Reality Bites, Rodgers

Liverpool's shock defeat to Southampton over the weekend brought two things to the forefront:

1: The Liverpool of the 2013/14 season looks very similar to the one that finished seventh in 2012/13

2: This Liverpool team, like last season's, direly needs Luiz Suarez.

Despite investing in new players, Brendan Rodgers side never looked like winning the game against the Saints. Despite beginning the weekend at the top of the table, remaining there by Monday morning looked like a tall order. And despite the promising start the club has had this season, the match against Southampton brought Reds fans painful memories of last season's mediocracy.

True, Liverpool were without Philip Coutinho and the Brazilian's presence in attack was sorely missed.

There were other questionable tactical decisions such as fielding new signing Mamadou Sakho in the leftback position instead of Luiz Enrique who has excelled so far in that role this season. Perhaps Rodgers wanted to prove why he spent GBP19 million on the French defender.

No matter, Liverpool's total lack of inventiveness and sharpness in the final third was once again the deciding factor, as it has been for so many seasons. There may have been new faces on the pitch but the results remained the same.

Perhaps that's why Rodgers and the club fought tooth and nail to keep Suarez although it seems like a foolish decision should the Uruguayan succumb to a long-term injury or, as he is fond of doing, get himself any lengthy ban.

Daniel Sturridge has proven to be an adequate striker and finisher but by himself, he isn't capable of turning a poor performance into three points while Iago Aspas has to first find the back of the net - which is seeming to be quite a daunting task - before he can lay claim to being a worthy substitute for Suarez.

Worst of all, Liverpool's failure to sign a creative midfielder in the summer is proving to be a hefty mistake in light of Coutinho's absence which is expected to last until end-October.

There is certainly a possibility that Rodgers' team will return to its winning ways once Suarez returns and the defeat against Southampton was just a bad day. Or, this season could end up very much like it did last season. 

All's Not Well At The Bridge

After two back-to-back shock defeats, things aren't going so well for Jose Mourinho's second stint at Chelsea. And it appears as though the Special One is singling out Chelsea's style of play as the prime factor in the club's recent dip in form.

In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Mourinho said: "I feel we are going in one direction, which is the direction we want to be to play a certain kind of football, but the reality is we are not scoring goals."

"You can't say we don't score goals because we're not an offensive team and don't play offensive football and don't have ball possession, because we have an attacking mentality. Probably, if we play a defensive game and we just go on the counter-attack, probably we go there and score two or three goals."

It certainly seems odd that Mourinho is questioning Chelsea's style of play. In fact, it almost seems as though he's suggesting that he isn't the one calling the shots.

Some have suggested that Chelsea manager's comments are indirectly aimed at Blues owner, Roman Abramovich, who has long insisted that the club employ free-flowing attacking football.

Ironically, it has been long suggested that this clash in ideas (Mourinho prefers the defensive approach) led to the Special One's exit from Stamford Bridge in 2007.

Since then, Chelsea have had seven managers which include the likes of Luiz Scolari, Carlo Ancelotti, Andre Villas-Boas, Roberto Di Matteo and Rafa Benitez. And none of them have been able to fulfill Abramovich's dream to get Chelsea to play like Barcelona or, closer to home, Arsenal.

The fact that the Russian billionaire brought Mourinho back to Stamford Bridge was no big surprise. Among all the managers he's employed (and that's a lot!), Mourinho has been the one who's brought the club the most success and when the Special One returned to Chelsea in summer, it appeared as though Abramovich was willing to sacrifice attacking football for trophies.

I guess we'll soon see what his priorities are.

Carragher: Nobody Wants To Grow Up To Be a Gary Neville

Yes, Jamie Carragher actually said that but it had nothing to do with his famous on-the-pitch rivalry with former Man Utd right back, Gary Neville.

Both Carragher and Nevile are now pundits on Sky Sports and during their pre-match commentary of yesterday's Swansea vs Liverpool tie, the former Reds vice-captain suggests that fullbacks are either failed wingers or centrebacks.

"As a kid, nobody wants to grow up to be a Gary Neville," he said.

Check out the video below.

Sturridge and Rodgers Win Awards

Brendan Rodgers and Daniel Sturridge have won the Barclays Premier League Manager and Player of the Month respectively for August.

