Luis Suarez: Liverpool Striker Hits Back at Diving Critics

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has hit back at the would-be-critics of his diving antics—stating that they would do better to concentrate on their own teams rather than worrying about what is taking place at the Merseyside club at the moment.

Suarez found himself at the middle of another controversy on the weekend, when his blatant dive in the English Premier League brought about comments from Stoke City manager Tony Pulis that the Uruguayan deserves a ban for his terrible "simulation."

The Potters boss told reporters after his side's scoreless draw against Brendan Rodgers men on the weekend (per Goal), that:

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Retrospective decisions are made on a Monday and Luis Suarez should be punished. The one in the penalty box was an embarrassment and how he wasn't booked I don't know.

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Those comments drew a response from Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers—who, despite enduring a horror start to his management at Anfield, stuck up for his enigmatic striker—stating that Suarez simply doesn't get any favorable decisions from referees, per Sky Sports (h/t Goal).

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He’s a wonderful talent and I’m fortunate today because he should've had a penalty but he doesn't get anything in games. 

There’s no doubt he doesn’t get the verdicts in the games that he should get. If [Antonio] Valencia’s is a penalty last week with barely any contact then surely Luis Suarez’s is today...

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Having brought about a myriad of responses from the football world—some behind Suarez, others against him—the 26-year-old has now made his opinion on it all known, stating that simply put, it's none of their business what happens between him and the referees.

Perhaps having a jab at Pulis in the process, Suarez stated via Ovacion (h/t Goal) that the subject of himself and diving on a football pitch concerned just he and those at Liverpool—not managers at other clubs or external organizations.

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Everyone should focus on their own team. Those who want to talk can do so, I am not worried about what they say.

They can keep talking and in the meantime I will keep on playing football and taking care of my team and what I do. Nothing else matters. The support of the coach is very important to me and that's what I really care about...

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And whether you agree or disagree on Suarez and his diving antics, the striker does indeed have a fair point—we should be focusing on the football that lies ahead, rather than debating the actions and omissions that have taken place in the past.

Whatever you make of that penalty appeal against Stoke City, Suarez is the go-to striker at Liverpool and the club's best chance at resurrecting something from their otherwise disastrous start to the Premier League season.

They have won just one game so far this year and currently sit in 14th place, and whilst they haven't dropped points to any teams currently sitting below them, they haven't won a match against a team currently sitting above them on the Premier League ladder.

With matches against Everton, Newcastle United and Chelsea all set to take place in the next four weeks, what is clear is that the Reds have bigger problems and issues to focus on than whether or not Suarez is a diver and a football cheat.

And if they can move on, so too should everyone else.

We can spend forever talking about whether or not the Uruguayan international is a diver, whether Pulis is right and whether Antonio Valencia deserved his penalty decision when Manchester United beat Liverpool at Anfield earlier this month.

We can spend forever talking about it and still come to no new understanding or insight, and so we would be better to concentrate on what is still yet to come.

We can't change the past anymore than Suarez can award himself a penalty, and we need to treat this issue like any other issue in world football—giving it the discussion and time that it deserves before allowing it to be placed aside for the actual football to take place.

Hopefully we can do that.

Until there's another penalty appeal, anyway.

What do you make of the Luis Suarez diving situation?

Comment below or hit me up on Twitter: Follow @dantalintyre