http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/liverpool-fc-analysis-luis-suarezs-6409989 Reds will be hoping striker is ghost of Christmas future Two goals, three assists, one very special footballer. For Luis Suarez, the transformation is complete. How quickly the world of football can turn full circle. In August, you could have got odds of 25/1 on the Uruguayan being the Premier League’s leading goalscorer this season. Then, the idea of him even playing for Liverpool again, let alone captaining them, was a fanciful one. Now, you’d do well to get a price on that Golden Boot. Suarez is re-writing the rule book on a weekly basis. This was just the latest in a long line of masterclasses . “I told Luis two days ago that he would be captain,” said Brendan Rodgers after watching his side simply dismantle a sorry Tottenham Hotspur. “I wanted somebody who would represent me, and the club, even in the tunnel before the game. “When you look at Luis Suarez, stood with that armband on, you know that this is a team that is going to fight.” Fight? If this had been a boxing match, then Jonathan Moss would have waved it off long before the 90 minutes were up. The judges would have ripped up their scorecards after the opening round. From first minute to last, Liverpool’s dominance was absolute. If Tottenham were shocking – and they were – the Reds were quite stunning. Suarez, as ever, led the line. Asked to muster up a fresh adjective to describe the 26-year-old, Rodgers chose wisely. “Inspirational,” was his reply. It might just be the understatement of the season. Suarez’s statistics are staggering. Having missed the opening six games of the season, Suarez has 17 goals in 12 games since. Under Rodgers, he has scored 47 in 57 in all competitions, compared with 21 in 52 over the previous season and a half. He is on a hot streak that has lasted more than 18 months. And it is showing no signs of slowing up. Here, he played as if the armband carried special powers. Steven Gerrard has made a career from driving this club forward single-handedly over the years, but Suarez has taken on the mantle. Watching from the Sky Sports studio, Gerrard could only applaud. “We need to enjoy him while he’s here,” said the injured Reds skipper. please log in to view this image It is sound advice. Rarely has the Premier League seen performances like this, week in week out. Even the Spurs fans, who had booed their own side from the field at full time, found time to applaud Suarez as he headed down the tunnel. Supporters are divided on many things; not on this player’s genius. He tormented Andre Villas-Boas’ side from the first whistle. Relentless in his work rate, and sublime in his quality, he ran the Londoners absolutely ragged. He created an opening for Philippe Coutinho inside two minutes, and bailed out Mamadou Sakho in the left back position moments later. Leading from the front? He practically dragged Liverpool forward in the opening stages. Suarez began and finished, clinically, the move which led to Liverpool’s first goal, and could have had three more before half time. In the meantime, he found time to pull Spurs’ backline to pieces, setting up Coutinho for a volley which bounced onto the crossbar, shortly before Jordan Henderson added Liverpool’s second. Suarez, of course, was involved in that strike too. Goals, naturally, decorate Suarez’s performances, but they do not define his class. Far from it. Time and again he dropped deep to provide a buffer for Henderson, Coutinho or Joe Allen to play passes off. His movement was slippery enough to lure Paulinho into a challenge that earned the Spurs midfielder a red card. That was cruel. Suarez, uncontrollable against 11 men, ran riot against 10. He set up Jon Flanagan and Raheem Sterling for goals, both of them well-taken, and grabbed another for himself with an impudent clipped finish with the outside of his foot. Lloris, beaten all ends up, could offer only a bewildered grin. In fairness to Liverpool, though, this was no one-man show. Henderson and Sterling, in particular were outstanding, whilst Coutinho bristled with creative intent. Joe Allen and Lucas ensured Gerrard’s presence was barely missed. Flanagan, Rodgers said, needed pulling down from the ceiling in the dressing room afterwards. The youngster’s stock continues to rise. Suarez, though, is Liverpool at the moment. He is the difference between success and failure, a player of absurd gifts, relentless hunger and remarkable consistency. If Rodgers, rightly, is reluctant to talk in terms of the title race, he must know that with Suarez any team would have half a chance. He can’t do everything, of course, but it seems there is nothing he can’t do right now. Nobody who who witnessed it will forget what they saw here. Until he does it all again next week, that is. [video=youtube;M1UEaUTq0us]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1UEaUTq0us[/video]
Complete footballer? adda yard of pace and a left foot and yeah roy of the rovers wouldn't be in it with him
Genius footballer. In my opinion, he's now up there with Messi and the other ****er. Bale can't even get a full game.
He compensates well for both those flaws though, he does win and score headers and his quick feet gets him away from defenders.
yeah but instead of being as good as messi and better than ronaldo he'd be better than roy of the rovers.... after all the only complete footballer we know is from the comics. bale = hot shot hamish and messi = mighty mouse... now suarez has the arm band he's pretty close to roy of the rovers. add that yard of pace, sack brendan and appoint luis... this year if we supply the bal he can get 35-40 goals. but we have to keep working to supply him.
If he was any taller, his centre of gravity would be shifted upwards and he'd be less of a player, IMHO
precisely alan shearer was 5 11... fowler was short too.... in fact the only reason ronaldo is so poor and has won so little (ha ha) is he's too tall to really dribble. he just pretends to.
I actually agree, especially as I'm only 5' 8" myself and often beat others in 50:50s because of my low centre of gravity. I only pointed out that he was short as we were discussing whether or not he was a complete footballer. In other words, the complete footballer is an impossible quantity as there will always be an opposite to what you see.
