Is Luis Suarez as good and bad as we are told he is?

Luis Suarez since his introduction to English football is a player that has divided public opinion in a way not seen since Cristano Ronaldo graced our shores with his unique brand of step over’s and bandy legged free kick brilliance. You could argue that Carlos Tezez has caused more controversy however, and I would have to agree. But while everyone seems to share the opinion that Tezez is a bad influence (and for once City and United are united, no pun intended) opinion is slightly more split about Suarez.

Most of Suarez’s negative publicity began in the World Cup where he palmed a shot off the line to deny Ghana a certain goal. He was given a straight red for his troubles, but as Ghana missed the ensuring penalty and subsequently went out, ironically on penalties, there outrage as to whether Suarez should be banned from the game completely. He was accused of cheating and the label has since stuck. The argument as to whether he did the right thing by sacrificing himself for his team, or whether he purposely broke the rules of the game and should have been punished more harshly still rages on.

Suarez’s case was not helped after he bit PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal's shoulder and was duly awarded a seven game ban while playing for Ajax, captaining the side no less. Little is made of the mitigating circumstances, with Bakkal purposely standing on Suarez’s feet during a lull in play however, and when Suarez’s punishment was announced it was stated that his ‘prior’ conduct was taken into account, namely the world cup incident. While it is entirely unacceptable to retaliate the way Suarez did, it seems equally unfair that the world cup incident had any bearing on the Dutch FA’s decision when he had already been punished for that.

Fast forward a season and the little Uruguayan had hit the ground running with Liverpool. His tireless work ethic, innovative play and whole hearted desire to win delighting the Liverpool fan’s that had seen the recent lacklustre display’s from Fernando Torres, the lack of end product from Dirk Kuyt and the lack of quality from David N’Gog. Torres going to Chelsea for £50 million with Suarez coming in for just over 20 must be considered one of the shrewdest transfer deals of recent years, and so far he has more than lived up to his transfer fee. The energy he brings to the team is obvious and in stark contrast to Andy Carroll’s approach to a game. Suarez is like a live wire hunting for everything; Carroll like a ponderous Behemoth trying to force his way through defences with brute force. With the Premier League full of big strapping defenders its no surprise that Suarez’s dynamic approach to the game has paid dividends while Carroll struggles to live up to his massive transfer fee. That Liverpool are a far more dangerous side with Suarez playing is not in question, but is he as good as we are lead to believe?

For ne the answer is yes. He makes things happen and is a shinning light in a generally mediocre Liverpool side. Its argued that his conversion rate is very poor and he misses a good number of chances, but the fact is that he creates most of his chances himself and is the player Liverpool now look to when things are not going their way. There are definite area’s for improvement however, his finishing prime amongst them, but the simple fact is that Luis Suarez is currently amongst the best strikers in the Premier League and in time may become one of its all time greats.

So does Suarez deserve the tag of being a cheater? Recently there seems to be even more of a clamour by the British press and several leading pundits to portray Suarez as the villain of the piece that would suggest he does. However, on closer inspection does this really hold up? The game a few weeks ago against Norwich was a good example. Suarez was kicked round the pitch by the Norwich back line and given little, if any, protection from the referee. Back in the Sky Sports studio Chris Waddle was watching the match had picked up on the fact that Suarez was likely to be black and blue come the end of the game. Strangely though, Waddle felt the need to qualify each new statement on Norwich’s rough treatment of Suarez with “I don't like the way he goes to ground sometimes, but in this case….” It was almost as if he felt guilty for saying that Suarez was being unfairly treated. Last week we had more controversy when Suarez went down in the box to win Liverpool a penalty against West Brom. The finger of blame was again pointed squarely at Suarez for diving with the WBA fans booing his every touch and his eventually substitution ten minutes before the end. Why were they not booing Jerome Thomas? It was a stupid lunge from him to try and dispossess a player heading OUT of the penalty are and away from danger, why make the challenge at all? Thomas had no one to blame but him self for that and never mind the argument that Suarez made the most of it, it was a foul in any area of the pitch and a stonewall penalty.

Roy Hodgson, in typical Roy Hodgson style, made his case that it was not a penalty by admitting inadvertently that it was a penalty, in much the same vein that had Liverpool supporters scratching their heads during his press conferences when he was briefly in charge of the side. “I think the 25,000 people watching, even the Liverpool supporters, will probably agree with me that it looked like a very, very harsh decision, and there was certainly no intention to foul the player or give away a penalty”, he puffed after the game to a bemused sky sports reporter. No intention to give away a penalty Roy? Is that the same as it not being a penalty? Did he directly impede the player with the ball? He did, so it’s a foul then isn’t it? Was he is the box? He was? It’s a penalty then isn’t it Roy? As for the fans agreeing with him, if Roy Hodgson thinks that Liverpool supporters will agree with anything he says then he really did learn nothing during his ill fated time on Merseyside.

Claims that Suarez rides pretty close to the line of what’s acceptable however do carry more weight. He has several times been seen to berate match officials, but he’s just as likely to do the same with his own team mates. He’s an extremely passionate player and anyone that watches him cannot help but be impressed by his desire to win. He also has a tendency to go down more theatrically than really needed on occasion but its not likely he’s the only Premier League player guilty of making the most of a clumsy challenge. Ronaldo was heavily criticised for his extravagant rolls, Didier Drogba was rightly panned for going down like Bambi on ice rather than the plus six foot powerhouse he actually is.

So is Suarez a cheat? For me no. He’s made some bad decisions throughout his career certainly. But when we have serial offender Joey Barton parading around the Premier League still and making TV appearances’ after some of the antics he’s got up to in the past, surely Suarez deserves the benefit of the doubt.