David Luiz has received a lot of criticism from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and the media for one of the most heinous crimes ever witnessed on a football pitch – he smiled.
He was likened to a ‘dying swan’ by the Old Trafford boss who believed that his actions got Rafael sent off during Sunday’s match, not the fact that the young fullback lost his cool after a perhaps over-zealous physical challenge and decided it would be a good idea to kick out at his opponent.
The Brazilian defender-cum-midfielder said that the smiling act wasn’t anything to do with Rafael but he was amused by the abuse he was getting from the home support, who likened him to the Simpsons villain Sideshow Bob amongst calling him other things.
It would rile me if I saw an opponent doing that, as it would most, but everyone is missing the point in every aspect of this whole non-story that has suddenly shot to prominence.
Firstly, the only party responsible for Rafael’s red card is the man himself. Doesn’t matter if he wasn’t happy with the rough treatment, it was incredibly stupid for him to react in the way he did and I’m sure he would have received a dressing down from the manager if the result had meant anything to United, who have already won the Premier League at a canter.
Secondly, TV pictures proved that assistant referee Sian Massey had seen and brought the incident to the attention of Howard Webb, who had an awful game, and his mind was made up in spite of what Luiz was doing rolling around.
And finally, as Adrian Durham points out in his piece for the Daily Mail today, what is worse the smiling or the abuse the player was receiving?
It wasn’t the best showing of sportsmanship from the 24-year-old and it’s understandable that rival fans will use their right to complain as nobody wants to see players feigning injury but the overreaction is incredible considering we see it often and it’s never as much of an issue. He’s currently getting as many column inches as a man that tried to sink his teeth into the arm of an opponent and more attention than Sunderland’s Craig Gardner – who not for the first time this season – tried to chop an opponent in half during the match against Stoke last night.
Fargi now u r getting older and older each an everyday,this a very tiny thing u r complaining about,u better 4get it,dont b jealous that we got the three pnts we needed from u accept it and leave our best player alone,say u covet him 4 u dont have one like him,each an everyone has his owm day this tym was ours,next will be yours already passed at the bridge with faked penas by the same reff.Again Luiz laughed b4 the redcard was shown to Rafael.so we wont brame u much we understand u its oldness harrassing u.
Fergie is every1s father in the EPL, all the other clubs r so jealous tht they all together shuld for another club called anti man utd n support it! We dnt cry when we loose, just work hard n come bck stronger #losers #cheap #CannotAcceptDefeat #BadSportsmanship
Eh?
Why is it that when MU can Not win a game they always find something to talk about other than that they lost, Fergi talk about how Chelsea got your nomber this season
Sammy,
I must be getting old, I had to read your post about five times to translate it into English and understand it. You are right that Rafael should have been sent off, Luiz should have received at least a yelow card for the use of his elbows. He did know what he was doinging and his grinning was not about crowd abuse, it was about him getting what he played for when he went down and stayed down.
And do you really think Fergie would want Luiz in his team? I honestly don’t think he is either good enough or disciplined enough.
I don’t think Sammy’s a fan of Fergie.
Anyway, of course he knew what he was doing and we often see players trying to provoke reactions out of each other. I also agree that he was OTT (arguably worthy of disciplinary action) on the physicality but if he was going to elbow Rafael he’d have dropped him like a sack of spuds.
Don’t agree about the whole laughing thing though. I doubt he was bothered whether Rafael was going to be sent off or not, he’d have been more concerned that he won a free kick in the dying moments of the game and I’d have laughed if I was being likened to Sideshow Bob as well.
I agree with Sammy and George… Manchester United never accept the defeat, Fergie will always find something to talk about when Man United lost.. I kind of blame his oldness…
Did fergie not say chelsea deserved to win and united didn’t play well ? Im sure he did. Luiz got a player sent off and the lineswoman and ref were conned. Simple as. Rafael showed nievety in not going down “like a dying swan” when he was clearly elbowed by sideshow bob.
Ps who cares anyway. champions again
Discipline or no discipline he is one of the best in the epl!
The only people who claim that Fergie moans when United lose are non-United supporters who never watch the team play regularly. Unlike a twit like the Spanish waiter, Fergie is generally always gracious to opposing teams and frequently congratulates them for either playing better football or in beating his team. That’s not something that can be said of most managers other than people like Wenger or Moyes, who are equally gracious in defeat. Did Fergie claim that United lost because of the sending off?
No, he was quite frank about the fact that United played without much purpose, and he didn’t use the excuse many others would have trundled out that he didn’t play his full A team by virtue of trying to give some players enough games to qualify for a medal in the competition win – or to showcase a couple he may be trying to sell. All he highlighted was the simple truth – that Luiz is a one of the competition’s dirtiest players and a born cheat, and has been since he first played against United and went on a head-hunting expedition that he completely got away with. And for those who constantly carp on about United getting the breaks from the refs – please! Webb had a howler of a game and allowed Chelsea players to get away with blue murder, as he often does in these games involving the two teams. He’s been so caught up in trying to prove that he’s NOT biased towards United that he ends up heavily favouring the other teams, especially in big games. Raphael may well have deserved his red card for acting so rashly, but Luiz should have been sent off as well for at least a second yellow via the use of his elbows, on top of earlier incidents that went unpunished. Just a dirty dirty player, and a shame on Brazil for producing a player that reflects so poorly on the country’s wonderful footballing reputation.
@Sammy. Learn to use the English language properly, you illiterate twit.
First of all I don’t even have a clue what Sammy’s comment says… wow.
Secondly, if you people would actually listen or read what Fergie said after the match you’d find that he said the refereeing went against United today, but they can’t complain because Chelsea deserved to win the game. Does that sound ungracious to any of you? Don’t think so chaps.
I’m not exactly sure why Fergie has become the issue here either, Darren.
This is about Luiz and media hyperbole. One comment Ferguson made is part of it all but I agree, I thought he was fair post-match and was just defending his player in relation to the Luiz/Rafael incident.
@sammy you should style up