Luis Suárez can still put out those amazing performances for Barcelona
Consistency is key for any player to succeed at a big club like Barcelona. Players like Alexis Sánchez, Gerard Deulofeu and Alex Song failed to be consistent in their performances and had to be shipped out as a result. But the case with Luis Suárez.
The Uruguayan centre-forward was brought in from Liverpool for a fee of €82 million in 2014. Due to his incident in the World Cup, Suárez spent a few months on the sidelines with a ban. But he ended the season with 25 goals and 23 assists in 43 appearances in all competitions.
He had a few problems in adapting to the Barça style of play, but eventually became a crucial member of the MSD partnership in attack. The next season was the best of his career, as he scored 59 goals and provided 24 assists in 53 appearances in all competitions.
Suárez completely blended in, with Lionel Messi turning provider for most of his goals and Neymar operating down the left flank. He was not as successful next season, netting 37 goals and providing 17 assists in 51 appearances.
But after the departure of Luis Enrique, ‘El Pistolero’ began to decline. Neymar also left the club to join Paris Saint-Germain. Suárez became totally dependent on Messi for goals, and his physique clearly declined. The 32-year old marksman was poor throughout the season.
At the beginning of the current season, Barça unsuccessfully attempted to sign Antoine Griezmann from Atlético Madrid as a replacement for Luis Suárez. But even this publicised attempt has not improved Suárez’s general level of performance.
However, Suárez is still capable of producing absolutely world-class performances in high-pressure situations. It is almost as if he performs only under pressure. He has done superbly well in multiple important matches this season.
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Most notably, Suárez scored a hat-trick in the 5-1 rout of Real Madrid earlier in the season. He sustained his form against Los Merengues in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, with his involvement in all the goals in the 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu.
He also found the back of the net in the 6-1 annihilation of Sevilla to overturn a first leg defeat in the Copa del Rey final. Moreover, he netted against Los Nervionsenses in both 4-2 wins in the La Liga. Suárez also scored in the 2-1 victory against Inter in the Champions League group stage.
This strange trend casts aspersions over the future of the centre-forward position in the Barça first-team. On one hand, there is an ageing superstar who delivers exclusively in games which potentially determine the season for the club.
On the other hand, there are youngsters like Luka Jović, Timo Werner and Maxi Gómez who are the superstars of tomorrow. How can Barça choose between the two? Can Leo Messi just roll over and let his best friend be replaced by an unknown quantity at the top level?
Transitions involving ageing high-profile players like Luis Suárez are never easy. In fact, many clubs were reluctant to replace their legends even though they had declined considerably. For example, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard stayed at their clubs for far too long.
So, even if Barça decide to sign a player like Gómez or Jović, there will need to spend a considerable amount of time on bench before getting into the first-team. Due to the demand for their signatures, they are unlikely to accept that.
Barça are in a difficult spot due to the curious evolution of the ageing ‘El Pistolero’, Luis Suárez.