Does Luis Suarez deserve to be named as one of the Premier League’s best ever players?

Suarez takes a bite at Ivanovic 

After another flash of controversy in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea, does the Uruguayan international deserve a title that has been used for players such as Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer?

Luis Suarez despite his brilliant performances throughout the fifteen months he’s been at Liverpool in carrying the side to victories time and time again always seems to get the attention for different reasons, whether it was his eight game ban for racially abusing Manchester United captain Patrice Evra, or his unsportsmanlike handball for Uruguay against Ghana in the dying moments of extra time in the 2010 World Cup before Kenny Dalglish even signed him.

This season though, Suarez has shone in nearly every Liverpool game he’s played in. There’s no doubt he puts in 100% to every game and this has seen him become the one of the league’s top goal scorers but Suarez has been somewhat controversial so far this term. His stamp earlier on in the season in the Merseyside derby on Sylvain Distin overshadowed his performance of scoring two and having one chalked off for offside.

The most recent chapter in Suarez’s book of cheating has come at a cost though, he appeared to bite the right arm of Chelsea’s Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic out of the blue. Referee Kevin Friend did not seem to see the incident but spoke to both players after they clashed, with Ivanovic trying to show the official a mark on his upper arm. Could this incident be Suarez’s last antic as a Liverpool player as he has been handed a 10 game ban for this assault? The morning of the game though, Suarez expressed his desire to stay at Liverpool and see out his contract with the Reds, so why would he go and bite a player and risk his career with the club he loves, maybe he wasn’t thinking straight? But then again, if he was all the time then this controversial figure would not be the man he is and the Premier League would not have major talking points nearly every match he plays.

Another incident involving the Liverpool striker against Blue Square Premier minnows Mansfield Town in the third round of the FA Cup in January just shows how far he will go to cheat himself, his team and the footballing world in general. Maybe it is his desire, his integrity or maybe it’s just being a total menace to society.

 At the time this caused major headlines and controversy as he appeared to handle the ball on his way to scoring what turned out to be the winner against Mansfield Town who are 93 places below Liverpool in the FA cup third round. Mansfield manager Paul Cox though was one of the first managers who has not criticised Suarez after being on the receiving end of the incident, had this to say, “What Suarez did was instinctive and we should embrace him as a football talent rather than have a go,” Cox said. “He did what any striker would have done. I can’t be two-faced on that. If Matt Green [Mansfield striker] had done it, I’d have accepted it" . It's not the first time Suarez has been in a handball incident this season of course, he appeared to attempt to score with his hand against Southampton in the Premier League in game week 15, only for the officials in this match to spot the offence straight away and give him a deserved yellow card.

Before then he had scored on countless occasions but in the middle of these outstanding displays Suarez was again been accused on stamping on Wigan midfielder David Jones in their 3-0 win at Anfield on game week 12, a game which saw the striker score two again for his club.

Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, who would of managed Suarez if he had taken the Liverpool job in the summer was outraged at the fact the Uruguayan stayed on the pitch for this cynical challenge said "He was very fortunate because there was a stamp on David Jones that the referee didn't see, that wasn't the sign of a top player. He was fortunate today. He was lucky." Suarez who has also been the victim of a stamp this season in Liverpool’s 0-0 draw at home to Stoke on Sunday 7th October was swiftly defended by his manager Brendan Rodgers who said ‘I find it incredible that in nearly all the coverage about Luis Suarez this weekend, very little focus has been placed on the fact that he was the victim of a stamping incident within the first five minutes of the game. There seems to be one set of rules for Luis and another set for everyone else’.

Although in that same match Suarez became the centre of attention again after appearing to dive to try and win a penalty. Diving has been one of the most contested debates in football this season and only neutrals can reason with both sides of the argument and come to a conclusion but there is a line and Suarez has crossed that, don’t get me wrong I can see that he does it for his team but there is no way football can stay free flowing game if players like Suarez are prepared to cheat to win. Tony Pulis, the stoke manager reiterated his point he made earlier in this season about diving saying, "I've been on about and banging the drum about people who fall over, It's an embarrassment. The FA should be looking at this”.

And look at it they must after players like Gareth Bale, Suarez and Ashley Young are going down left right and centre to cheat to win games. Bale for example going down from a 'challenge' from Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan on the 7th of October with replays showing that Guzan didn't even attempt to challenge the Welsh winger. If referee at the match Neill Swarbrick had believed that Guzan had taken Bale out then he would of had to award Tottenham a free kick in a very dangerous position and would of had to send the American off.

Diving has no place in football and if players dive they should be dealt with, not straight away but the FA should review the incidents after the game and use replays to decide whether the offender intended to dive as then a ban can be issued as football stamps out one of its ongoing and major problems which is diving. if this rule was in place then I feel that Luis Suarez would have missed most of the games he actually scored in and Liverpool would not be sitting in an as comfortable position as they are if they didn't have their Uruguayan talisman.

I feel that Luis Suarez is one of the Premier League’s hottest properties at this moment in time, but there is no way I would even think about using his name in the same sentence as other greats like Shearer, Henry and Bergkamp as them three won games by pure brilliance and skill, not cheating.