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Joey Barton: What I think of Luis Suarez, Liverpool and cheating in football

Paul — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 16:00:13 +0000

Marseille footballer Joey Barton gives his opinion on Luis Suarez and cheating in football, exclusive for the Paddy Power Blog

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.
The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing
– Abraham Lincoln

Luis Suarez’s shadow has been painted in the shape of a ‘diver’ and a ‘cheat’. Suarez’s reputation in England will stick to him like his shadow and there’s not much he can do to change it, this I know.

But he doesn’t need to worry about it because he’s such a good player. There are always going to be people in the game that don’t like him and no matter what he does to change their opinions, he’s doomed to fail. It’s not something he should worry about. If you’re crap at your job nobody bothers with you because you’re not a threat. It’s when you’re good that people try to give you stick, unsettle you and get you off your game. It’s a massive backhanded compliment.

I see it as a sign of respect. People wouldn’t do it unless there was an element of respecting my ability. Luis Suarez must feel the same. He’s happy to let his football do the talking because he’s an outstanding player.

I read plenty of the fallout from the Luis Suarez handball against Mansfield on Twitter, and elsewhere, and saw everyone going berserk about it. It’s one of those reactions where you’re expecting the referee to blow the whistle. You can see the look on Suarez’s face, he’s surprised he got away with it.

DIFFERENT RULES: Suarez against Mansfield, United’s Paul Scholes, and LFC’s Steven Gerrard

Suarez is a bad boy in the media’s eyes. That’s an angle they will push. If it had been Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, Steven Gerrard or Jonjo Shelvey, or someone the media looks upon favourably, we would have seen a different reaction.

Much of the anti-Suarez sentiment comes from his track record, more than the ‘foreigners ruining our game’ brigade. He’s one of the few truly world-class players we have in the Premier League. He’s been brilliant this season, but it’s live in person that you really appreciate him. His movement is outstanding and having not watched a great deal of English football in the last few months, I’d forgotten just how good it was and how hard he works.

I’ve had a couple of arguments with him on the pitch and he’s not a nice guy once the game begins.

Suarez is an angry man and wants to win for his team. There’s a fine line between being competitive and breaking the rules – which I know a lot about – and it’s playing on that edge that gives Suarez his spikiness and substance as a player. Without that desire to succeed, he wouldn’t be anywhere near as good. He’s a handful to play against and if you ask any defender he’s been up against, they won’t have enjoyed it. He works hard, gets stuck in and does the running of two men for his team.

Liverpool support Suarez through thick and thin

It’s interesting that every time he has been in trouble, everyone at Liverpool Football Club has rallied around to support him. To me, that’s a testament to what kind of a guy he is. He must be a good person otherwise he wouldn’t be getting that unequivocal support. Even in the aftermath of the Patrice Evra incident – rightly or wrongly – all the players were wearing the infamous Suarez t-shirt for the Wigan game, regardless of their skin colour. It wasn’t just the white players or the English players, it was the whole team. If he was a bad guy, you wouldn’t get that level of solidarity. Certainly I wouldn’t be bothered for someone I didn’t want around.

The commentator, Jon Champion also played a part after the Mansfield incident. He called Suarez a cheat and although ESPN apologised, it was poor. His gut reaction was ‘Suarez is a bad boy’ and maybe he doesn’t like him, but in a position of influence like that, Champion can’t come out instantly and accuse a player like that.

TALKING TRASH: Tyler (pictured in the 80s) is still at the top of his game – Champion is a different story

I’ve found plenty of commentators who have opinions about me and prejudged me. Some commentators have an axe to grind with certain players whilst they’ll look favourably on other players and take the more positive angle. That has always been part and parcel of the game, but football commentary has lowered standards recently, so much so that I’ve taken to watching games on mute. I don’t listen to many of them because most commentators talk absolute nonsense. They talk on auto-pilot for the sake of filling time. Martin Tyler springs to mind as the best commentator out there, but without naming names, many of the others are really awful. I could name names, but I won’t.

He’s a national here, like Maradona

Suarez has previous when it comes to handball and this fans the flames in everything that involves him. The incident involving Suarez’s handball in the quarter-final of the 2010 World Cup against Ghana was dragged into the debate about last Sunday’s goal. Some people used it as a stick to beat him with, but I would have done the same thing a million times over, one hundred per cent. When it comes to the World Cup, I’d have no problem with it. It made him a national hero. He sacrificed himself for the team and to this day, Maradona’s handball goal against England only added to his god-like popularity in Argentina.

When it comes a preference for ‘winning by cheating’ or ‘losing with integrity’, it’s a tough call. Winning is so central to the life of a professional athlete, you can never be certain how you’ll react until that moment arrives. You spend all week training and winning is what it’s all about. Ideally, you want to ‘win with integrity’, but with the huge stakes involved, sometimes you’ll take drastic measures. No-one dreams of winning by bending the rules or by cheating, but situations arise in the course of a game and people will gain whatever advantage they can.

