Topic: Luis Suarez

[farawayred]

Dunno. He’s one of the most naturally gifted players I’ve ever seen and he was ours. Should he want to come back, I’d definitely insider him. But he didn’t get the club, the city and the ethos, and I’m. Of the wool to speak. But we do t have much of his creativity. Only Firmware has the ginga, and Keita a bit.

I’ll get on with my time machine home project and see if I. An turn him 10 years younger. And my wife a 20...

[Redcap]

Wouldn't be cheap and wouldn't want to play second fiddle even at this age. That's a hard no from me

Yeah, I'm not saying it's even remotely likely.

But if he were available on the cheap it wouldn't be the worst option.

I think he's probably more likely going to want either go to some other smaller club in Spain to minimise disruption to his family, or maybe play a couple more seasons back in Uruguay. I'd be surprised if he was still at Barca 12 months from now though.

[afc tukrish]

Only Firmware has the ginga, and Keita a bit.

Sabu?

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

Nah, he can come as a fan though, and enjoy watching our success.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Don't want him anywhere near the club.

[farawayred]

Sabu?

Typed with my iThumbs

Meant Firmino, not what autocorrect thinks...

[classycarra]

Nah, not even close.

True, Suarez had a much more successful club career.

In terms of winning top quality European leagues (and domestic cups there). Also one CL vs one UEFA cup (Inter). Three top scoring seasons for Suarez to Ronaldo's two. Not massively different in Holland, both won one cup but Suarez got a league (he also stayed longer)

[mattD]

An unbelievably great player - he may arguably be the greatest technical player we’ve ever had. The goals he scored were just jaw dropping. He would add a rush of adrenaline into the crowd when he got on the ball, such was the excitement of his playing. I’ll always have great memories of that 13/14 season. But he’s no where near a legend of the club. He forgot that he represented the club with his antics and reactions afterwards, and in reality, he was downright petty and pathetic at times.

His celebration at the Nou Camp didn’t bother me, damn right he should be celebrating for his club in a big semi final, that’s what his job is so why complain? It was other antics that were going on outside of that. The aggro and play acting against a certain number of our players showed he wasn’t caring about respect.

Make no mistake, the way he was acting was building up to a goal at Anfield and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he gave it all the aggro to the crowd if he had done so.

But alas, he didn’t. The full Anfield effect and the miracle of that night was also compounded by a sense of schadenfreude towards him and Coutinho. You lost what you could have had.

All the adulation, the songs and the spirit and the silverware. In the words of the late Jim Bowen ‘let’s take a look at what you could have won’.

It was a match that separated ‘potential legends’ with ‘true legends’ in as stark a fashion as you could possibly imagine. The massive chasm between those two and the team in red was so big that they are now nothing more than a tiny speck far in the distance. Completely irrelevant.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

True, Suarez had a much more successful club career.

In terms of winning top quality European leagues (and domestic cups there). Also one CL vs one UEFA cup (Inter). Three top scoring seasons for Suarez to Ronaldo's two. Not massively different in Holland, both won one cup but Suarez got a league (he also stayed longer)

and yet Ronaldo is still the better footballer than Suarez. Ronaldo at his peak, prior to his knee injuries, was unstoppable in comparison. Scored 47 goals in 49 games in his first season leaving Holland playing for Barca, whilst Suarez couldn't hit the barn door consistently when he arrived for us.

Ronaldo, the 3 time world player of the year.

[classycarra]

and yet Ronaldo is still the better footballer than Suarez. Ronaldo at his peak, prior to his knee injuries, was unstoppable in comparison. Scored 47 goals in 49 games in his first season leaving Holland playing for Barca, whilst Suarez couldn't hit the barn door consistently when he arrived for us.

Ronaldo, the 3 time world player of the year.

Suarez scored 91 goals in 139 league games, including 37 games for a shite Groningen side. I don't think he couldn't hit the barn door is fair!

When you compare their records in good leagues, there really isn't much to suggest Suarez can't be talked about alongside Ronaldo.