It's been sometime since Liverpool have bagged both awards in a month. Its the first such award for Sturridge while its the second time Rodgers has won it, although its his time since his appointment at Liverpool.

The Reds have won their first three matches this season - their best start in nearly two decades - and go into the weekend top of the Premier League.

They face Rodgers old club Swansea this weekend and much of the outcome of the match may depend on Sturridge's fitness level. The striker missed both of England's World Cup qualifiers this week but may start tomorrow's match.

Sturridge has scored in each of Liverpool's games this season and with Luis Suarez still serving the remaining of his 10-match suspension, much of the goal-scoring responsibilities may be left to the England striker.

While Rodgers' team have been impressive in the opening stages of this season, Liverpool still lack in the firepower department. So far, with the exception of Sturridge, none of Liverpool's other forwards have found he back of the net, making it all the more obvious why the club fought tooth and nail to keep Suarez.

Now its Ibra's Turn

First it was Zinedine Zidane.

Now, its Zlatan Ibrahimovic's turn.

Without even having officially kicked a ball for Real Madrid, both Zidane and Ibrahimovic have already cast their verdicts on Gareth Bale's world record transfer fee: he's not worth it.

Zidane was perhaps a bit more charitable in his comments when he labeled the EURO100 million Real Madrid spent on the former Tottenham star as "incomprehensible."

Ibrahimovic was a little more blunt.

"No footballer is worth paying that amount of money for. There is a lot of pressure on him," the PSG striker said in an interview with BBC Radio 5.

Ibrahimovic went further and warned Bale of the pressure awaiting him from Madrid's fans.

"I know that when Zinedine Zidane played for Madrid, the fans were whistling against him. If they can whistle against Zidane, for me one of the best players in history, I hope Bale has a lot of patience," he said.

No doubt, the pressure on Bale from the fans will be a lot more intense than what Zidane experienced.

In all honesty, you have to ask yourself just how popular Bale was in Spain prior to this summer. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were wondering just exactly who he was. And to make matters worse, a fan favourite like Mesut Ozil had to make way for Bale's arrival.

Zidane: Bale Transfer Fee 'Incomprehensible'

France legend, Zinedine Zidane, has labeled the record transfer fee Real Madrid paid Tottenham for Gareth Bale as "incomprehensible."

Zidane's assessment is all the more surprising considering that he is Carlo Ancellotti's assistant manager at Real Madrid.

"Ten years ago, they bought me for 75 million euros and I said I wasn't worth it. Today, I tend to say a player is not worth that. Two clubs agree on a price and no-one is forcing the other to do anything.

"That's football. Unfortunately, it's incomprehensible with what's happening today to pay so much," he said, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph.

Bale's record EURO 100 million transfer to Real Madrid has baffled many and in months to come, his hefty price tag will be brought up frequently should he fail to produce the form he had at Tottenham.

But we may end up waiting a little longer before we get to see Bale in action. Its been reported that Bale may be suffering from a groin strain that could keep him out of his Real Madrid debut this weekend.

On other news, it turns out that the man who made way for Bale's signing at Madrid, Mesut Ozil, has already boosted Arsenal's jersey sales. To add insult to injury (no pun intended), Ozil's jerseys have been outselling Madrid jerseys with Bale's name on it. 

Gerrard Wants To Manage Liverpool

Steven Gerrard, has revealed ambitions of one day managing Liverpool. In an interview with TwentyFour 7 Football magazine, Gerrard said he will be undergoing the necessary coaching qualifications over the next 12 months.

"The dream come true would be to manage Liverpool, when the Liverpool job becomes available.
"There are world-class managers there ready already, but we’ll have to wait and see. It would be the icing on the cake," Gerrard said.

The Liverpool-born midfielder has spent his entire career at the Reds and has captained the side since 2003.

Should he succeed in managing the club somewhere in the future, he would join an elite group of former Liverpool players who have managed the club and reboot a tradition that began with the late Bill Shankly.

Among the former players who have managed Liverpool include the legendary Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish, Ronnie Moran, Greame Souness and Roy Evans.

In Case You Think Rooney Was Faking His Injury..

