Soccer:Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers may have challenged referees over their treatment of Luis Suarez but the striker is trying to take it all in his stride. The Reds boss yesterday revealed he had spoken to Mike Riley, head of Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, about decisions going against them.
In particular he referenced legitimate penalty claims by Suarez which had been turned down with, on one occasion, the Uruguay international being booked for diving. Suarez, however, insists he has to accept that mistakes happen.
“There are times when the referee gets it right and others when he doesn’t but that’s all part and parcel of the game,” he said. “It’s happened in the last few games, like against Manchester United when the penalty shout on me wasn’t given and then the one on (Antonio) Valencia was.
“But talking about it doesn’t solve anything — the referee has a split second to see an incident. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t happen again in the future.”
Suarez is Liverpool’s leading scorer this season with three and that lack of goals — the team have just four in five Barclays Premier League matches — has contributed to a winless start and a place in the bottom three. Their early fixtures have been a baptism of fire for new boss Rodgers but Suarez is confident the goals and results will come.
“It makes it more difficult when your opening fixtures of the season are against strong teams like Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United — they are not easy games,” he told liverpoolfc.com. “At the moment, we are not in the position where Liverpool Football Club has to be, which is battling it out at the top end of the league.
“But we’ve been a bit unlucky and I still believe — and will continue to believe — that we have a lot of quality here and a manager who is giving everyone the confidence to believe in their opportunities.”
Suarez returns to Carrow Road, scene of his brilliant hat-trick last season, to face Norwich tomorrow looking to rediscover his best form.
“As a striker, you always want to be scoring goals or making assists, and helping the team however you can,” said the Uruguayan, who has scored 24 goals in 59 appearances since moving from Ajax in January 2011. I know myself that I can still up my game that little bit and maybe enjoy a little bit more luck in front of goal, because it’s a striker’s job to score goals.
“I don’t think that you can compare my goalscoring record at Ajax (111 in 159 games) with here.
“Firstly, because the Premier League is a very tough league to play in and, secondly, at Ajax I went through a period where the goals were flying in from wherever I shot — I’d get rebounds going in off my shoulder.
“I’m not getting that sort of luck at the moment. Sometimes I’m doing the hard part by getting away from the defender, but then I’m not finishing well. But that’s what you work on in training and sometimes there’s a bit of luck involved as well, but by practising hard I’m sure that the goals I want to score will come.”
