Video of the Week: 25/11/2013

Just a standard striker's tackle according to Roberto Martinez...

Luis Suarez nibbles away at Liverpool's patience

Photograph from Wikipedia Commons

George Best, Eric Cantona, Paul Gascoigne, Rudi Voller. There have been plenty of wonderful players to have graced the game whose misdemeanours will live as long in the memory as their talent.

From glorious free-kicks and delicate chips to soaring saliva and plastic breasts, football has never been predictable.

And now there is someone else sinking their teeth into the sport's controversial side. For the last three years there has been no keeping Uruguayan enigma Luis Suarez out of the lime-light. 

FA drop Clattenburg investigation to complete tumultuous 48 hours for Chelsea

Yesterday West London outfit Chelsea were branded a joke because of the dismissal of double-winning manager Roberto Di Matteo, and then replacing him with Rafael Benitez, a man despised by many Blues fans.

Today they have been condemned by many after the FA dropped their investigation into allegations that referee Mark Clattenburg abused two Chelsea players during the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United last month.

Chelsea midfielder Ramires will come under scrutiny as a result of the statement released by the FA about the incident. It is clear that it was the Brazilian, not John Obi Mikel as many first thought, that made the accusation. It is the latest chapter of an ongoing racism saga that has blighted the Premier League over the last 12 months.

                                    Recent racism problems in Premier League football:

October 2011	Chelsea captain John Terry is first accused via Youtube by an anonymous spectator of abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
December 2011	Liverpool forward Luis Suarez is handed eight match ban for calling Manchester United defender Patrice Evra ‘negro’ seven times in two minutes.
October 2012	John Terry handed four match ban for saying ‘f***ing black c**t’ to Ferdinand, having also been stripped of the England captaincy.
October 2012	Several black Premier League players refuse to endorse a ‘Kick It Out’ campaign by not wearing promotional T-shirts.
October 2012	Referee Mark Clattenburg accused of abusing two Chelsea players during match against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Novermber 2012	The FA clear Clattenburg of any wrongdoing and investigation is dropped.

The FA said in their statement: "Equally The FA is satisfied that the allegation against Mark Clattenburg by Ramires was made in good faith. It is entirely possible for a witness to be genuinely mistaken and convincing in his belief."

Although it appears that Ramires did make the allegation for the right reasons, there will be many people who feel that players and people within football are far too quick to point the finger at others. Ramires' first language is not English, and what he heard was clearly a mistake as no other player, not even Mikel, heard the apparent words 'shut up you monkey' uttered by Clattenburg. All the other match officials were wearing headpieces connected to the referee and they all vehemently denied the allegations. 

Although Ramires must have thought he heard something, he should have confided in other players and the match officials before making such outrageous accusations. 

Once again this is poor press for Chelsea as their troubled week continues. Rafael Benitez's job seems to be getting harder and harder with every couple of hours and a win on Sunday against Manchester City is now paramount. With this article being written just minutes before Benitez's first press conference it has become obvious that he is going to have even more tricky questions to face than he would have first expected, indeed, if he does not speak about milk again than it may be seen as a success.

On the other hand this is exactly what the FA needed and Clattenburg will most likely be returned to refereeing duties this weekend after four weeks on the sidelines.

Liverpool fight back against Chelsea to secure 1-1 draw

Chelsea and Liverpool fought out a competitive 1-1 at Stamford Bridge after Luis Suarez netted his 11th of the season to equalise John Terry's opener. 

The back post header from a Jamie Carragher flick-on made Suarez just the fifth Reds player to score in four consecutive Premier League away games and the first since Steven Gerrard in 2009.

He was largely kept at bay in a quiet first half performance but burst into life after the break and showed why  his manager Brendan Rodgers has likened him to Lionel Messi recently. His link-up play and the threat that he posed were Chelsea's main problems as they failed to hold onto a lead for the second successive week.

Rodgers introduced Suso in the 60th minute, replacing Nuri Sahin, as the away team switched from a 5-3-2 formation to a 5-1-3-1 set-up. Joe Allen sat deep with Raheem Sterling, Gerrard and Suso supporting star-man Suarez.

For much of the campaign Liverpool have enjoyed plenty of possession but offered little threat apart from through Suarez. It was much of the same in the first half as Rodgers' men kept the ball for long periods but never looked like creating anything of note.