If you were one of those skeptics wondering if Wayne Rooney was truly injured to miss last Sunday's match against Liverpool, the Man Utd striker has released a photo of his injury to prove you wrong.

Here's a picture uploaded by the England forward on his official Facebook page of his head injury suffered from a training ground clash with teammate Phil Jones.

Yikes! Rooney was apparently caught by a "studs-up" challenge from Jones (which is a red card offense).

As a result of the injury, Rooney is expected to be out for a couple of weeks and will miss England's qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine.

London Clubs Dominate Transfer Window

Yes, this time around, the biggest transfers of the summer belonged to two London-based clubs and Chelsea was not one of them. Rivals Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurs dominated the headlines all summer and emerged the biggest winners at 12 am on Sept 3.

Few would have thought a record-breaking transfer would have emerged from White Hart Lane, but it did and Gareth Bale was sold for a world record of GBP85.3 million to Real Madrid. This transfer fee will surely leave pundits and football fans alike puzzled for months, if not years, to come. Especially when you consider the fact that the previous transfer record-holder was Cristiano Ronaldo.

There's no doubt that Bale is one of the most gifted footballers of his generation in Britain but to value him higher than Ronaldo is somewhat ludicrous, if not downright madness. Ronaldo has scored 147 goals in 138 appearances for Real Madrid. Bale managed 42 in 146 appearances for Tottenham.

Granted, Bale isn't a striker like Ronaldo and his goal tally as a left back / winger is impressive. But GBP85.3 million?

Its just as puzzling from a commercial perspective.

Unlike Ronaldo or the last Briton to move to the Bernabeu (David Beckham), Bale's celebrity status is confined to the Premier League and is unlikely to spur an increase in Real Madrid jersey sales in markets such as China and the United States.

Moreover, there's no telling how Bale's arrival will affect the rest of Madrid's squad (ie: Ronaldo). At present, there are already rumours of discontent among the players as Bale's signing led to the sale of playmaker, Mesut Ozil, to Arsenal.

After failing all summer-long to sign Luiz Suarez and/or Wayne Rooney (depending on which reports you believe), Arsene Wenger finally captured a marquee signing and in Ozil, Arsenal now have one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. And there's little doubt that Ozil will blend immediately into Arsenal's style of free-flowing attacking football.

And commercially, Ozil will certainly drive up the Gunners jersey sales the world over.
 
As for Tottenham, the club now sits on a massive pile of cash and despite spending a bit of it on three players, they will have the funds to bring in more top talent to White Hart Lane in the future without having to break the bank.

Roman's Latest Gamble

As the dust settles over the shocking events that have rocked Chelsea Football Club over the past 24 hours, the question now shifts to whether Rafa Benitez is indeed the right person for the job or whether he, like many before him, is destined for an unceremonious exit from Stamford Bridge.

Back when Benitez' name was first floated for the job in March this year, I deduced that Roman Abramovich was becoming desperate and in some ways, that still holds true. I believe Chelsea had very few managers to turn to after dismissing Roberto Di Matteo.

Pep Guardiola may be Abramovich' ideal manager but the former Barcelona man is unlikely to sacrifice his legacy by becoming another statistic under Chelsea's erractic and demanding owner.

So, yes, Chelsea had very few options. Well, there was one. Not firing Di Matteo would have probably been the best option but we're passed that now.

To be fair, Benitez has a CV that would be the envy of most managers in the world and in his six years in Liverpool, the Spaniard guided the club to two Champions League finals including their fifth Champions League title, an FA Cup and a second place in the league.

And while that may have convinced Chelsea they appointed the right man, it should be noted that Benitez isn't a quick turnaround expert like Guus Hiddink. Instead, Benitez is a firm believer in long-term plans and takes a while to build a teams that can adapt to his tactics and style of play.

It's true that Benitez won the Champions League with Liverpool in his first season but the club only became title contenders in his fifth season. And I think it's pretty well-documented at this point that patience is not one of Abramovich' virtues.

But perhaps Benitez arrival at Chelsea has more to do with the misfiring Fernando Torres who enjoyed the best football of his career under the former's management at Liverpool.

In fact, I wouldn't be too surprised if Torres was a big factor that led to Benitez' appointment. It won't be the first time Abramovich has reunited a goal-drought stricken overpriced Chelsea striker with his former boss. Remember Andriy Shevchenko and Carlo Ancelotti?

