Once again Liverpool striker Luis Suarez demonstrated his absolute class against Exeter City in the second round of the Carling Cup last night. As Kenny Dalglish said, the entire team showed the right attitude during the match, and Suarez particularly looked like he was enjoying himself out there.
Although we were playing against a struggling League One side, Suarez was the stand out performer among his team mates, despite the fact he should be showing some signs of tiredness after his exertions in the Copa America.
The only real worry I have is that the Reds don’t look have as effective when the Uruguayan is not on the pitch. Certainly it is not surprising considering his quality, but I would like to see others stepping up to the mark to take games by the scruff of their neck, and being the leading creative attacking threat.
This is not a criticism of Kenny Dalglish’s signings by any means but the likes of Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson all add something different to the party in the final third, rather than being flair players with that spark of inspiration.
Downing is a direct runner who will provide the team with width and pace, Henderson is a very solid passer but has some years to go before he is the final product, Adam can provide some killer balls but will rarely create something from nothing, and Andy Carroll will always be the aerial option.
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For sure Steven Gerrard will fill this creative void when he returns from injury. Raul Meireles will also be a very important element in the team’s creative play but I still feel we may rely too much on Suarez for inspiration at times, especially with Gerrard absent.
Against Sunderland after he was substituted, against Arsenal before he came on, and even to a certain extent when was taken off last night, the team looked a lot less effective, and I am hopeful that in the coming years, when the Reds return to the Champions League, we can attract more players of the calibre of Luis Suarez. Don’t get me wrong, there are many talented players at the club already but if we are going to make that step towards being the top European club, we will still need more quality.
For me, the acquisition of such players will be the difference between top four and title contenders. I am aware that such things cannot happen overnight but I am still dreaming of a time, in the not to distant future, when the Reds have a fair few more players like our Uruguayan.
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I couldn’t agree more, we still look like an average team without him despite all the new signings.
we rely on suarez too much.kenny needs to buy another top0 striker like papis cisse or lavezzi.all top team have two or more gunmen.man u have 5 apart from rooney,chelsea have 5,man city have 5 andwe have one,andy carol only.if he is shut out in th air which is easy to do anyway,we wills struggle.that is wen we nid a player like cisse or lavezi to combine with suarez and we kill teams.suarez is a good player.iwish steve would come back sooner becoz he is the only one maybe who can compliment suarez.as for henderson,huumn,maybe needs 2 years like lucas
Charlie Adam and Stewart Downing are two very creative players, but dont forget that they are still new here. They need time to mold and gel together, and if they manage to do that, then I am SURE they can be relied on. Luis has been here for 6 months already, with Raul out with injury, it makes sense that he is the only creative outlet we have.
i agree to an extent but i do think downing is going to chip in with a few. I WOULD like to sign adam johnson and a QUALITY back-up striker in this window!
Isn’t this just the same Gerrard argument again…jeeez!!!
He’s a great player and great players shine above all others. United without Rooney, Chelski struggle without Drogba. Arsenal without Fabregas! ERven West ham without Parker.
That’s football!!!
rubbish! you said the same about Gerrard, oh and torres too! stop trying too make something from nothing!!! crap site…
Without Suarez it remains to be seen how we would have coped when Torres left and following Gerrard’s injuries. This isn’t simply rubbish. We do appear toothless without him on the pitch.
Do you really think we would have finished 6th last year without Suarez? (honestly?)
Does the thought of an injury to Suarez putting him out for a month or two not worry you? It should.
Kuyt and Carroll are good players, but they need someone like Suarez alongside them. Playing as a duo they have looked very poor. No pace, invention or trickery between them.
Kenny must be thinking the same, hence the Bellamy rumours. He (Bellamy) is somewhat like Suarez….
The squad is shaping up nicely though. Looking good, I expect another pacey stiker to arrive this coming week for this reason, another option to rotate with/compensate for the loss of Suarez when need be.
A fair observation David. With hindsight Gaz probably agrees now too.
erm no! “Bellamy is somewhat like Suarez” lol any team would miss a player like suarez thats just life… but fact is we are a team and not a one man show! your wrong…
Downing put a decent shift in last night. Gerrard and Glo Jo are two champagne players who were missing.. Players change dynamics of games. FWIW I thought the entire thing was flat and boring last night Suarez included. Definite MOTM performance from him, but you are reading too much into a rainy league 1 away game in a terrible stadium in a team with terrible full backs and a completely uninventive centre half pairing… Suarez / downing made a bit of room for themselves and looked the better for it, but that side, as you’d expect from a second string lacked some intelligence and guile. It looked like a houllier team built around owen, pretty much.
Carroll looked annoyed.. And rightly so.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a professional job, but that was all, from any of them
Oh dont worry! When Gerrard gets back he’ll be reassured its not a one man team any longer(!)
Shut it fakers
TOTALLY AGREE.
Suarez, Gerrard and Reina are our only three top class players. The rest of them, apart from maybe Downing, are good but not top level. British players like Adam, Carroll and Henderson give you 100 per cent effort every week but we all know the majority of British players lack the class of top level foreign players.
It becomes very obvious in our team when Suarez isn’t on the field we become predictable in our attacks. We need more invention and quick passing or we’ll be easy to defend against without Luis.
We don’t learn, we had Torres, we relied on him too much because him and Gerrard were our only real superstars, he got hacked off and left.
Now we have Suarez and Gerrard and no other superstars. It’ll only be a matter of time before one of the big Spanish teams come in for him and he’ll go.
We have been saying for ages that we need more real quality not quantity
Suarez is a world class player and any team in the world will definitely miss him when he is not playing but over reliance on him is the problem. Take a close look @ our performance in the attack against arsenal before he came on.
Even if he plays alongside ngog, ngog will suddenly look like a star…lol
I get the point of the article. wot most dont realise that our squad is just progressing from a whack one to a balanced and good one. We still have to invest again next summer (hopefully, we’ll be in the Champs league by then) he we want to have a very good squad with effective and class players. A squad wide enough to ‘easily’ handle fallouts, loss of form, suspension, rotation, and injuries (even to key players like Reina, Gerrard, Suarez and Johnson). I believe and hope players like Downing and Adam who have carried their teams in the past, will gel and step up to the plate, so that Sualito wont feel the pressure too much (like Torres).
At the risk of asking too much, I’ld like to point out that we still dont have a single natural RW in the squad. A world class(non injury prone or aged) CB, a quality 3rd striker.
anyway, Gerrard has promised he come back beta, so lets hope a fitter and in form Gerrard, A fit again Glen Johnson, coupled with game changing players like Adam and Downing (no disrespect to all the others) will reduce the pressure on Suarez.
Its worth mentioning though that the giant 35m partner will definately be under the microscope more often.
Truthfully, Suarez is the best player we’ve got and am very sure he is one of the top 3 best players in the Prem. so lets be happy to have him.