Tuesday Notes And Thoughts

Back from a small vacation, and with a couple thoughts.

-This will be the last time the blog talks about this, I hope. I know it'll be the last time I talk about it, even if there is news concerning it in the future. But quite simply, this whole Suarez affair is maybe the only time, other than the reign of Messrs. Statler and Waldorf, that I was sort of embarrassed to be a Liverpool supporter. Not that the other side of this didn't act like total children as well, but at some point someone has to be an adult, and it's too late to do so after everything has boiled over.

As I've said before, most of us think Suarez was harshly dealt with. It seemed the FA was piling on to an already unpopular player to win points. But that doesn't mean Suarez wasn't in the wrong at all and that the club enabled this feeling, which it did. As soon as LFC decided not to appeal, they should have made Suarez apologize for the incident. If you're accepting the punishment, you're accepting blame. You can't half ass that. Whether Suarez feels he did anything wrong or not, he's an employee of the club and they should have made him offer an apology right there and then and take the air out of this balloon. While cultural difference is something of a valid excuse, Suarez is still in England where what he said would be frowned upon, and he should have said sorry and learned from it. He didn't until it was too late. And now we're left with unhappy sponsors, the club looking foolish, and a player who may always be uncomfortable In the country, which may lead to an early departure.

This was a time for Liverpool to set an example on how to be mature in a tough situation, and they completely biffed it. I'd like to believe this is the last time this will ever happen.

-As for the match on Saturday, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that I decided to just burn right through until 4:30am on the West Coast to watch it. Decision of the weekend, let me tell you.

While I'm not as hard on Kenny as others, he got it all wrong on Saturday. No way that Kuyt and Downing should have been starting in midfield. Whatever Patrice Evra is, the one thing we can be sure of is that he's been getting torched recently defensively. Giving him a winger with no nous to deal with was not the way to take advantage of that. If Craig Bellamy could have walked, he should have been out there. Shift Gerrard out wide to give him something to deal with, anything.

As for Downing, I've been his last defender even though I was never keen on his purchase, but I've given up hope at this point. He looks completely shot, and Liverpool don't have the time or a less important match left for him to work it out in any other case than every other midfielder being tired. He doesn't provide crossing, trickery, or pace from the wide area, but other than that he's just fine. When Liverpool go shopping again in the summer, wide midfield is still going to be an area of need. Because on a Champions League or even a Champions League-chasing team, Downing is at best a squad player.

That's all for now.