And perhaps that's all Chelsea need. Thanks to Benitez' predecessors, he comes to a Chelsea that has the likes of Edin Hazard, Juan Mata and Oscar not to mention an aging but still very relevant, Frank Lampard. If Benitez gets Torres to rediscover his old form, Chelsea would be in a extremely strong position in the title race.



 

Chelsea Appoints Benitez

As speculated, Rafa Benitez has been appointed as Chelsea's interim manager until the end of the season following Roberto Di Matteo's dismissal.

In a statement on the club's official website, Chelsea said Benitez will manage the Blues until the end of the current season.

"The owner and the Board believe that in Benitez we have a manager with significant experience at the highest level of football, who can come in and immediately help deliver our objectives," Chelsea said.

The Blues added that Benitez is set to meet the players at the training ground in Cobham tomorrow.


"The two-time UEFA Manager of the Year comes with outstanding pedigree. He began his managerial career in his homeland, most notably at Valencia where he built a reputation as one of Europe's top coaches by winning the Spanish League twice and the UEFA Cup. He then spent six years at Liverpool and led them to their fifth European Cup and an FA Cup," the club said.

Benitez' appointment sees the Spaniard reuniting with striker Fernando Torres who has struggled to live up to his GBP50 million transfer fee Chelsea paid Liverpool for him in January 2011.

As I had noted in yesterday's posting, Benitez initially considered by Chelsea in March this year when Andre Villas Boas was sacked but a deal wasn't reached at the time as the Blues wanted an interim manager while the Spaniard was looking for a longer-term contract.


I guess being out of a job for nearly two years changed his mind this time around. I will be posting more on this soon. It also makes you wonder the role Torres played in bringing Benitez to Stamford Bridge.

Reactions to Di Matteo Sacking

Here are some of the reactions to Roberto Di Matteo's shocking exit from Stamford Bridge:

"I’m very disappointed for Roberto, I know him very well, he’s a close friend and that so it is disappointing when you hear that a manager has lost his job, especially when you know them. But like even more so when you feel like you know what I mean I don’t know what more he could have done, I’m hearing Chelsea fans saying they weren’t happy with certain tactics.

"But at the end of the day at the start of the season everybody was enthusing about how great he was. But I suppose when you’ve got an owner like Abravomich who is ruthless, he knows what he wants and he does what he wants, it’s a precarious job to take, you know it still makes me laugh." - Ian Wright, in an interview with Absolute Radio.

"I'm astonished, really. It just goes to show you how precarious we are as Premier League managers, and you can't take anything for granted.

"The shock that should be there for the fans and the media should sound something to the owner of that football club because I don't know if that's the ninth manager or whatever it is in so many short years. It's just not fair.

"As far as I am concerned, he has done absolutely nothing wrong. His philosophy was to perhaps change the look of the team, which he has tried to do - that doesn't happen overnight - and he's won two competitions in less than a year, so it's unbelievable.

"He should walk straight into another job - probably at someone else's misfortune, unfortunately." -  Alan Pardew in press reports from the manager's pre-match briefing for Newcastle's Europa League encounter with Maritimo.

"Wow, Chelsea have sacked their manager!! I'm a bit late I know but its a madness." - Rio Ferdinand on his official Twitter account.

"John Terry has now seen off his ELEVENTH manager at Chelsea. Can you name them all? - Mirror Football's official Twitter feed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" - Andre Villas Boas (Ok, I made that one up. The rest are real.)

On a side note, as we await news of Di Matteo's replacement (all signs seem to point to Rafa Benitez), there's some other weird rumour about Didier Drogba returning to Chelsea. Can things get any crazier?

Di Matteo Sacked; Benitez to takeover?

In a bizarre twist of events, Chelsea have sacked manager Roberto Di Matteo following the Blues' Champions League defeat to Juventus with former Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, reported to be keen to fill up the vacancy at Stamford Bridge.

Di Matteo was fired by the Blues several hours after the club fell 3-0 to Juventus at Turin which left the Champions League defending champions third in Group E with an early exit from the competition a genuine possibility.

