Home   >   Opinion   >   Could Luis Suarez’s suspension be a blessing in disguise?

Could Luis Suarez’s suspension be a blessing in disguise?

By on January 7, 2012

The Luis Suarez racism saga has been a huge cloud overshadowing not just the player and Liverpool FC, but arguably the Premier League too.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the case – there has been plenty enough written about that already – not a lot has been said about the actual footballing impact on the club. Well, aside from some typical rumour mongering involving Darren Bent and numerous other less superior strikers.

The question is, could Suarez’s suspension turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Liverpool and the player?

Games Suarez misses:
Man City (lost), Oldham (won), Man City (a, League Cup), Stoke (h), Bolton (a), Man City (h, League Cup), FA Cup (TBA, fourth round), Wolves (a)

With Andy Carroll ending his goal drought against Oldham on Friday night, and Stewart Downing opening his account for the club, what we will hopefully see now is a huge surge in confidence of both players. Add in the return to fitness of Steven Gerrard and all of a sudden Carroll could be a player transformed with assists from Stevie G and Downing. Here’s hoping.

Not to mention the current form of Craig Bellamy, who is almost acting as a direct replacement for Luis at present and has certainly stepped up to the plate.

The Man City League Cup semi-final games aside, the rest of the fixtures Suarez misses are very “winnable” – mind, there’s been plenty of them already this season that we’ve not taken three points from. If the rest of the attackers step up the plate in Luis’ absence, we should easily cope.

Meanwhile, Suarez will be able to take what is a much-needed break. Remember, since arriving last January he has no time away from football having been part of the Uruguay team which won the Copa America in the summer. The tournament ended on July 24th, and Luis was back playing for Liverpool on the opening day of the season against Sunderland on August 13th – despite Kenny Dalglish saying at the time he would ease him back into action.

Liverpool’s over-reliance on Suarez meant he even played League Cup games against Exeter and Brighton, and even with missing the last three games through suspension he remains fifth in playing time for LFC this season so far.

By having Suarez taken away, it will offer an opportunity for others and hopefully they will step up to the challenge, thus removing the over-reliance on Suarez.

With the Reds having safely seen off Oldham in the FA Cup, Suarez will now be eligible to face Tottenham on February 6th, then Man United at Old Trafford a week later. A fully rested, fully fit Suarez eager to show his talents on the pitch for two massive games could work in our favour.

Could the timing of Suarez’s return be the silver lining at the end of the storm? Let’s hope so.



About Matt Ladson

Matt is the co-editor of This Is Anfield. Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattladson.

  • Darryl_w

    Suarez will get plenty of stick in the first few games and probably for the rest pf the season, he has to shrug this off and just let his football to the talking, I know it’s been stated that his play was not affected by the charges against him, but I don’t think anyone could completely put this at the back of their mind.

    He’s going to have plenty of time to himself as well as rest and he’ll be back for 2 of the biggest matches of the season against Spurs and Scum Utd, it’ll be like signing a new player, fully rested and raring to go!!!

    • Anorendah

      Let’s hope so!

  • Ashfah Hussain

    Blessing or not, there’s more to come from the FA, all conspired to run him down as well as the club. Like Shakespeare said, “THE UNKINDEST CUT OT THEM ALL.”

  • Vez

    He´ll be back stronger than ever

  • Lukejpower

    Y                  N                         W                A           F@%$ Man u

  • Bomber25

    The only blessing in disguise for Luis’s absence is that he will have some time to rest himself after a grueling summer playing for his country in the South American Nations Cup. If anyone of the mentioned players can’t play with Suarez, it means that they are not good enough to wear the red of Liverpool FC.

  • Malcolm Row 28 Kopite

    I agree about a rest from football might benefit him.The summer before he joined us he played in the World Cup all the way to the third place play off.

  • Carlos_big

    i think suspension 4matvh,,is the great result,,8 is very long for suarezz

    • Scottie

      I think any suspension without Evra also being suspended is even more racist than Suarez’s cultural mishap.

  • 9ja Scouse

    Luis is so passionate, he always wants to play, he would rather not be substituted and he gets angry with himself for misses, bad play etc…I expect that he will be miserable separated from football. Recall he had a long ban at Ajax also prior to his transfer.

    IMHO, he should use the period to convince himself that his football and goals is the way he must always respond to taunts, provocation and incitement otherwise it is the Club that will suffer!

    If Evra said what he reportedly said to Suarez, then Evra too should be punished by the FA

    YNWA

  • M_aydal

    DemBa Ba and Suarez! this can be the best duo in english football with speculations linking Liverpool with the striker. this will be the best option than bringing Bent.

    • Scottie

      I agree. Demba Ba would be an amazing pairing with Suarez, as the main problem we’ve had this season is that Suarez can work the ball into the box, but then there is no-one in a good enough position for him to distribute it to when he is being harassed by defenders. Well, at least no-one(other than Bellamy of course) who has been in form and can finish well. Ba has shown that he not only can finish, but that he can get into a good position and work the ball around defenders. Even if we do not get him, I think we should be looking for someone who plays like him. The biggest problem I’ve seen with Carrol is that he does manage to get himself into position but he is almost always sitting between 2-3 defenders and Suarez. This makes it impossible for Suarez to lob or cross the ball to him as he is trying to fight off those 2-3 defenders at the same time. In my opinion, that is the whole problem with Carroll to date. He sort of plants himself in the box and waits for crosses but doesn’t move around enough to give the the ball handlers other options. The other problem is that when he does meet it with his head it is almost always off target. Bad luck, bad form? I dunno, but what i do know is that while I think Carroll has a lot of potential, we need someone up front who is a playmaker with enough flair to get in and do the job.

    • Paul Harrogate

      Denba Ba – this if Liverpool FC!  He could be a flash in the pan who has one good season and then never does anything again.  Plus, I though we might have learned our lesson with Carroll over signing strikers from Newcastle!

      We need a Gomez, Higuain, Benzema, Soldado, etc …

      Although, I could be wrong about BA at the highest level, indeed there may even be a gem playing for Huddersfield presently!!! 

  • Scottie

    Big difference though is that John Terry’s case was toffed off to the police instead of the FA. This means that Terry will probably be able to play all the way through the season without any sort of ban, as the police will more than likely conclude their investigation by the summer. Why this isn’t being handled by the FA too is beyond me. I think the inconsistencies in English football (especially with the FA) are making it a laughing stock personally.

  • ianmcd31

    No, it won’t, rather it’ll be another month of liverpool fans not being able to see our two best players on the pitch at the same time. 
    The only person to blame for this is Suarez. He needs to concentrate more on his shooting than on his diving and general mouthing off to the ref’s, linesmen and opposition. 
    I hope liverpool fine him. 

    • Win992

      I agree, Liverpool FC is bigger than Suarez and as a life long fan for 38yrs I do not want the club associated with racism and it is a fact that Suarez is indeed a racist and needs help and training to improve his understanding, responsibility as a Liverpool and professional player. This great club does not need to be labelled racist and Suarez needs to do everything within his power to change the perception of the general public.

      • Diaz1990

        very well said 

  • Paul Harrogate

    In a word “No”

  • José Luis

    Happy Birthday , Luis Suarez…Thanks to the Liverpool…Montevideo, Uruguay