Interesting point of view... from Jan Molby
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/jan-molby/foul-foul-even-luis-suarez-142159714.htmlA foul is a foul – even when it is on Luis Suarez
Liverpool were unfortunate not to get a penalty at Chelsea when Samuel Eto'o tripped Luis Suarez, but Howard Webb's decision to wave play on saved Eto'o an ear-bashing because it was a crazy challenge to make inside his own box.
I don't know if Webb was swayed by the fact that it was slightly off the ball, or whether Suarez's reputation went before him, but a foul is a foul, and the ref was in a perfect position to see it.
Suarez can over-act at times, and occasionally he'll go to ground so theatrically that he makes it look like a dive even when he has genuinely been fouled, but on this occasion there's no real excuse.
Howard Webb likes to let the game flow - and goodness knows how many penalties we'd see if he blew his whistle every time there was pushing or shoving in the box - but that was a big call and he should have given it.
But while Liverpool can feel aggrieved about that decision, Chelsea played very well and on the balance of play deserved their win.
Liverpool were top on Christmas day, and have dropped to fifth after defeats at Manchester City and Chelsea, so of course they'll be disappointed.
They were arguably the two toughest games any team can face, but they still wouldn't have expected to come away with nothing.
The good news is that they held their own in both games, and showed they can trade blows with the very best.
In both matches the winning goal resulted from a goalkeeping error from Simon Mignolet, who has been good this season.
Liverpool were excellent against City, while Chelsea had to produce arguably their best performance of the season to beat them.
The bigger issue for Brendan Rodgers is one of personnel, as injuries slowly whittle away at his squad.
Chelsea had the likes of Ashley Cole, Juan Mata and Andre Schuerrle on the bench; Rodgers had to bring on Brad Smith for his debut. That could be the difference over the rest of the season.
They've now got three winnable games against Hull, Stoke and Aston Villa. We've seen in the past that titles are won by winning those sorts of games, so they will be a big barometer of Liverpool's chances.
You need that relentlessness to win leagues, and that's my concern for Liverpool and Arsenal. They are great to watch, but are they relentless like Manchester City or Chelsea have proven to be?
You could see in Jose Mourinho's demeanour that he believes his team is ready to go all the way.
He was proud of his team's performance, and he was up to his old tricks of winding Liverpool up with his comments about Suarez diving.
He had that swagger back in the post-match press conference, and that will only breed confidence in his Chelsea side.