Yesterday's defeat follows a 2-1 shock loss to West Bromvich Albion in the Premier League over the weekend.

In a statement on its official website, Chelsea said: "The team's recent performances and results have not been good enough and the owner and the Board felt that a change was necessary now to keep the club moving in the right direction as we head into a vitally important part of the season.

"The club faces a difficult task ahead in qualifying for the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as well as maintaining a strong challenge for the top of the Premier League while competing in three other cup competitions. Our aim is to remain as competitive as possible and challenge strongly on all fronts."

 So, it appears as though winning Roman Abramovich' holy grail - the Champions League - and the FA Cup last season wasn't enough to convince the Blues' owner and his board to stick it out with Di Matteo.

The Italian must surely realise the bitter irony over the fact that managers who achieved far less than he did managed to hold to their job at Chelsea much longer than he did. And while the Blues have performed poorly in Europe, the same can't be said about their domestic performance.

With only two defeats - one of which was against Man Utd following some highly dubious refereeing - in the league, the Blues are in third place and four points behind league leaders, Man City.  You could have forgiven Di Matteo for thinking his job was safe. (Mark Hughes, if you're reading this, consider yourself the luckiest man alive).

But what Roman wants, Roman gets. I only wonder if Roman really knows what he wants.

Reports suggest that Chelsea intend to name a replacement soon and the first few names to be brandied about have been - you guessed it- former Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola and Benitez, both of whom are currently unemployed.

According to tribalnews.com, Benitez flew back to London from Abu Dhabi for a meeting with the Blues and that a deal to make him manager until the end of the season is in the works.

Benitez was previously rumoured to be interested in the job in the summer before Di Matteo was given a two-year contract after winning Chelsea's first-ever Champions League. Di Matteo was earlier appointed as the club's interim manager in March this year following Andre Villas Boas' dismissal from the job.

Guardiola, on the other hand, has long been on Abramovich' wishlist and some reports suggesting the Spanish manager was lined-up as Di Matteo's replacement before the Juventus defeat.

That's not too hard to believe when you consider the fact that Di Matteo was never the preferred choice for the job. The Italian was merely picked as an interim manager at a time when the club's preferred choices weren't available or in Benitez' case, unwilling to take up an interim job.

Few believed Di Matteo would have succeeded and many believed the club's FA Cup victory wasn't enough to warrant a contract extension. But then the Italian did what so many before him failed. He won the Champions League and Blues' had to offer him a new contract.

But would Guardiola be crazy enough to take this job? Would a manager like Guardiola who's won everything actually risk his legacy by taking this job? Considering that, Benitez seems to be the most plausible replacement.

Tevez Slams Neville

Man City forward, Carlos Tevez, has criticized England manager, Roy Hodgson, for picking former Man Utd defender, Gary Neville as England's assistant coach.

In particular, the Argentine striker questions the wisdom in appointing a television pundit such as Neville for such an important role at the England national team.

"And it's difficult to believe the country doesn't challenge more successfully at the Euros or in the World Cup. But maybe England have to look at the structure of its coaching staff.

"Which brings me to Gary Neville. I can't believe that any of the top countries would employ a television pundit as a part-time coach.

"Can you imagine Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, Brazil or Argentina employing a manager's right-hand man whose day job is a television pundit? I can't ever see it happening," Tevez said in his column for the Sun.

Tevez and Neville were both teammates at United although there's been very little love lost between the two. In 2010, Tevez called Neville a "sock-sucker" (or "boot-licker" depending on the translation you use) in an interview in Argentina.

So I guess it comes as no surprise then that in Tevez' seems to have drawn the conclusion that the English can't compete in the Euros or World Cup is down to the selection of Neville on Hodgson' coaching staff.

I'll admit, it's a rather boneheaded decision to bring in someone with no coaching experience to the squad but that hardly seems to be the real reason why England hasn't won a World Cup since 1966.

Still, Tevez does make a valid point that England's assistant coach can't be a full-time television pundit at the same time as, let's face it, his got some real work to do.

"He’s happy to make jokes about players referring them to a PlayStation game but I’m not sure many World Cups have been won on PlayStation — so I think Gary needs to stop playing games and concentrate on his coaching.

