Around a decade ago, a genius of a player by the name of Luis Suárez delivered one of the best individual seasons in the history of the Premier League. The ex-Liverpool striker performed under Brendan Rodgers, and he thrived as the talisman of a youthful and energetic attack.
Suárez missed the first five matches of the domestic campaign due to suspension but once he had served his ban, he proceeded to start in every single match that followed. The South American forward managed to find the net 31 times without taking a single penalty, while registering a further 12 assists for his teammates. His total of 43 non-penalty scoring returns in a red shirt was remarkable. For context, Erling Haaland broke records in England’s top flight for Manchester City last term, but once removing penalties from his impressive displays, he had a total of 37 scoring returns to his name.
Suárez almost delivered the Premier League title to Merseyside with his showings, with Steven Gerrard appreciating his teammate at the time. The former Reds captain is no longer taking to the field as a player, but he is regularly asked about his playing career. Indeed, Gary Neville questioned him about the best player who he had ever played with during an episode of The Overlap.
“I’d say Suárez,” he said. “Just because he had everything and I mean, how long have you got to describe him? Straight away, he trained the way he played. I remember me and [Jamie] Carragher were like ‘I don’t want to play against him in training.’ He was that intense. He could embarrass you. Even with things I’m not sure he knew he was doing, with ricochets. He would run over you, he would dominate you, he would bully you.” Nicknamed ‘El Pistolero’ — which translates into ‘the gunfighter’ in English — Suárez was a menace whenever he was involved. He was as unpredictable as it gets to such an extent that opponents struggled to anticipate what he would do next. The Uruguayan international was a maverick and during his three-and-a-half-year stay on Merseyside, he evolved every season until he eventually joined Barcelona in 2014.
Roughly 18 months after he moved to Spain for a new challenge, Jürgen Klopp was appointed by Liverpool, replacing Rodgers at the helm after the Northern Irishman had struggled to maintain results and performances without Suárez in his team.
