You guys shouldn't write off the disparity in our record with and without him. It strikes me as pretty shallow analysis to just call him world class and assume that all of his effects on the team are subsequently positive. How do you know it's not causation? What I've seen is that we hold possession more effectively without him on the pitch. The corollary effect being less pressure on our defense. It might seem like a negligible difference, but consider that, during any given attack, we have only two or three defenders back, with our fullbacks almost always up field, and Lucas the only midfielder holding.
But at the same time, without him, we've at times struggled to score goals.
There are a number of ways that a player influences the game. It doesn't just come down to having a good scoring record.
Personally, I'm on the fence when it comes to Suarez. He clearly adds flair and a scoring punch that we desperately need, but it comes at a cost. I've never seen such a great player, capable of moments of pure world class brilliance, that gave away possession so easily and often. He's a bit of an enigma.
Either way, great result today. It was a pretty awful defensive line for Sunderland, but it was nice to see our strikers finally looking like playing together.