"I know Sky is a high-profile and lucrative job and must pay well but he has to decide whether his first loyalty is to them or the FA," he said.

The Playstation remark is in reference to statement Neville made in 2011 on Chelsea's David Luiz when he likened the Brazilian defender to being controlled on a Playstation by a 10-year old in the crowd.

The Trouble With Referees

There's no doubt that we've seen some questionable refereeing this season and if last weekend's matches are anything to go by, it's spreading like a disease.

First up was Arsenal's 1-0 win over QPR courtesy of a contentious goal by Mikel Arteta. Rangers boss, Mark Hughes claimed the Gunners' midfielder was in an offside position prior to scoring the only goal of the match and video replays seem to suggest Sparky was right.

Had the referee made the right decision, QPR would have deservedly ended the match with a point.

Next was Everton's clash against neighbours, Liverpool on Sunday. At the dying minutes of the match, Luis Suarez appeared to have netted in the winner in a pulsating Merseyside derby only to have the linesman rule the goal offside. Replays indicated otherwise and Brendan Rodgers side were denied three valuable points at Goodison Park.

Nonetheless, it wasn't the only contentious decision in the match that affected the score. Everton's second goal in the first half, which levelled the score, originated from an Everton throw-in. Replays however, indicated that it was a Liverpool throw-in.

But if that was bad, it was nothing compared to the comedy of errors that marred Chelsea's match against Man Utd. After leveling the match to 2-2, the Roberto Di Matteo saw his side reduced to nine men as a result of two red cards.

The second of those two red cards, awarded to Fernando Torres after the Spaniard picked up a second yellow for diving, has once again brought out allegations of a bias by Premier League referees towards Man Utd. I think it was just another case of poor, and at times, incompetent refereeing by Mike Clattenburg.

Replays show that Johnny Evans indeed made contact on Torres left foot as the Spaniard was trying to get past the Man Utd defender. Some seem to argue that Torres went down easy. Who cares? The fact is Evans caught Torres' foot and not the ball which is a foul. And if Torres was diving, why did Evans go to ground as well?




Completing the refereeing madness was Hernandez' goal, which seemed to have been from an offside position, which gave Utd all three points. The Blues were, as expected, livid with the decision and replays do show that the Mexican striker was in an offside position when Rafael shot the ball towards Petr Cech's goal. And even Sir Alex Ferguson's post-match comments on the goal seemed to indicate that the Man Utd gaffer agrees with this assesment.

"They say that the winning goal came from an offside, so that's the bit of luck I think we got," he said.




Chelsea have apparently lodged a complaint against Clattenburg although it was to do with alleged racist and xenophobic remarks made by the referee at Jon Obi Mikel and Juan Mata. But it's high time the clubs come together and lobby for the introduction of video technology in football.

As I've often argued, it makes little sense for football to reject instant replays to assist the refereeing of matches. It's used in almost every other major sporting event and there's no reason for the football world to pretend as though it's still being played at an era where the television hasn't been invented.

With the use of instant replays, decisions won't be contested, penalties won't be wrongly awarded, illegal goals won't count and red cards would be issued at players that clearly deserve them.

With video technology, somebody could have even told Graham Poll in the 2006 World Cup that you can't award a player three yellow cards!

But most of all, with video technology, Liverpool, Chelsea and QPR would have had significantly different outcomes to their respective matches.

Koscielny Calls Suarez A Cheat But Likes Drogba?

Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny has become the latest individual to voice out an opinion on the ongoing diving furor surrounding Luis Suarez but miraculously praises Didier Drogba in the same interview.

According to a report by L'Equipe, which has since been carried by the British press, the Gunners' defender has branded Liverpool's Suarez as a 'cheat.'

“He is tiresome to defend against. He cheats. He pulls your shirt, giving small blows. You always want to give him a kick but you have to be careful not to be red carded," Koscielny said in a quote translated by Soccernet.

But in the same interview, the Frenchman praised former Chelsea striker, Didier Drogba, a player who's just as infamous as Suarez for diving.

"He is strong, he is good when he plays with his back to goal, a great header of the ball and good in the gaps," Koscielny said.

No one doubts Drogba's strength of skill but it seems a little bizarre that Koscielny admires the Ivorian striker so much despite his distaste for footballers who 'cheat.' You would think that someone

Perhaps the following videos will refresh Koscielny's memory on some of Drogba's more theatrical moments.

