t know exactly which arguments they used but it is a tough punishment for Suarez.
“It’s feels like Uruguay has been thrown out of the World Cup. We all know what Suarez means to Uruguay and to football around the world - not having Suarez would be a loss to any team.”
Good to hear we want to keep him.
If a team wants to buy him, fine, let's talk. But, you're not getting a penny discount. Otherwise we'll see it through.
Hardball.
Oh I don't know.Comment
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Danny Murphy and Robbie Savage in reasonable sense talking shocker!Comment
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Murphy and Savage are agreeing with me too.
That's my credibility gone then.
Oh I don't know.Comment
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The way it should be, you give us what we want or we keep him, either way we don't really lose.The times they are a changin'.Comment
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In my head now keeping Suarez is now like holding onto an injury prone player - when fit he is irreplaceable, however, you need to be ready for that game where it goes wrong.
It is then up-to the manager to balance playing styles to adapt for when he is not available. Luckily, I do believe we have the manager, and are building the squad to cope with his absences.Comment
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So what's going on? I've turned the football off and have some stuff about ghosts on as that's more believable than what Suarez got today.Comment
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Here's my risk management/assessment.
Sell Suarez = Weaker 1st team, weaker title challenge, maybe even no CL next year. He is a massive player for us. Not to mention another year older is Stevie.
Keep Suarez = It's not the LFC way blah blah. Yeah it is. Stand by him. Help him. Again. So be it. Title challenge. We keep our talisman.
No brainer for me.
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I think LFC are more interested in keeping the value of Suarez at its optimumComment
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I did a risk assessment in work last week so in my professional opinion we should keep him.Comment
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