You can gain a big advantage from testing how far the rules will bend.

As we are seeing with Lance Armstrong and the culture of cheating in cycling that has emerged, where there is huge prize money and huge contracts at stake, people are prepared to bend the rules. Using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) is one end of the scale and diving or looking to gain an advantage through unfair means is at the other end, but all of it is outside the laws of the game.

NATIONAL HERO: Suarez has previous, for Uruguay, while Fowler and Arsenal did try to do good

But there are good examples out there.

At Highbury in 1997, Robbie Fowler won a penalty after tumbling under a challenge from David Seaman. He pleaded with the ref not to award it. Seaman saved Fowler’s penalty, which Jason McAteer scored on the follow-up, but Robbie ended up winning a UEFA Fair Play award for his honesty.

Then there was also the goal Marc Overmars scored at Highbury in the FA Cup fifth round against Sheffield United in 1999, when a United player needed treatment. In that case Arsenal offered a replay which was accepted and that was fair.

On the basis of that game, without Suarez’s goal against Mansfield, it could have finished 1-1 and Mansfield have an argument. They’re entitled to point out that Arsenal goal as a precedent. If the game went on to finish 4-1 or 5-1, they’ve no leg to stand on, but they’ve got a point. Liverpool could have offered a replay.

I’m not proud of what I did against Manchester City

I cheat when I’m playing FIFA with my mates. Even if it’s just for a fiver or tenner, I’ll take them out on the edge of the box because I want to win.

The closest I’ve came to out-and-out cheating in a real game was at the end of last season for QPR against Manchester City. I knew I was getting sent off and I tried to get one of the City players sent off. I’m not proud of it, but I was thinking ‘this gives us the best opportunity of winning and the best opportunity of staying up.’ It was misguided, but at the time, it was simply doing what I thought was best for the team.

Suarez a big boy and a great player so he’ll be able to handle whatever gets thrown at him. If anything, he’s so mentally strong, it only seems to drive him on and I can’t imagine him getting too bothered by what people are saying about him.

I know the line Luis Suarez walks and it never changes. People never forget it and whenever something happens to him – or even myself – the past always gets dragged into it. It’s just the way it is. It’s the path we walk.

Would Liverpool fans settle for the same result on Sunday against Manchester United at Old Trafford? Damn right.

You’ve got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can’t hide
For you I know I’d even try to turn the tide
Because you’re mine, I walk the line

– Johnny Cash, I Walk The Line

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EXCLUSIVE: Joey Barton ‘FIFA XI a rude awakening’ for the Premier League

Aidan — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 11:48:38 +0000

Marseille footballer Joey Barton discusses the FIFA XI and what it says about the standards in the Premier League for the Paddy Power Blog

The all-La Liga FIFA World XI is a rude awakening for the Premier League. It’s voted on by the international coaches and captains and the media, so it tells us the rest of the world don’t rate the Premier League as highly as we do.

We’re too quick to throw around the ‘world class‘ label. People are always calling English players ‘world class’ and then wondering why we don’t win World Cups or get close to winning major competitions. The media have built these players up to be world beaters when they’re not really. Until the media wake up and say to themselves ‘hang on, we’re actually talking bollocks here’, they’ll keep telling us we’re world class when we’re not. Far from it. It’s got to the point where you’ve got 17 year old lads playing a few games in the first team, doing reasonably well and then immediately demanding £30,000 or £40,000 a week. What’s going on? No-one seems to be earning their spurs any more.

It’s not just us though. Juventus went unbeaten throughout their successful Serie A campaign and none of their players got a mention. Borussia Dortmund were brilliant in Germany and Bayern Munich were excellent all the way to the Champions League final and they didn’t get a look in. Chelsea won the Champions League and there’s none of their players in it.

There’s no doubt that Lionel Messi is the best player in the world, what’s the point of having a vote? Everyone knows that, just give him the award. He was that good last year, it’s embarrassing to even have a vote. They should just call it ‘the Messi Award’ and have done with it. It’s hard to believe that some people didn’t even have him in the top three. The Ballon d’Or has become the Eurovision Song Contest with all the political voting. People are voting politically. I saw Ronaldo gave his vote away to Bruno Alves because he wanted to win and he couldn’t vote for himself.

What are awards really? Does Messi really need the Ballon d’Or to prove he’s the best player in the world? He should know that himself.

Columns: More from Joey Barton

Exclusive column: Joey Barton on Manchester United and Chelsea

Paul — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 13:00:12 +0000

Marseille footballer Joey Barton previews Chelsea vs Manchester United at Stamford Bridge for the Paddy Power Blog

[Scroll down for an exclusive Joey Barton video for Paddy Power]

Is age catching up with Rio Ferdinand?