Suarez
69 goals in 110 games in the PL
147 goals in 191 games in La Liga

Ronaldo
18 goals in 31 games in Serie A
117 goals in 164 games in La Liga

ps Suarez didn't even need his knees, as shown when he knocked England out of the world cup

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Suarez scored 91 goals in 139 league games, including 37 games for a shite Groningen side. I don't think he couldn't hit the barn door is fair

I think you misread what I wrote [or I wasn't clear enough to be fair]. What I was trying to say is that once he left Holland, he had problems being prolific as he was in Holland [ I was referring to how he played when we signed him in January onwards till the end of the 11/12 season].

Ronaldo's first season outside of Holland was sensational, it Suarez some time to get on the level that he was in Holland.

Your stats on Ronaldo's time in Italy is wrong btw. 58 league goals in 88 matches in Serie A.

Oh they can definetly compare in terms of numbers, however Ronaldo doing what he did in Italy at that time is far harder than what numbers could actually show. Aside from that, I am also talking about pure ability on the pitch. As great as Suarez at his peak was, there is a reason Ronaldo was called the Phenom. His speed on the ball and without it was frightening, his agility, his movement, his dribbling is not something that imo Suarez can compare as he good as he is/was technically. The one area that Suarez is better in is creativity in terms of setting up opportunities for team-mates. Everything else, imo, Ronaldo is a superior player. That's not to slight Suarez, but imo Ronaldo is top 3/4 players of all time.

[rob1966]

^

Suarez has said himself that in that season he was trying too hard to put the ball where the keeper couldn't get to it, which led to a lot of efforts hitting the bar and the post. He had a chat with his wife and she told him to just relax and play his natural game and it all clicked again.

One big disgrace for me was in 13/14 he should have won the Balon D'Or, he was the best player in the world at the time. If we'd had had none of his antics on field, he probably would have won it too.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

^

Suarez has said himself that in that season he was trying too hard to put the ball where the keeper couldn't get to it, which led to a lot of efforts hitting the bar and the post. He had a chat with his wife and she told him to just relax and play his natural game and it all clicked again.

One big disgrace for me was in 13/14 he should have won the Balon D'Or, he was the best player in the world at the time. If we'd had had none of his antics on field, he probably would have won it too.

i disagree. Ronaldo was sensational, he had 17 goals in the CL that year alone which is absurd, and 51 overall, whilst winning the EC

[_00_deathscar]

On Suarez, best player I've seen for Liverpool. You can be the best without being a legend.

There was a stat going around about top 10 goal scorers in the 2010s. Your usual suspects, Messi and Cristiano, and then a mix of Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic (I think), Suarez, Aguero (maybe?) and a few more - in no particular order after Messi and Cristiano, but Suarez was in the top 5 as I recall.

Then there was another one with assists. Messi is there, as are Ozil, Di Maria and co. There is only one name besides Messi who shares both lists, and that is Suarez (and he was actually in the top 5 I think in assists too!)

Suarez is the best forward since THE Ronaldo, IMO. But he's not close to touching the prime Ronaldo who was on completely another level.

He's definitely a better forward than the Ronaldo that came back from 2 injuries though which says two things:
- Luis Suarez is amazing, because even that version of Ronaldo was pretty damn good (up there with Henry, Shevchenko and a few others)
- How fucking good was Ronaldo that even after two career threatening injuries, he came back and was 'only' one of the top 5 world's best strikers...

[Mister Flip Flop]

Wouldn't have him anywhere near the club to be honest and it's nothin to do with his antics last season it's just these returns never work out. I could see him going to an Arsenal or Spurs or some other non top tier side like that. He'll end up at Juventus though or possibly PSG with Neymar going the other way.

[Caligula?]

Ronaldo scored 8 goals in 7 appearances in the 2002 World Cup alone whilst leading Brazil to victory. Not to mention everything else he's done. Years from now, they won't even be mentioned in the same breath. Suarez was and is still brilliant, that I can't deny. His statistics show it as do his club achievements. And yet I still don't that think that in the future he's going to be mentioned alongside legendary strikers such as R. Baggio, Batistuta, Ronaldo, G. Muller, Romario, C. Ronaldo, Messi, etc.

