The returning Uruguayan is far from a like-for-like replacement for the injured playmaker, but could, in a deeper role than usual, perform a key creative function in his absence

ANALYSIS
By Alex HessSuch is the turbulence of today’s top-end football narratives that, in the course of a week, Liverpool have gone from an outside bet for title-contention to a side that are in desperate need of their returning talisman, Luis Suarez, in order to arrest a potential slump.

In reality, of course, neither extreme was ever wholly true. Just as their residence at the division’s zenith was only ever going be temporary, there’s no need, after only four points dropped, for anyone at Anfield to go eyeing up the panic button just yet.

That said, the nature of those dropped points – coming in a chaotic 2-2 draw with Swansea and Saturday’s abject loss to Southampton – has emphasised the potentially pivotal effect of Suarez’s impending return, following the shoulder injury suffered by Philippe Coutinho at the Liberty Stadium which will keep the Brazilian out for six weeks.

Brendan Rodgers’ revelation that Suarez is “chomping at the bit” to return to the side may have prompted winces within the Anfield PR department but the Ulsterman’s choice of syntax nonetheless hints at the unparalleled energy and vigour that the striker can inject into a team that looked startlingly lethargic on Saturday.

Suarez will have preferred to re-enter Liverpool’s side at the pinnacle of its attack, from where he accomplished so much beautiful destruction last season, but with Daniel Sturridge currently occupying that position so imperiously and with the side’s chief creator newly felled, it’s a supporting attacker’s berth that’s almost certain to be filled by Suarez for his first run of games since April.

With hindsight, it is no surprise to see that Liverpool’s recent drop in form has corresponded so directly with Coutinho’s departure from the side. The Brazilian has not, so far this term, quite enjoyed the sort of dazzlingly productive form that marked the back-end of his previous campaign but, as tends to be the case with players who deal in his brand of subtlety, his ongoing importance to Liverpool’s play has only really been appreciated in his recent absence.

Liverpool were leading 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium with the momentum in their favour when Ashley s hung out a cynical leg to upend the playmaker; after his resultant withdrawal, the visitors played out the remainder of the game unable to match Swansea’s sharp midfield ball-play with any of their own and were fortunate to come away with a point.

This dearth of invention continued into the defeat to Southampton, when Liverpool huffed, puffed and huffed again, but left Mauricio Pochettino’s house standing firm, only able to trouble Artur Boruc with long-range set-pieces and speculative efforts from a quarantined, frustrated Sturridge.

To quantify the change prompted by Coutinho’s injury: the 21-year-old made 42 passes in his 55 minutes on the field against Swansea, while his replacement Iago Aspas managed only 12 throughout the game’s final 40 minutes.

In his last Anfield start, against Aston Villa, Coutinho, on what was one of his more pedestrian days, completed 35 balls to team-mates. On Saturday at Anfield, Aspas and his half-time replacement Raheem Sterling totalled less than half that between them.

There is an element of false comparison here, of course, in that the high-pressing workhorse Aspas is a wholly different player to the silk-booted Coutinho, one with a distinct skill set – and likewise Sterling. The pertinent point, though, is that the current Liverpool side are sorely missing a creator to splice its back six and front four into one cohesive unit.

And yet, while the scene may be set for the returning hero to cure all the above ills, Luis Suarez’s reintegration will not be a straightforward remedy to Liverpool’s playmaking problems.

In actual fact, Suarez, existing as he does within his own hundred-mile-an-hour whirl of demented rage, resembles Aspas’ busy playing style more than he does Coutinho’s harmonious one. This is not to say he can’t perform the much-needed role of link-man, more that he’s likely to do so with a different approach.

With the Uruguayan set to be reintroduced, possibly in Wednesday’s trip to Old Trafford, as part of a fluid three playing behind Sturridge, Suarez will likely perform the vital duty of carrying the ball into the final third with his signature frenzied directness, providing the link between midfield and attack with high-paced dribbling rather than canny ball-playing.

He could hardly be more cut out for the job. Across last season, the 26-year-old averaged the most successful dribbles per game (2.9) than any player in the league. With the majority of these runs taking place in and around opponents’ teeming penalty boxes, Suarez should find even greater joy driving at the opposition from deeper, less congested areas.

To cast Suarez as a simple ball-carrier, though, is to do the striker an injustice. Though twisting defenders’ blood with breakneck dribbling is clearly his greatest asset, he is a dab hand at dissecting a defence, too – only David Silva (3.3 per game) and set-piece specialist Leighton Baines (3.1) played more key balls than Suarez (2.7) last term.

Daniel Sturridge, despite his predatory form, has hardly been provided with a deluge of chances so far this campaign, and, with or without Coutinho’s lockpicking, he will surely welcome the introduction of Suarez’s high-spec, forward-charging assistance.

Despite his likely deep starting berth, Suarez will be keen to make his presence felt in the penalty box too, and in that respect can offer Sturridge the short-passing options that Coutinho, who prefers to stay behind play, did not. The two strikers yielded seven goals in as many starts together last term, with a 5-0 humbling of Norwich in January especially hinting at a potentially fertile understanding between the pair.

