It’s the end of a whirlwind few hours in January’s transfer window and Liverpool fans are left licking their wounds with the loss of fan’s favourite, Fernando Torres. Many fans, including myself felt betrayed by the Spaniard, left pondering ‘what could have been’. How is any player going to live up to Liverpool’s now former number 9, a player who scored 50 goals in 84 appearances in the league?
Step up Luis Suarez. The striker, signed originally to partner Torres is world renown for his ‘heroic’ handball in Uruguay?s World Cup Quarter final against Ghana more so than the 81 goals he scored in 110 appearances for Ajax. With a British record fee spent on Andy Carroll at the same time, it would have been easy for ‘El Pistolero’ to have been overshadowed.
Four months on and the Kop have a new hero in Suarez, a striker with a very different style of play to their former golden boy. A creator as much as a goal scorer (illustrated perfectly v Man United), he could be described as a deep lying secondary striker, who can exploit gaps in even the tightest of defences with his sublime movement. A debut goal against Stoke and promising performances following, Suarez became one of the most exciting signings of the season.
His eye for a goal is unquestionable, he’s shown that at the Amsterdam Arena. But asking whether he can fill the boots of Fernando Torres in terms of goals, is probably a little unfair – he offers so much more than that and maybe that’s the key difference. I’m sure if you asked players such as Dirk Kuyt and Maxi Rodriguez who they’d rather play alongside, the answer would not be ‘El Nino’.
Despite a brace against City, Andy Carroll is yet to hit the ground running as a Liverpool player but certainly shouldn’t be judged on the last 5 months. If a solid striking partnership can be formed with Luis Suarez, they could certainly be a force to be reckoned with.
If Suarez can continue the form he has shown this year going into the new season then surely the team should be built around Liverpool’s new strike pairing. Whilst the Uruguayan’s stock continues to rise, optimism grows around Anfield – and so it should. I’m about to write the last paragraph of this post and I haven’t once mentioned the return of the King.
With Dalglish at the helm and the new owners obviously keen to invest, illustrating their intent with the £16million signing of youngster Jordan Henderson, the future looks bright at Liverpool Football Club. As players such as Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Juan Mata are linked with a move, transfer activity at the club will not be in short supply over the coming months.
But no matter who signs for Liverpool this season, may it be young English talent or that marquee signing we all long for each summer, Liverpool new boys should take a leaf of out Luis’ book. With fans longing for a league title, Luis Suarez is most certainly our linchpin.
Fan Comments