On the other hand Chelsea created a number of chances and it was returning skipper John Terry who escaped the attentions of Daniel Agger to power in a header. It was his 50th goal for the London club, 29 of which have in the Premier League, 20 of which have been headers. The former England captain had to be substituted just 16 minutes later after an accidental collision with Suarez. 

Oscar missed a glorious opportunity to give Chelsea the lead early on and Juan Mata fired over on the stroke of half-time with just goalkeeper Brad Jones to beat. Early in the second half Jones was called into action as he reacted well to stop a Fernando Torres header. 

Suso's introduction sparked Liverpool into life and after the equaliser had they the better chances to win the game. Jose Enrique, who had an excellent game at left wing-back, put Suarez through on goal only for Petr Cech to deny the striker. 

It was the Spanish defender who had the last chance in the final minute of injury-time, but his low shot was turned away by Cech. 

Rodgers credited the way his team came back in the second half: "I thought in the first half we were too tentative. Second half our attitude in the game was much better and we are better when we play fast football.

"Coming here is a very difficult place. I thought it was a great point for us. You have to give credit to the players, they were fantastic.

"Whatever system you have, it doesn't matter, it is about the application and the quality of the players."

Chelsea will be disappointed that they didn't see the game out and now sit three points behind league leaders Manchester United, while Liverpool will be delighted with a draw that extends their unbeaten league run to six matches.

Statistics from Infostrada Sports: http://infostradalive.com/

Rodgers Let Down By Owners But Liverpool Should Not Be Written Off

There was plenty of optimism surrounding Anfield yesterday morning as manager Brendan Rodgers spoke of hopefully adding two new faces to his Liverpool squad. Eleven pm came and the Reds had loaned striker Andy Carroll to West Ham, 18 months after his predecessor Kenny Dalglish bought him for £35 million, and signed no one. Their clear weakness is their inability to consistently find the back of the net and it is clear that they need a proven goalscorer to boost their ranks. 

Rodgers was clearly confident of bringing in forward Clint Dempsey from Fulham but Fenway Sports Group failed to produce the £7 million needed to bring him to Merseyside. A figure like that is relatively measly in this day and age and Tottenham snapped him up with glee. Reds fans must be bewildered as to how FSG could spend a combined £57.7 million on Carroll and Luis Suarez in January 2011 but not fork out a figure over £50 million less to bring in Dempsey, a player who the manager obviously wanted. 

A new era has started at Anfield, people should not doubt that, but it is starting to dawn on the fans that it is going to take at least a few years before Liverpool can even dream of going to Champions League finals again. There is still plenty of world class talent at Rodgers's disposal in the form of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger. 

Suarez is a special talent that needs to be enhanced into a special, prolific goalscoring talent. The amount of chances he creates is second to none, but his chance conversion rate is nothing short of dismal. One of the Northern Irish manager's biggest tasks over the coming months is to find the deadly finisher inside the Uruguayan that scored 50 goals in one season for Ajax and three goals in South Africa in the 2010 World Cup. 

Rodgers also needs to get the best out of talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard, even if it is only for two or three more seasons. If he can score 10 to 15 goals this year it will make a huge difference to whether or not Liverpool can push for a top four spot. 

The five-time European champions can still push for a Champions League spot but injuries must be few and far between as they have a squad that now features only 17 senior players. For a good campaign in all four competitions to come to fruition the Reds will need to have a good start to the season, and then boost the side in January. Rodgers kept his side of the bargain by offloading players and slashing wage bills, but FSG failed to keep theirs. 

Can Brendan Rodgers Put His Stamp On A Liverpool Side Forever In Transition?

With Liverpool's pre-season tour to the USA and Canada coming up there are still heavy clouds hanging over the future of much-maligned striker Andy Carroll. His former suitors Newcastle United have made an improved offer for a loan with the view for a permanent deal but it remains unclear if the Reds want to offload Carroll so soon after his 35million pound move from the Magpies back in January last year. However he will accompany the Liverpool squad on their tour alongside new 11million pound signing Fabio Borini, a man who many have tipped as Carroll's replacement. 

