Luis Suarez- Indispensable?

Yesterday (17th November), Liverpool faced Wigan at Anfield in a Premier League match. They breezed to a convincing 3-0 victory, and at the heart of it all was once again Luis Suarez, who netted two goals. As great as it is to have such a skilled and prolific striker in our team, it does lead me to ask this question: What would we do without Luis Suarez?

First, some figures. Luis Suarez is the top goal scorer in the Premier League this season, with 10 goals to his name. He has started every Premier League match we have played. He also has 2 assists to his name. Liverpool have scored 17 goals in the Premier League in total, meaning Suarez has scored more than half of our goals.

It’s easy to see why. In all honesty, who else do we have? Raheem Sterling is very good, and chips in with goals from time to time, but he’s really a wide player rather than an out-and-out goal scorer. There is Borini, who is out injured until the new year, and was particularly inspiring before his injury anyway, and that’s about it in terms of experienced strikers. There are of course younger players who could step up if the need arose, such as Samed Yesil, but I cannot envisage them becoming long-term solutions to our lack of striker problem for at least a year.

You may be wondering why this is a problem. Who cares if one person is getting all our goals? As long as we score, what’s the big issue? In the short-term, I would agree. Whilst Suarez is available, it is fine that we utilise him so much, and being our one main striker it is understandable that he gets so many goals. However, what if he got suspended, or worse, injured? He is only one yellow card away from a suspension, and if he does pick up that one match ban, we will almost certainly lose that match. We cannot rely so heavily on one player, because unforeseen circumstances occur, and we have to be ready for them.

To be fair on the rest of the LFC team, other players make big contributions to the team. Sterling has provided a lot of assists, and Agger and Skrtel have been solid at the back. Joe Allen has also been very good at pulling the strings in midfield. But all of their play is geared around getting Suarez in to score, and if he was not there all their hard work would be fruitless.

Overall, although Suarez is a world class striker, we really need to find him a suitable strike partner in January, or at least a decent back-up in case Suarez is ever unavailable. Much as our big win against Wigan thrilled me, it also once again highlighted our utter dependence on Suarez, which cannot continue.