It May Be Hard To Believe - But There Is Still More To Come From Luis Suarez

By Tony Barrett

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SO profound has Luis Suarez’s impact on English football been that it seems like an unnecessary and unwarranted exercise in nit picking when anyone dares to suggest that there is still improvement needed for the supremely talented Uruguayan to achieve his full potential.

This human tornado of a footballer spins defenders round and round before disdainfully spitting them out, as the likes of Gary Cahill, Brede Hangeland and Wes Brown can testify. Suarez is a menace in the truest sense of the word, operating ostensibly as a conventional forward but taking his reign of terror to wherever he feels he can inflict most damage.

In terms of technique and imagination, Suarez has sufficient quality to play in the current all conquering Barcelona team. He really is that good. And yet – and this is where the almost churlish criticism comes in – he could be even better. If there is one area of his game that the former Ajax man could do with improving, it is his finishing.

A running total of 21 goals for Uruguay in 49 appearances and a quite staggering 81 for Ajax in the 110 games he played for the Dutch club suggests otherwise, but such is his superlative level of ability that there is a feeling that Suarez could be even more prolific, an improvement that will hopefully come with time.

Again, this may seem harsh, but in three of Liverpool’s four leagues games so far this season, Suarez has failed to take the kind of chances that a player of his standing would normally expect to accept with ease.

A penalty against Sunderland, two presentable opportunities in the comfortable win over Bolton Wanderers and a last gasp half volley in the defeat to Stoke City last weekend – all have been missed. That Suarez was beguilingly brilliant in all of these fixtures goes without saying, but he could have adorned his stellar showings with goals that would have added up to three points to Liverpool’s current total.

That is why when comparisons are made with the departed Fernando Torres during his spell at Liverpool, the Spaniard continued to be regarded as the more natural finisher even if his replacement possesses a far superior all round game. Whereas Torres could – and often did – verge on being anonymous in many games only to come up with a goal, Suarez can be the star of the show without hitting the back of the net.

There were two areas of the pitch in which Torres revelled – in the penalty area, obviously, and cutting in from the left flank. Suarez, by contrast, pops up here, there and everywhere, covering every single blade of grass in a constant effort to wreak mayhem. With the combination of time and the expert tutelage of Kenny Dalglish, Suarez will come to operate predominantly in the areas where he can cause maximum damage, particularly if the performances of his team mates mean he does not need to drop deep in search of the ball.

Working with Marco Van Basten at Ajax allowed Suarez to improve his game sufficiently for Liverpool to come calling. “He taught me a lot about how to play as a forward,” he says. “About shooting techniques and about things that worked for him – his movement and his technique.” The desire to learn is evident, as is his determination to improve. It is that combination –coupled with the expertise of Dalglish – that will see Suarez take his game to another level. Should he become an even more deadly finisher then he could even stand unopposed as the finest forward in world football. He is already one of the best, but he could be even better.