Borini scored nine goals in 24 Serie A appearances last season for AS Roma as well as collecting his first Italy cap this year and was also part of the squad that reached the Euro 2012 final. He played under new Reds boss Brendan Rodgers on loan at Swansea in the 2010/11 season scoring six goals and the Northern Irishman has been an admirer ever since. He holds high hopes for his first signing in his new job as he said: "I'd anticipate that over the next two or three years he'll really progress and I'm sure do very well for Liverpool. Fabio fits the model of what we're trying to do in building not only for now, but also for the future."

Also on the plane to North America are Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani, both of whom have only had one full season at their parent club. Last year Cole was on loan at Lille while Aquilani was at AC Milan after his spell with Juventus the season before. Both had very disappointing debut seasons in the North-West of England but also found returns to form while overseas. Former England winger Cole managed to miss a penalty in his first game and be sent off in his debut league game while Aquilani struggled to find a place in the starting line-up after being hailed as Liverpool's next midfield maestro after the departure of Xabi Alonso. 

Despite their relative failures at Anfield they both thrived on the continent as former Hammer Cole scored nine goals and made six assists in 42 matches in France. Aquilani played much more often in Serie A and was voted by the supporters as Liverpool's best player in pre-season last summer. When these two players were at Liverpool before it was clear that they did not really fit in with the side's ideology or style of play. Cole seemed disjointed and out of place in a side in transition while the Italian centre midfielder hardly got a look-in under Rafael Benitez's deteriorating side.  

Cole seems pleased to have Rodgers at the helm: “When I was hearing about Liverpool looking at certain managers, I was praying it was going to be Brendan — not just because he’s not an unknown for me and I know his philosophy on football, but I think for the club the owners have made the right choice." Cole worked alongside Rodgers when he was a coach at Chelsea and the 30-year-old is looking forward to playing under the manger's philosophy:  "I love the style of play. At Lille, we played like that as well — getting the ball down and moving."

Aquilani will also be much more used to a passing style of play than the fast-paced, slightly more long-ball tactics employed under former Reds bosses. His acute touches and flicks in midfield and his excellent close-range passing was one of the clear positives in his first spell at Anfield. Liverpool fans will be excited to see how the former on-loan men fare in the new-look side. 

Rodgers will also be keen to make the most of what is already at the club and made it clear that legendary captain Steven Gerrard is firmly in his plans when he called him the evening after being appointed manager. Luis Suarez looks set to stay and it is rumoured that he is being coaxed into signing a new deal. The new coach is also looking to bring in one or two more players before the transfer window shuts to further enhance his squad but one big question remains - will all these changes make a difference to Liverpool's fortunes? 

The last three years Liverpool have failed to finish in the Premier League top five and have lost their invincibility at home. Last season there were signs of a return to form but ultimately they did not hit the back of the net enough and Dalglish lost his job as they collected their lowest amount of points in a league campaign for nearly fifty years. 

This season Rodgers will be looking to begin his Red Revolution as he brings his own flair and style to the Kop. The team are likely to play with a 4-3-3 formation with plenty of width, as opposed to the more rigid 4-4-2 shape that previous managers employed. However there are some top teams above them that will also be attempting to finish in the hallowed top four spots that bring Champions League qualification. The likes of champions Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United all have world-class players and plenty of depth to their squads. Liverpool will have to significantly improve if they are to break into the top five, let alone the top four. 

However this may not be as hard as some people think as there is a wealth of talent at the club. Luis Suarez has been a prolific goalscorer for previous teams and his country and although being criticised for his lack of goals last year, did finish as top scorer. Borini will be out to impress while Andy Carroll hit some form late on  last spring and did well for England at Euro 2012. Craig Bellamy's pace is always a threat and Steven Gerrard is an inspirational figure in the heart of midfield. Add Joe Cole's creativity, the technical ability of Aquilani and the impending return of Lucas Leiva and Liverpool's side immediately looks a lot stronger. 

All that is needed for them is to gel and work as a team, like Rodgers's Swansea City did last term. Liverpool will continue to be relatively tight at the back but will be sure to have a lot more of the ball and with it almost certainly more goals. All that remains to be seen is if Rodgers can successfully put his stamp on the team and put history behind them in an attempt to create their own; something the club has struggled with over the last couple of decades. Yes, it will obviously be a far cry from the glory days of the 1970s and 80s and they will not mount a title challenge, but this season they may just make a more threatening push for a place with Europe's elite.