It may be an open secret that Suarez would rather be at a club competing for ownership of the Champions League trophy rather than one whose highest hopes rest merely in qualifying for it, but other than re-reading the small print on his contract, there’s little he can do to engineer a transfer at this point beyond demonstrating his elite-level quality for his current employer.

Certainly, few would doubt that Suarez, ever the protagonist, will return to the nation’s back pages as soon as he returns to Liverpool’s frontline. The trick for Rodgers is making sure that he does so for reasons of footballing genius rather than imprudent misbehaviour.

Suarez is equally capable of both, and brings no guarantees. We await his return in earnest.

All stats from WhoScored.com

Follow Alex Hess on

The Liverpool striker has served his 10-match biting ban and could be in line to return to the Reds line-up against Manchester United in the Capital One Cup on Wednesday

EXCLUSIVE
By Victor VagoLuis Suarez has fallen victim to “jealous” rivals while playing for Liverpool and Uruguay, according to the president of his country’s Football Association, Sebastian Bauza.

Suarez has gained something of a reputation since moving to Anfield in 2010, having been banned for eight matches for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra later that year, and then for 10 matches for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic back in April.

But Bauza, who is in regular contact with Suarez, believe the striker’s opponents have colluded to put pressure on referees and create an inaccurate perception.

“In the case of Suarez, those who have to play against Liverpool or the Uruguayan national team, in the first place they try to protect themselves off the pitch, saying, for example, that he’s a diver, as a way of pressuring referees before matches,” he told Goal.

“Besides, there’s a lot of jealousy, and they say the same about Neymar. But on the pitch, it can’t be ignored that the great stars of world football get kicked a lot, trying to prevent them from having an impact.

“I’m fully aware of the atmosphere with referees, as in the end they’re also football people and I can assure you that Suarez is an idol on and off the pitch and even the referees themselves admire him, as they’re conscious of all the blows he receives in every game.

“In English football, Liverpool’s rivals are jealous because they don’t have a player of Suarez’s class, as he’s one of the best strikers in the world.”

Suarez, whose 10-match club ban did not prevent him from playing for his national team, was once more at the centre of controversy earlier in September when he was accused of diving twice in a World Cup qualifier against Peru.

But Bauza blasted: “In Peru they said Suarez is a diver, but they also tried to make a war of the match beforehand, so the media published a photo of the Peruvian player [Juan Manuel] Vargas holding a revolver and pointing it at a celeste [Uruguay’s light blue] shirt, with a title ‘kill or die’. Football is a game and not a war. However in Lima they didn’t understand it that way.”

The Liverpool striker was keen to leave Anfield for a Champions League club this summer, but has remained on Merseyside after his suitors failed to meet the Reds’ asking price.

Arsenal’s bid of £40 million plus £1, which they wrongly believed would trigger a release clause in the Uruguayan’s contract, was swiftly rejected, and Bauza maintains that Suarez would not have been sold to another Premier League side under any circumstances.

“I’m convinced that the day Suarez changes club, he can’t do it to another club in England, in which case he will have to go and play in another country,” he continued.

“As for the decision to continue at Liverpool, he feels protected, so it’s good that he stays. It’s a good response from Suarez to those who love him and protect him, in a hostile environment born of jealousy.”

Though Suarez, who scored 30 goals last season and was voted third-best player in the Premier League, has flourished despite these perceived injustices, the same cannot be said for his fellow Uruguayan Sebastian Coates. The defender, 22, has failed to secure a regular place in the Liverpool team since joining in 2011 and is currently out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

“He found it hard to adapt,” Bauza continued. “He should have played for a lesser European club, to get regular games and then go to Liverpool. Like Suarez did when he first played for Ajax in Netherlands and then moved to English football.”

The boss is delighted his star forward is available again after serving a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic, and is in line to feature against Manchester United

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is “excited” to have Luis Suarez available for selection once again after the striker served a 10-match ban.

The Uruguayan is expected to play a part in the Capital One Cup third-round clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

After opening the season with three 1-0 victories, a 2-2 draw with Swansea City and 1-0 defeat to Southampton has stifled Liverpool’s progress of late, and Rodgers is delighted to be able to pick his star forward once again.

“We are all just so happy he is back in,” Rodgers told talkSPORT. “We have been on a great run without him and that is a great credit to the players that have been available but now he comes back we are getting a £50 million, £60m striker into the team, and that is exciting for us.

“We have had a good start, but this is a player that can come in and make a difference for us.”

Rodgers is also keen to move on from Suarez’s previous controversies at Anfield, and called on critics to measure the 26-year-old on his on-field displays.

“All you can do now is judge him on his performances on the field,” he added. “For the many millions of supporters around the world, the measure and test for Luis is on the field.

“One thing I have learnt about the Liverpool supporters here is that whilst the player wears the shirt, they are behind him.

“I had a guy in here during the week, 85 years of age, telling me about the great traditions of the club. He has been sat on the Kop for many years, hardly missed a game, and he said to me, ‘Brendan, the one thing with Liverpool supporters is, when the boys stick on the shirt, we will back them, but what they have got to show is that commitment.’ You will see that from Suarez because he can’t play any other way.

“His way to say sorry or make any contribution back to the supporters is to play with his heart 100 per cent and score goals and make this team successful, and I’m confident that will happen.”