Dalglish defends ‘fantastic’ Suarez
Suarez has had an eventful start to the season, with his brace in Wednesday night’s 2-1 Carling Cup fourth round victory at Stoke taking his tally to seven goals in 12 games for the Reds so far this term.
The Uruguay international has also been in the headlines for other reasons after he was accused of diving by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and racism by their defender Patrice Evra following United’s 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw at Anfield on October 15.
Dalglish last week issued a robust defence of the 24-year-old and rounded on Suarez’s critics by suggesting it is their integrity and not the player’s which needs questioning.
And speaking yesterday ahead of Liverpool’s league trip to West Brom today, the Scot was keen to emphasise that Suarez’s qualities extend beyond his footballing ability, praising the humility he has seen from him.
“He has been fantastic and the great thing about him is that he is very unassuming as well,” Dalglish said.
“Everybody can see what he can do on the pitch, but he has got no edge to him. He doesn’t think he is better than anyone else.
“He is a great ambassador for the football club. For us, as well as his football, the other things he brings to the club are very important as well. He is just a fantastic person as well as a fantastic footballer.
“As I have said before, he has only been here since January and already we are running out of compliments to pay him, which I suppose is a huge compliment in itself.”
Suarez has refuted the allegation involving Evra, which the Football Association are looking into.
Dalglish, who has stressed that Suarez has Liverpool’s full backing, does not believe English football has a racism problem and is hoping for a speedy conclusion to the dispute between the Reds frontman and Evra.
“I don’t think it is prevalent in the game here, and it certainly isn’t at this football club,” Dalglish said.
“We have got a case going on ourselves which seems to be dragging its feet. We would rather have it done and dusted, out in the open and whoever is the guilty party, whether it’s the person who said it or the accuser get their due punishment.”
Baggies boss Roy Hodgson says it is because his former employers have bought big names like Suarez that the pressure to reach the Champions Lague has increased.
Dalglish has spent around £100 million on players since replacing Hodgson at Anfield in January, although £50m was recouped on the sale of Fernando Torres.
It is in stark contrast to the scenario that greeted Hodgson at the club when he replaced Rafael Benitez — staving off the possibility of going into liquidation.
Hodgson said: “Liverpool now need to be aiming for a top four finish because that’s what the investment is for.
“I don’t think the new owners are investing all this money for them to be a mid-table team.”
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