Here's another one (please excuse the poor quality)

No one denies that Suarez has a tendency to go down easily but as I've argued before, he isn't the only footballer guilty of doing so and many before him as well as his current peers hit the ground with the slightest of touches. To single out Suarez on this issue is akin to claiming he invented diving in football.

But people seem to be talking about this subject with some pretty heavy blinders on. Take Stoke City boss, Tony Pulis, who suggested Suarez be charged retrospectively for diving while not volunteering the same treatment for Stoke defender, Robert Huth, managed to remain on the field despite stamping on the Uruguayan (an offense far worse than diving).

Then there's Sir Alex Ferguson who claimed earlier this month that foreign footballers are the biggest diving culprits. Age seems to be catching up with Fergie as he apparently has no recollection of Ashley Young's diving antics last season (It may have been a bad a day for the Man Utd gaffer. He went to claim that Nani isn't a diver).

Or, he may well have a point. Some of the EPL's biggest divers over the years have worn the red of Manchester - Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dimitar Berbatov to name a few.

Quote of the Day: Luis Suarez

"This guy (Boyce), I've no idea who he is. I don't know why he has been talking about me. He certainly can't be well-known and he wants to get publicity. Let him carry on talking. My job is to play football and to try to do so in the best way possible," - Luis Suarez, as quoted in the Sun, on FIFA vice-president, Jim Boyce, who had earlier accused the Uruguayan striker of diving in Liverpool's Premier League tie against Stoke City.

The Diving Controversy Continues

Looks like the controversy revolving around diving is not going away anytime too soon. The latest figure to jump in the fray is FIFA Vice President, Jim Boyce, who is also Great Britain's representative to football's global governing body.

According to a report by Soccernet, Boyce said: "I have seen several incidents recently, and I watched the latest Suarez incident two or three times, and to me it is nothing less than a form of cheating."

"It is becoming a little bit of a cancer within the game and I believe if it is clear to everyone that it is simulation then that person is trying to cheat and they should be severely punished for that.

"It can be dealt with retrospectively by disciplinary committees, and it is done so in some associations, and I believe that is the correct thing to do.

"It can at times be very, very difficult for referees to judge whether something is a foul or a fair tackle and if players are diving then it makes their job even harder."

This talk of retrospective punishments on players for diving was mooted over the weekend by Stoke City boss, Tony Pulis (see below for my take on that). And the diver in question here is none other Luis Suarez.

To be honest, it seems odd that FIFA's vice-president wants to weigh in on an issue like this. If diving can be punished retrospectively, then it's safe to say that lots of players will be carrying lengthy suspensions.

If FIFA's intention here is to curb diving, then surely there are other means to do so and one that the football world seems to stubbornly reject: instant video replays.

Just about every major sport in the world uses instant video replays to ensure that referees don't get to decide an outcome of a game based on a miscalculated decision.

Perhaps FIFA and national football associations believe that the introduction of video replays will lengthen matches as it could take time to review the replays before making a decision. This is turn brings up the next question: would referees use video replays for some or all of their decisions? And if they did use it for every decision, wouldn't matches get longer?

These are certainly valid questions but hardly enough to reject the notion of introducing video replays into football. For one, each match is officiated by four officials and very often, the fourth official's responsibilities include pausing the matches for substitutions and announcing stoppage time.

But another crucial responsibility for the fourth official is in assisting the match referee. If the fourth official is given a monitor that shows him the video replays all of us get to see at home, then he would clearly be able to advise the referee on matters such as diving. And it doesn't even take a minute to review the footage.

Furthermore, video replays would not only point out diving, it would also ensure that illegal tackles don't get away unpunished. If video technology was present at the recent Liverpool - Man Utd match, we could have very well had a different outcome.

Speaking of Liverpool and Man Utd, let's be honest about Suarez. He isn't the first footballer to go down easily although you have to admit that he is often subjected to some rough tackles. Just about every footballer seems to undergo some severe gravitational pull every time he enters his opponent's penalty box.

Is Pulis kidding?