JB: I think of the Gareth Bale incident in the Tottenham game but Gareth Bale would make anyone in their prime look not as quick as they once were. He is like a speedboat and Rio’s suffered a bit from that comparison. When you slow down you have to read the game a bit better and Rio’s always been a great reader of the game. No doubt he’ll find a way of compensating.

Is Manchester United’s midfield a bit crap?

JB: I wouldn’t say it’s up with the best. Paul Scholes had six months retired, came back and vastly improved the midfield. They have some decent young players in Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones, but Jones will probably will play predominantly at centre half. It’s not the greatest midfield when you think of Scholes in his pomp with Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs and David Beckham — not many midfields would get near that but this Man U midfield is not of that level.

Eden Hazard — Player of the Year so far?

JB: Player of the year? It’s a bit early to be talking about that but certainly he’s caught the eye. He’s got a great centre of gravity and is really quick over five yards. He’s been one of the best acquisitions of the Premier League over the last year. It’s not even Christmas yet and people are talking about him for Player of the Year. After the Christmas period we’ll know a lot more about him.

Wayne Rooney — discuss his move to a deeper role

JB: It’s long overdue. From playing against Wayne and watching him, I’ve always thought he’d be better as a number 10. I never ever felt he was an out and out striker. I didn’t ever feel he had the Michael Owen, Andy Cole, Robbie Fowler nose for a goal — the goal poacher. He was always someone who wanted to be involved in the build-up play; has a great eye for a pass, and a goal from distance. I always felt Wayne would be a better ’10′. And with Man U signing Robin Van Persie now there is a goal poacher, and having Chicharito in there. Now Rooney will drop a bit deeper and start to affect the game from there. As Paul Scholes gets a bit older the onus is on to find someone to replace him. That creative onus is going to fall on Shinji Kagawa, Cleverley and Rooney.

On Alex Ferguson changing his keepers…

JB: That’s the one criticism people can have of Fergie. It’s hard to find any fault with him but aside from Peter Schmeichel, who was a phenomenal goalkeeper, and Edwin van der Sar, he’s not had a great record in terms of the keepers he’s signed — Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, these keepers haven’t done great. David de Gea has not had the best of times but he is a top quality young keeper.

Fergie wishes he’d signed Edwin earlier. He was magnificent and they’ve lacked that bit of command and leadership between the sticks which they’ve had in all their great championship sides with Schmeichel and Van der Sar. The keeper sets the tone for a back four. Playing in front of a young keeper can make you a bit nervous. Maybe the communication isn’t great and has led to Man U conceding a lot more goals.

What’s your verdict on Fernando Torres?

JB: He’s improved. Torres had a real struggle when he left Liverpool. This year really is the first sign of improvement. He’s turned a corner. He’s not the Fernando Torres who terrorised Premier League defences for Liverpool. He’s some way short of that. But he’s now looking like a threat again, capable of scoring which for a period of time he didn’t. He was devoid of confidence. Now he’s playing with a confident side creating opportunities and it’s only a matter of time before he starts to score again.

…and RVP

JB: Phenomenal. The last two years his goal record is incredible. You see goals going in left, right and centre. Left foot, right foot, off his shoulder. Back heels. You name it, he’s scoring it. With this Man United side you’re going to have a lot of chances. He’s turned himself from a player who was sort of a number 10 all over the place, similar to Rooney — he’s adapted his game to an out-and-out goalscorer. He’s a name on the team sheet you’d be petrified of facing.

Toughest Man U opponent?

JB: Paul Scholes, in his pomp, was tough to get to.

…and Chelsea?

JB: Ashley Cole. I played down the right a couple of times. He’d bomb forward. I’d play on the right and try to shackle him. We had some ding-dong battles. He’s a good competitor.

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Joey Barton NFL video exclusive: Eli Manning is a ballsy quarterback

Paul — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:20:08 +0000

Marseille footballer Joey Barton talks NFL with the Paddy Power Blog ahead of a giant weekend of American Football

Joey Barton on NFL

I went to the Wembley game in 2011 — the Chicago Bears against the Glazers’ team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The NFL is a really transparent game and the FA could learn a lot from it, in terms of fan experience. It’s strange seeing English fans trying to ‘be American’ but… interesting. I went to the ‘afterparty’ and it was just ‘woah’… the players are giants. Absolute monsters.

The NFL obviously has a lot of control over the game because of the franchising system, but the way the game is protected and policed is much better than the way the FA does it — even down to the use of technology and the way it’s implemented. It’s streets ahead of where I feel football needs to be.

NFL has always been on the cutting edge of sports science too, along with rugby. I like the way they organise the game; the way they have two separate units, for attack and defence. It’s quite a strange philosophy for a footballer but I love the intensity of the sport.

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