Too often in football, clubs do not get what they paid for when they sign players. If they’re lucky, they get more than they ever bargained for.
When Kenny Dalglish was at Liverpool, he felt that the record-breaking departure of Fernando Torres should be followed by a capture of a physical target striker who could get on the end of crosses when the team was attacking from a deeper position and a diminutive second one who will be able to play in and around the main striker.
A traditional big man, little man partnership.
The Reds agreed to the signings of Andy Carroll from Newcastle and Luis Suarez from Ajax. The plan did not work as expected especially with respect to Carroll, but Brendan Rodgers is reaping the rewards of having Suarez at Anfield.
At the end of last season, it seemed like Suarez would leave the club. The Uruguayan’s well documented bans for racially abusing Patrice Evra in October 2011 and biting Branislav Ivanovic in April 2013 had dragged the Reds’ reputation through the gutter.
He also clearly felt that the club’s ambitions did not match his own and, on the eve of this season, he asked to join Arsenal. He infuriated a lot of people at Anfield in the process, but the club steadfastly maintained that they woouldn’t let him go. In retrospect it looks like an easy decision, but Rodgers was investing a lot of his managerial capital in a risky player.
Suarez started his season five games later after finishing his ban. He has been looking like a much more rounded individual ever since; he hardly gets on the back pages for negative stories and he even led Liverpool when captain Steven Gerrard was injured.
On the field, he’s been even more impressive; he is already on 25 goals in the Premier League this season. In his first 100 games for Liverpool, he scored 62 goals, managed 23 assists and won 10 penalties. His numbers this season are better than those of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, despite playing in a team of lesser quality.
Statistics alone do not accurately evaluate his importance to Liverpool. Playing under a tactical tinkerer like Rodgers, he has excelled in the various different formations they have played this season.
All a far cry from big man, little man.
His flexibility gives Rodgers a great advantage in tapering his team according to their opponents. Recently, Suarez has been asked to drop deeper and attack from wider areas. He is still that street fighter who works hard to link up play. Most top class strikers in his position would demand to play up top centrally for their respective careers or underperform elsewhere but not Suarez, at least not under Rodgers.
At the start of the season, Liverpool planned to break into the top four but now they find themselves in the title race. A couple of players stepped up, Brendan Rodgers has been moving mountains but it’s Luis Suarez has risen above and beyond.
Not even King Kenny would have envisioned such an impact when he convinced Liverpool to part away with £22.8 million in January 2011.