Tony Pulis is certainly a manager I admire. He got Stoke promoted to the Premier League in 2007 and is still in charge of the Potters. He's made them a permanent fixture in the Premier League and has transformed the Britannia Stadium into one of the toughest grounds for visiting clubs.

But the Welshman's comments following the 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Sunday is way off the mark. Perhaps it came out of frustration from watching his side spend much of the second half at Anfield behind the ball. Or maybe it was the fact that Luis Suarez made life for his back four a living nightmare all game.

To suggest Suarez' dive in the penalty box in the second half warrants a three-match ban. There's no denying that the Suarez went down easily but Pulis seems to have conveniently forgotten the numerous other occasions in the match when his players escaped severe punishment for manhandling - and in some occasions making reckless tackles - on the Uruguayan striker.

Case in point would have been Roberth Huth's stamp on Suarez which left stud marks on the Liverpool striker's torso. Huth escaped punishment for that incident. But since his manager is getting all righteous about fair play, Pulis can put his money where his mouth is by banning Huth for Stoke's next three games.

After all, isn't stamping someone a lot worse than a dive?

Pandemonium at Anfield; Drobga and Owen to the rescue?

If there's a university out there with a course on the basic tenets of wheeling and dealing in the transfer market, I'd recommend Liverpool sign up both its manager and owners for it.

Both Brendan Rodgers and John Henry have recently tried to downplay Liverpool's lack of success in bringing in a new striker and neither wants to pin the blame on the other.

But the fact that Liverpool are now desperately considering moves for Michael Owen or Didier Drogba can only mean that someone's pushed the panic button.

Perhaps both Rodgers and Henry are telling the truth. Perhaps Rodgers is still a little new when it comes to working the transfer window and hasn't figured out the fact that clubs like Liverpool will always be quoted a higher price than ones with less prestige and history.

Besides, a precedent was set last season under Kenny Dalglish who thought nothing wrong on spending GBP35 million on Andy Carroll or GBP20 million on Stewart Downing.

As such, perhaps Henry, after investing GBP100 million in last season, has become a little too apprehensive when it comes to spending more cash. Having seen his investments yield an eighth place finish last season, it isn't all that surprising to find the Boston Red Sox owner getting a little frugal with his cheque book.

But even with all that under consideration, just how on earth did they commit one of the biggest blunders in the footballing world. If signing Carroll for GBP35 million was ridiculous, this was far more absurd: letting Carroll go on a season-long loan to West Ham without procuring a replacement first.

I can't think of many managers or club owners who would have made such a novice mistake but these two men, somehow, saw it fit.

I can understand if Rodgers was trying to remove the deadwood in the squad. Lord-knows it's been a long time coming. But even then, his decisions have been bizzare. He has so far sold both Dirk Kuyt and Charlie Adam, two players who may not be the most consistent but are at least capable of scoring goals.

And while these two players were considered to be surplus to requirements, Downing and Jordan Henderson still remain on Liverpool's payroll.

Thus, with no back-up strikers, Rodgers may have sealed his fate. Luis Suarez may be one of the most gifted footballers in the world but as evident last season is not one of the greatest goal scorers.

Instead, the Uruguayan international plays best behind the striker but with no one there, he's once again left to his own devices (much like how Fernando Torres' last years at Liverpool were).

As evident in the defeat to Arsenal, his supposed new striking partner, Fabio Borrini, is still unconvincing in front of goal and was eventually brought off for Downing, who, if you're counting, amassed a total of zero goals last season.

And now that the panic button's been pushed, will Drogba and Owen be able to rescue the Reds and Rodgers from what could be a disastrous question?

To be honest, I'm doubtful both players would come. Owen would appear to be the likelier of the two to come to Anfield (if an agreement can be reached).

Should both players arrive, the club's confidence would receive a short boost but keeping them injury-free would pose a significant challenge to the club's medical team. If anything, they may be able to stave off the slump and get the Reds out of the danger zone until January when Rodgers and Henry can get another crack at the transfer window.

Otherwise, this story will once again end in more turmoil. Rodgers will most certainly be doomed for an early severance package while Henry will attain unpopularity levels in the same vein as George Gillette and Tom Hicks were, giving rise to yet another anti-American wave at Anfield. And we all know how that panned out for the club the last time it happened.