[_00_deathscar]

Ronaldo scored 8 goals in 7 appearances in the 2002 World Cup alone whilst leading Brazil to victory. Not to mention everything else he's done. Years from now, they won't even be mentioned in the same breath. Suarez was and is still brilliant, that I can't deny. His statistics show it as do his club achievements. And yet I still don't that think that in the future he's going to be mentioned alongside legendary strikers such as R. Baggio, Batistuta, Ronaldo, G. Muller, Romario, C. Ronaldo, Messi, etc.

Can't say about Muller. Cristiano and Messi are different beasts.
I reckon he'll be seen favourably with someone like Baggio and Batistuta. He's that good.

[Caligula?]

Can't say about Muller. Cristiano and Messi are different beasts.
I reckon he'll be seen favourably with someone like Baggio and Batistuta. He's that good.

Gerd Muller. 398 goals in 453 appearances for Bayern Munich. 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany. 4 time Bundesliga Champion, 3 time European Cup champion, World Cup winner, European Championship winner, and loads of other club, national and personal accolades. One of the all time greatest strikers in football history.

[Sheer Magnetism]

Baggio and Batistuta were great players but neither could do the kinds of things Suarez was at his peak. He's also won more than both and scored more international goals.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Baggio and Batistuta were great players but neither could do the kinds of things Suarez was at his peak. He's also won more than both and scored more international goals.

I agree. I think he's better than both of them.

[kavah]

I agree. I think he's better than both of them.

Put together !

[classycarra]

Ronaldo scored 8 goals in 7 appearances in the 2002 World Cup alone whilst leading Brazil to victory.

Jon Dahl Tommason scored 4 in 4 appearances. Obviously different class of player, but still

[_00_deathscar]

Gerd Muller. 398 goals in 453 appearances for Bayern Munich. 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany. 4 time Bundesliga Champion, 3 time European Cup champion, World Cup winner, European Championship winner, and loads of other club, national and personal accolades. One of the all time greatest strikers in football history.

Yes, I know about his stats. But he's never been seen as one of the all time greats (not even at the level of Zidane and co IMO - maybe a level below that?), though obviously he's one of the best goalscorers of all time.

Suarez is firmly in the Zidane tier.

[_00_deathscar]

On Suarez, best player I've seen for Liverpool. You can be the best without being a legend.

There was a stat going around about top 10 goal scorers in the 2010s. Your usual suspects, Messi and Cristiano, and then a mix of Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic (I think), Suarez, Aguero (maybe?) and a few more - in no particular order after Messi and Cristiano, but Suarez was in the top 5 as I recall.

Then there was another one with assists. Messi is there, as are Ozil, Di Maria and co. There is only one name besides Messi who shares both lists, and that is Suarez (and he was actually in the top 5 I think in assists too!)

Using TransferMarkt, just some stats for key players (these are overall stats including pre-2010):

Goalscorers and the two freaks
Messi - 730 games, 634 goals, 285 assists
Cristiano - 850 games, 638 goals, 223 assists (but many of these were pre-2010 which is why he wasn't in that above 2010s assist list - probably just short of it)
Suarez - 611 games, 405 goals, 231 assists (!)
Lewandowski - 587 games, 409 goals, 118 assists
Aguero - 636 games, 372 goals, 119 assists
Ibra - 761 games, 467 goals, 185 assists

Playmakers
Ozil - 600 games, 105 goals, 216 assists
Di Maria - 593 games, 141 goals, 214 assists
De Bruyne - 450 games, 103 goals, 173 assists

Basically, Suarez is assisting as much as, or more than, the renowned playmakers are (De Bruyne probably on another level there) and scoring favourably as compared with the top goalscorers not named Messi or Cristiano.

And that doesn't even include Suarez's "dummy" assists - I reckon he's probably racked up 10+ of those for Barca alone, or any penalties he's won that Messi  or other Barca penalty taker (why are they all awful?) has invariably failed to convert.

For me, he's head and shoulders the best striker since Il Fenomeno pre-injury, with Lewandowski, Shevchenko, Eto'o, Henry, Aguero and a few others below him.

