Suarez’s Role in LFC

Striker Luis Suarez has returned to Liverpool, after Uruguay crashed out of the Olympics in the group stages following a defeat by Great Britain. Liverpool have had to play all their pre-season games and their recent Europa League qualifier without him, but how will his return affect the team?

Last season, Luis Suarez picked up an 8-match ban for supposedly racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. This was extremely unfortunate, and meant that Suarez was unable to contribute fully to Liverpool’s campaign last season. However, in most of the games he did play, he performed extremely well and provided the injection of skill and finesse the team needed. In my opinion Andy Carroll is extremely good, but he needs someone more technically advanced to work with, and on the rare occasions he and Suarez got their partnership working well, they were deadly. In the pre-season campaign, Liverpool have been playing well and showing a lot of encouraging signs, but they have been lacking any clinical finishing and fluid play in the opposition half. I believe Suarez’s return will bring this, and with it bring goals.

Technically, Suarez demonstrated how accomplished he is on many occasions last season. My particular favourite moment was his lob from 40 yards against Norwich, which was simply sublime. He is probably the best player in terms of technical ability in the entire Liverpool squad. However, a team cannot succeed when it is built around just one person. It may be a cliché, but if Suarez is going to be used to his full potential, Brendan Rodgers must make sure he builds a strong chemistry between Suarez and the rest of the team. If he manages to do this, Suarez will be a massive asset, and create and take chances by combining with the rest of the team, rather than having to rely solely on his individual skill.

In conclusion, if Rodgers can unlock Suarez’s full potential, he will play a vital role in the team for the coming season. He is an amazing talent on his own, but if he gels with the rest of the team under Rodgers like he never quite managed to do under Dalglish, Suarez may just be able to fire LFC into a top 4 spot in 2012/13. I especially hope the club decide to keep Andy Carroll, as I think there is massive potential in the Suarez-Carroll-Borini partnership that may just be unlocked if they are given regular games together.