I see Suarez, Dalglish and Liverpool have been roundly slaughtered from all angles in the press today.
Observer: Liverpool's Kenny Dalglish plays dumb to leave his dignity in tatters
Daniel Taylor: 'Kenny Dalglish tried to stare down the (post-match interview) questions before coming up with a response that was so outlandishly flawed it made you wonder where he was storing all the qualities which we once associated with him? What Suarez did was callous, premeditated and dimwitted to the point that, if Liverpool had any sense, they would have condemned it on the spot and at least salvaged a semblance of dignity. Instead, they reverted to their default setting whenever Suarez comes under scrutiny: this half-baked conspiracy that everyone is against them and that the only way to combat this is to go on the attack themselves. Outraged by everything, ashamed of nothing.'
Mail on Sunday: Dalglish is reduced to a scowling, sneering bar-room bully
Patrick Collins: 'Undoubtedly, (Suarez) has been encouraged in his idiocy by attitudes struck by manager Kenny Dalglish. Throughout this depressing saga, Dalglish has promoted a sense of paranoia, a feeling that the club have been hard done-by, ill-used, savagely put-upon. He has conjured the notion of a vast conspiracy directed at Liverpool, without ever explaining the logic or the motives behind such a movement. At its most crass, it was the T-shirt worn to support Suarez, a gesture so tasteless that a football manager of even modest intelligence might have rejected it out of hand. Dalglish wore his daft little shirt as if it were a badge of martyrdom, utterly unaware of the ridiculous figure he was cutting.'
Sunday Telegraph: Dalglish walks alone in defence of striker
Henry Winter: 'For those of us gathered here at Old Trafford yesterday for the latest outbreak of hostilities between Manchester United and Liverpool, Suárez’s behaviour was embarrassing to behold. The fires of enmity always burn between these ancient rivals but Suárez inflamed the mood further by refusing to shake the hand of Patrice Evra. Those tuning in across the planet were presented with the picture of Suárez offending further an opponent he had racially abused. For a club that prides itself on its renown around the world, those pictures were a PR disaster.'
Sunday Times: Shaming of football
Jonathan Norcroft: 'When the dust settled, the bile subsided and the straitjackets were put away, Manchester United were left top of the Premier League. Recently, covering English football has felt like sending bulletins live from the asylum. Yet if you looked hard enough, past the handshake, the stupid fan chants, the stewards separating warring players and, hardest of all, beyond the loathsome Luis Suarez, there was a game of football here. United won it, and deservedly, and are leaders for the first time since October 1 to exert pressure on Manchester City before today’s clash with Aston Villa.'
Sunday Mirror: Sinner... not a saint
Anthony Clavane: 'Luis Suarez might have put the ball into the United net at Old Trafford, but his PR own goal will have a lasting effect on his career in England – and quite possibly destabilise Liverpool’s season. What on Earth was he thinking of? Kenny Dalglish indicated earlier in the week that Suarez would shake Evra’s hand. In refusing to do so, he let himself down, let Dalglish down and let the Kop fans down. The Sunday Mirror doesn’t always agree with Sir Alex Ferguson, but on this occasion he was spot on (in calling Suarez 'a disgrace').'
Independent on Sunday: Rooney rises above acrimony to settle score
Steve Tongue: 'There have now been 184 meetings between the two most successful clubs in English football history and it is difficult to believe that any other has been surrounded by quite the acrimony of yesterday's. In the Sixties and Seventies the players would kick or fight each other and supporters would do likewise, but here the backdrop was unique. From the moment that police confiscated every copy of a Manchester United fanzine, through Luis Suarez shockingly snubbing a handshake from Patrice Evra, then a fracas breaking out in the tunnel at half-time and Sir Alex Ferguson declaring the Uruguayan should never play for Liverpool again, it was an extraordinary day all round.'
Sunday Express: Football the loser on a day of shame
John Richardson: 'We had the good, Rooney’s goals, the bad, Liverpool’s failure to impose themselves until too late, and the ugly, the Luis Suarez-Patrice Evra affair which seems to be running longer than The Mousetrap. Just when a tiresome saga which has shamed football was ready to be finally put to bed, oafish behaviour from Suarez reignited the feud. A week of promises that the potential tinderbox situation would be dampened down obviously fell on deaf ears as far as the controversial Uruguayan was concerned.'
The People: Kick him out
Dave Kidd: 'Dalglish will doubtless carry on sneering at outside criticism of his continued insistence that Luis Suarez should never have been banned. But Liverpool's chippy manager knows full well that any such us-against-the-world rhetoric will go down beautifully with most of the Anfield faithful. Dalglish was appointed, not so much because of (owner John W.) Henry's independent will, but by an unstoppable tide of public opinion. The Scot is a canny old politician. And he knows his constituency.'
