Topic: Luis Suarez

[muyuu]

It's a fantastic attacking trident, certainly the best I have seen since I first became a fan of the club with Figo-Rivaldo-Kluivert, perhaps the best the club has ever seen

The current one is definitely better than Figo-Rivaldo-Kluivert.

Sadly Kluivert went to Barcelona already past his best. Peaked very early in Ajax. I think the dream team front 3 of Laudrup, Stoichkov and Romario was better. Also great was peak Ronaldinho, early Messi, peak Eto'o.

Ronaldo-Figo-Stoichkov and Luis Enrique-Figo-Ronaldo also existed for a brief period.

Going back, Maradona-Schuster-Quini must have been pretty great but I have little memory of that and it was also short lived.

If Ronaldinho took football more seriously and lasted more as a player, that front line of Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o could have set untouchable records. However it worked well for Guardiola's Barcelona to play a different formation without a pure 3 men frontline, with Iniesta and Xavi playing close to the front.

[FCukBarca Haw-Haw]

The current one is definitely better than Figo-Rivaldo-Kluivert.

Sadly Kluivert went to Barcelona already past his best. Peaked very early in Ajax. I think the dream team front 3 of Laudrup, Stoichkov and Romario was better. Also great was peak Ronaldinho, early Messi, peak Eto'o.

Ronaldo-Figo-Stoichkov and Luis Enrique-Figo-Ronaldo also existed for a brief period.

Going back, Maradona-Schuster-Quini must have been pretty great but I have little memory of that and it was also short lived.

If Ronaldinho took football more seriously and lasted more as a player, that front line of Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o could have set untouchable records. However it worked well for Guardiola's Barcelona to play a different formation without a pure 3 men frontline, with Iniesta and Xavi playing close to the front.

All good stuff, nice.   Yeah, HERM could've been something special but the fallout already happened between Samu & Ronnie which coincided with Ronnie's terrible laziness.  As a fan I've been lucky to see some great football but many cules have felt a great injustice never to have seen Leo & Ronnie flourish for more time than they did.  I blame Ronaldinho but fame & fortune can undo many a footballer and Brasilians are certainly no stranger to this. For a brief moment it was really something spectacular

If Neymar ever develops the sort of clinical efficiency of Romario, look out

[Phil M]

Sadly Kluivert went to Barcelona already past his best..

Did he bollocks. One of the all time highest scorers in La Liga. Him and Rivaldo together were lethal. Basically had a 1 in 2 scoring rate throughout his time there.

[Redcap]

Did he bollocks. One of the all time highest scorers in La Liga. Him and Rivaldo together were lethal. Basically had a 1 in 2 scoring rate throughout his time there.

He really isn't. Unless no.92 qualifies him as one of the all time highest scorers. You're right about the second part though. And he was all of 22 when he went to Barca. Far from past his best.

http://www.bdfutbol.com/en/c/rankingG1.html

[Phil M]

He really isn't. Unless no.92 qualifies him as one of the all time highest scorers. You're right about the second part though. And he was all of 22 when he went to Barca. Far from past his best.

http://www.bdfutbol.com/en/c/rankingG1.html

I meant one of the all time highest for Barcelona.  I remember doing the stadium tour at the Nou Camp and watching a video of some of his goals on their boss interactive tour thing, he was unstoppable back then.

[muyuu]

I didn't say he was shite, I said he wasn't at the same level of physical fitness he was in Ajax. I followed Barcelona close enough to realise this. Gained some strength, lost some quickness and stamina. Overall not the same and Rivaldo, while incredibly good, was not Messi, or real Ronaldo, or peak Ronaldinho, or Romario. So that very good front line doesn't match up against the very best ones.

Ronaldinho by the way was other player to peak very early.

[muyuu]

I meant one of the all time highest for Barcelona.  I remember doing the stadium tour at the Nou Camp and watching a video of some of his goals on their boss interactive tour thing, he was unstoppable back then.

Yeah well, I used to watch every Barcelona game back then, which is not quite the same as doing the tour and watching highlights.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Yeah anyway, back to Suarez, I hope they meet Chelsea in the CL final and he scores a hat trick then bites Mourinho's nose off and swallows it before shitting it back out and rubbing it into John Terry's face.