Here is a separate list with different numbers, but it all points to the same thing - that Messi, Cristiano and Suarez are the only three players since 2001 to appear in probably a top 20 scoring AND assists chart (you'd likely have to get to Ibrahimovic to find another player who would also be in the scoring chart, and he's #14 on the assists list here)
https://ronaldo.com/football-news/top-25-players-with-the-most-assists-in-the-21st-century/

Essentially, he's the only player not named Messi or Cristiano where he has (currently at least) more goal contributions than games played.

[royhendo]

From the Eto'o interview on French TV...

Xavi says to Eto'o: "Negro, like we always said before and showed, we want you to stay".

The Spanish speaking world seem to have a whole different approach in this regard eh?

[killer-heels]

From the Eto'o interview on French TV...

Xavi says to Eto'o: "Negro, like we always said before and showed, we want you to stay".

The Spanish speaking world seem to have a whole different approach in this regard eh?

That's Spain as whole. Never have my friends experienced more racism than in Spain.

[Clayton Bigsby]

Essentially, he's the only player not named Messi or Cristiano where he has (currently at least) more goal contributions than games played.

Very few penalties in comparison to those 2 as well. He has 29 penalty goals, Messi 94 and Ronaldo 133

[PatriotScouser]

Barca teminating his contract after he refused to leave of his own volition. Shame. 

[CraigDS]

Barca teminating his contract after he refused to leave of his own volition. Shame. 

Why don't they just accept offers for him and persuade him that way? Terminating his contract, at a cost to them just seems a stupid way to do things.

[The 1989 Brit Awards]

Why don't they just accept offers for him and persuade him that way? Terminating his contract, at a cost to them just seems a stupid way to do things.

there's a lot of posturing going on right now at Barca. Suarez, Busquets, Umtiti, they feel the need for blood, in order to clean their image and make their fans feel they're "doing something" to fix whatever supposedly made them be humiliated (Bayern being the climax of what had already happened against Roma and us).

First time in Suarez's life where it's his club that want to move him on, instead of him pushing for a move ...

[Simplexity]

Wonder where he will end up, seems like a PSG/Juventus-esque signing.

[So… Howard Philips]

there's a lot of posturing going on right now at Barca. Suarez, Busquets, Umtiti, they feel the need for blood, in order to clean their image and make their fans feel they're "doing something" to fix whatever supposedly made them be humiliated (Bayern being the climax of what had already happened against Roma and us).

First time in Suarez's life where it's his club that want to move him on, instead of him pushing for a move ...

One of the candidates for Barcelona President has "spoken" to Klopp.

Fat chance.

[gazzalfc]

China, Turkey, Inter Milan?

[Sangria]

there's a lot of posturing going on right now at Barca. Suarez, Busquets, Umtiti, they feel the need for blood, in order to clean their image and make their fans feel they're "doing something" to fix whatever supposedly made them be humiliated (Bayern being the climax of what had already happened against Roma and us).

First time in Suarez's life where it's his club that want to move him on, instead of him pushing for a move ...

Has Suarez been cannibalising lately?

[Sangria]

China, Turkey, Inter Milan?

Does human flesh taste like Turkey?

[IanZG]

First time in Suarez's life where it's his club that want to move him on, instead of him pushing for a move ...

Must feel weird not to be able to solve your problems by biting someone...

[ChaChaMooMoo]

I am pretty sure I read somewhere that he has an anti-biting clause in his contract with Barca.

EDIT: https://www.barcablaugranes.com/2014/7/13/5894149/luis-suarez-barcelona-contract

[Kashinoda]

I'm gonna throw out the obligatory 'Sign him' comment.

Sign him.

[exiledintheUSA]

Glasgow Rangers.....

[Red Beret]

Why don't they just accept offers for him and persuade him that way? Terminating his contract, at a cost to them just seems a stupid way to do things.

Knee jerk and costly.  What makes it easier to just pay up his contract rather than try to sell him?

Fuck it, I'd take him back just to piss Barca off. And I'm not exactly enamored with him.