[muyuu]

Yeah anyway, back to Suarez, I hope they meet Chelsea in the CL final and he scores a hat trick then bites Mourinho's nose off and swallows it before shitting it back out and rubbing it into John Terry's face.

I'd rather not have the plastic racists anywhere near the final to be honest.

[Phil M]

Yeah well, I used to watch every Barcelona game back then, which is not quite the same as doing the tour and watching highlights.

Wow, well get you!  I was alive back then too and have seen plenty of him. My point still stands and so does his record.

[muyuu]

Wow, well get you!  I was alive back then too and have seen plenty of him. My point still stands and so does his record.

Your point was that he was not past his best for Barcelona, which I guess is argueable. His scoring record was never comparable to some of the others mentioned in my post, but judging from what I've seen he had lost a pinch of pace by the time he went to Barcelona, so he could never be a 30 goals striker. I think he would have been in his 1995-1996 form had he played in a side like the Barcelona of that era.

You can watch some Ajax games in the CL 1994-1995 (which they won) and then watch any Barcelona game from 2000 or so (his best years at Barcelona) and you will see it's a very different Kluivert, who plays more statically, and definitely has less pace. He had a dodgy knee in 1996 (IIRC the exact year) and he changed his game ever since. He's also visibly bulkier in his later years.

Kluivert-Rivaldo-Figo was good, but Messi-Neymar-Suarez is better already and might still improve. So was Romario-Stoichkov-Laudrup and IMO Maradona-Schuster-Quini, Luis Enrique-Figo-Ronaldo. Obviously all these line-ups were phenomenal when they happened.

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

I'd rather not have the plastic racists anywhere near the final to be honest.

It's only my imaginary scenario it heightens the disappointment when they lose.

In reality, no, I'd prefer them nowhere near the final lest they get lucky and win it.

[Phil M]

Your point was that he was not past his best for Barcelona, which I guess is argueable.

How could he be "past his best" at the age of 22 when he arrived in Spain?

Anyway getting off topic here, it's a Suarez thread after all.

[kcbworth]

Yeah anyway, back to Suarez, I hope they meet Chelsea in the CL final and he scores a hat trick then bites Mourinho's nose off and swallows it before shitting it back out and rubbing it into John Terry's face.

Other than the final bit... fuck that would be good

[lionel_messias]

If Suarez faces John Terry in the CL, I predict both will get sent off and the result will be chaos.

[FCukBarca Haw-Haw]

Really hitting his stride with the club now...an otherwise mediocre performance were it not for that terrific attacking trident of Leo, Neymar & Luis...MOTM for me, involved in 2 of the 3 goals

[Caston]

Really hitting his stride with the club now...an otherwise mediocre performance were it not for that terrific attacking trident of Leo, Neymar & Luis...MOTM for me, involved in 2 of the 3 goals

Any highlights?

[SamAteTheRedAcid]

Any highlights?

http://footyroom.com/villarreal-1-3-barcelona-2015-03/

Try that mate.

EDIT: only avert your eyes at the Busquets tackle

[ErieRed]

Yeah anyway, back to Suarez, I hope they meet Chelsea in the CL final and he scores a hat trick then bites Mourinho's nose off and swallows it before shitting it back out and rubbing it into John Terry's face.

I'm confused.  Would that make Suarez, Terry, or Mourinho the brown noser?

[Caston]

http://footyroom.com/villarreal-1-3-barcelona-2015-03/

Try that mate.

EDIT: only avert your eyes at the Busquets tackle

Ta!

[Shaved Crossbar]

Neymar is a greedy fuck

[RyanBabel19]

Neymar is a greedy fuck

he's young and still growing as a player to be fair. The same could be said of Suarez a few years back

[Anywhichwayicant]

he's young and still growing as a player to be fair. The same could be said of Suarez a few years back

And Sturridge now.

[xbugawugax]

Suarez in form at the moment

Just created scored the opener and got a penalty.

He is basically the main man in creating the attacks for Barca at the moment. Seen him popping up on the right, left and centre. And his goal is him playing off the last defender.

and as I type Suarez plucked the ball out of the air, turns and shoots. The keeper spills it and messi scores another. 4-0.Game basically over for Rayo Vallencano.

[Ski]

Could've had 2 hattricks today. 1 in either half.

[10 years on]

Really on form at the moment.

[muyuu]

Looks like he has a good chance to win La Liga.

[robgomm]

The thing with Suarez is that I'd bet he's been on form the whole time. It's just a numbers game. With us he took 5.5 odd shots per game, with Barca this season he's average 2.7. So unless his conversion rate dramatically improved he'd be scoring fewer goals in a team where he gets less chance to shoot (but more chance to create goals for Messi and Neymar).

In his last four games though he's averaged just under 4 shots a game and the goals are coming.

It might be he actually becomes more clinical at Barca when he's surrounded by players who he has to more share the shooting duties with. But the chances are, if he gets back up to 5+ shots a game then he will be scoring a goal a game before long.

[007.lankyguy]

Bhavik Saglani ‏@DoctorLFC  49m49 minutes ago
Luis Suarez now averages a goal or an assist every 79.2 minutes this season (La Liga + CL).

That is pretty damn impressive

[xbugawugax]

The thing with Suarez is that I'd bet he's been on form the whole time. It's just a numbers game. With us he took 5.5 odd shots per game, with Barca this season he's average 2.7. So unless his conversion rate dramatically improved he'd be scoring fewer goals in a team where he gets less chance to shoot (but more chance to create goals for Messi and Neymar).

In his last four games though he's averaged just under 4 shots a game and the goals are coming.

It might be he actually becomes more clinical at Barca when he's surrounded by players who he has to more share the shooting duties with. But the chances are, if he gets back up to 5+ shots a game then he will be scoring a goal a game before long.

Thanks for the stats. Might be he is getting into better positions to score as well which will increase his conversion rate. Easy to do with Messi and Neymar supplying the bullets.

He could have bagged a few more but Messi is the main man there so he get the ball to messi when he could have a shot himself. 

It's not only his shots but his overall game that really impresses me.  He was everywhere. He was still running himself to the ground creating spaces and getting into positions to score. Thats how he manage to get his second goal. He made himself available for messi to just thread the ball to him.

Pisses me off to no end with the most footie analyst that claims that Suarez is all about goals and is suddenly suprised at the hard graft he actually does on the pitch.

[RyanBabel19]

Its funny he was being judged so harshly in his first few games all things considered

Coming back from some time out of football, in a new team and in a new country. Granted he was hitting ridiculous numbers of goals for us but it cant be forgotten that he was for Ajax too and didn't in his first season for us in contrast.

[robgomm]

Oh God yes, Suarez has it all. He's a world class player in every respect hampered only really by his disciplinary issues. In terms of footballing ability he's got everything you'd want.

[robgomm]

Bhavik Saglani ‏@DoctorLFC  49m49 minutes ago
Luis Suarez now averages a goal or an assist every 79.2 minutes this season (La Liga + CL).

That is pretty damn impressive

Wow, Barca on average are guaranteed a goal a game just by his presence

[aggerdid]

i watched the barca game today. what an absolute cop out it is for a physical player like suarez who constantly fights for every ball to go and have an easy time in spain. said this and got bollocked for it in the summer. that defence from rayo was nothing short of embarrassing today in the second half. its a shite league and top players like suarez and ronaldo taking the easy route and having a nice time in spain is cowardly if you ask me.

[Anwer]

i watched the barca game today. what an absolute cop out it is for a physical player like suarez who constantly fights for every ball to go and have an easy time in spain. said this and got bollocked for it in the summer. that defence from rayo was nothing short of embarrassing today in the second half. its a shite league and top players like suarez and ronaldo taking the easy route and having a nice time in spain is cowardly if you ask me.

Xxavi be like "what did you just say!?"

[BigMarcs]

Two fantastic goals, but he needs to be more selfish. Couple opportunities squandered when he probably would've scored if he went himself.

[FCukBarca Haw-Haw]

Been brilliant and in scintillating form, atm.  Better still, he's sure to improve Neymar's game & efficiency as well.  The ultimate test will be in the biggest matches and winning trophies

[b_joseph]

Seems to be settled in to his role..knows that he has to feed Messi and he is doing that while also making an individual impact.

That game was ridiculous though. If Barca scored 15, it wouldn't have flattered them.

[[new username under construction]]

Can you all stop being positive about him please! We need him to fail and come back to us cheap!!!

[Phil M]

Can you all stop being positive about him please! We need him to fail and come back to us cheap!!!

He is coming back.

http://sport.bt.com/sport-football/columnists/suarez-to-make-anfield-return-S11363966323114