Luis Suarez - Barcelona Player

[Rooney in Paris]

Maybe, but these awards aren't about likability now are they?

Good conduct is part of the criteria actually. He's been disciplined of late, but it's understandable that he's not up there with the others, he's got a lot of bagage.

 

[FCBarca]

If there was an award just from players, Suarez would be in the top 3 with Neymar & Messi - nothing to do with likability, he's the most lethal striker playing - he can single handedly decide a match

 

[ThierryHenry]

Plenty of players hate him too, he's a scrote.

 

[FCBarca]

Plenty of players hate him too, he's a scrote.

Only fans confuse disdain for a player with rating their ability on the pitch - players fear Suarez and not because they think they're going to be bitten

 

[Joemo]

It's probably to do with the diving constantly and screaming in pain after minimal contact though isn't it.

They might rate him in some departments, but there are plenty of other areas to his game which are easy to hate, and that's ignoring his racist, cannibalistic history.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Only fans confuse disdain for a player with rating their ability on the pitch - players fear Suarez and not because they think they're going to be bitten

Spot on. Most fans of other teams would forgive him (temporarily) if he was scoring for them. An elite level player.

 

[FCBarca]

Reminds me of when Rivaldo was playing, you just never wanted the ball to fall to his left foot as an opponent - it was virtually guaranteed he would hit the target with power. Suarez, he strikes fear in all defenses because he can score in so many different ways, everytime he gets the ball - an absolute nightmare to defend against. Absolutely relentless, running or pressing like a lunatic in the 90th minute.

There's no defending that, you just have to hope he's off

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Sid Lowe in The Guardian today:

Luis Suárez adds vertigo to push Barcelona towards new heights

In March 2014 John W Henry admitted that, yes, Luis Suárez did indeed have a clause in his contract at Anfield that allowed him to depart if anyone offered more than £40m, exactly as Arsenal had done the previous summer, but that he didn’t care. At £40,000,001, the bid was provocative and it should have been enough but Liverpool’s principal owner decided that, forget the clause, forget the extra pound, forget the Uruguayan’s public plea to leave, he wasn’t selling. “Apparently, these contracts don’t seem to hold,” he told a conference in Boston, seven months later.

Henry’s words might have annoyed Suárez but for the fact that something else he said rang true: “It’s been great for us,” Henry said. He also said: “It’s been great for Luis.” It had, too. By then Suárez was leading Liverpool’s bid for a first league title in 24 years and, while that ultimately ended in disappointment, the striker crying beneath his shirt at Crystal Palace, he finished top scorer in the Premier League, joint winner of the European Golden Shoe. And the following summer he did get away. To an even better place, too.

In the end Suárez got what he wanted, but only after they had refused to let him have what he wanted. The move to Barcelona he had dreamed of but always thought beyond him. Yet even before he had joined Barcelona he had concluded that he would have regretted moving to the Emirates. He had been lucky, he admitted, and was grateful Liverpool said no. The blunt text message from Liverpool’s chairman, Tom Werner, saying: “Luis, you are staying,” ended up being a good thing.

“I’ve never really thought about what would have happened if Liverpool had accepted Arsenal’s bid,” Suárez wrote in his autobiography Crossing the Line. He might have found himself on the other side on Tuesday night, for a start.

By the summer of 2013 Suárez had decided he had to leave England. His season had finished five matches early because of the bite on Branislav Ivanovic and David Cameron had called him a “terrible example”. But only Arsenal offered a formal bid and therefore an exit.

“My head was all over the place,” he wrote. It was still England but he wondered if London would do. “A big city, a chance to get lost and to play Champions League football. Deep down it wasn’t what I really wanted, but I began to tell myself that this might work.”

Steven Gerrard told him something different. He told Suárez he should wait, not push for an exit that would be denied him anyway; that if he was to leave Liverpool it had to be for one of the Europe’s biggest clubs. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Barcelona would come, Gerrard said. He was right: the following summer, two of the three did. By then Suárez had signed a contract extension with Liverpool, the release clause watertight this time, and he joined Barcelona over Madrid for €81m.

He was unable to play until that October because of his Fifa ban but things have gone rather well since, that sense of good fortune reinforced. At last month’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Zurich he finished fifth and the only surprise was that he wasn’t higher. Leo Messi and Neymar expressed their surprise he was not on the podium with them. They would, of course, but they had a point. He had won the treble with them, and the European Super Cup and World Club Cup followed.

He had scored two in Manchester, two in Paris and one in the Champions League final against Juventus. Excluding penalties, he scored more goals in 2015 than any other player in any of Europe’s top five leagues. He has not slowed down in 2016; in fact, he has accelerated, scoring 12 goals in his last six games and more than anyone in Europe’s top leagues since the turn of the year.

On Wednesday he missed a penalty but curled in a superb goal soon after asBarcelona beat Sporting Gijón to go six points clear at the top of the table, seven ahead of Real Madrid. It was his 24th league goal, the division’s top scorer, his 40th in all competitions this season. Only three Barcelona players have done that before, and it is still only February. His 41st came on Saturday, the first in the win at Las Palmas. And nor is it just about goals, far from it.

Asked about Barcelona’s success, about a front three who scored a remarkably evenly spread 134 goals in 2015 – Messi 47, Suárez 46, Neymar 41 – the Argentinian said: “The key’s good chemistry.” Much is made of how well they get on, perhaps too much as Cristiano Ronaldo irritably insisted this week, but Atlético Madrid’s manager, Diego Simeone, was right to say such “complicity” is “rare” in football. The three are genuinely close and Suárez really does have remarkably little ego. “Neymar and Messi are the best; I’m one of a pile of others,” he said.

That has been fundamental, on and off the pitch. A case can be made for describing Suárez as the best player in Europe so far this season, the first player in Spain to reach double figures for goals and assists, but he talks like he doesn’t consider himself talented. More importantly, he plays like he doesn’t, either. He runs like a man who thinks he’s no good at all. At the Camp Nou that matters. Other strikers did not embrace that role as he has.

When Barcelona scored that indirect penalty last weekend Messi’s pass wasactually meant for Neymar. But, the Brazilian said, “Gordito got there first”, using a nickname that means Fatty. That he did, despite not being in on it, was a telling portrait. The inspiration, the cheek, was theirs but the execution was his. There he was: ready, determined, arriving first, his run actually starting just inside the box. It never occurred to him that he was taking it off Neymar until the giggling Brazilian told him.

That attitude carries others. As the Spanish phrase has it, Suárez is contagious. The impact on the team has been enormous, beyond the goals. “His arrival has strengthened them,” Simeone said. “I haven’t got a bad thing to say about him. He’s complete: he can turn with his back to goal, arrive from deeper, score from mid-distance, head it, take free-kicks. I love not only the way he plays but his intensity and voracity. He gives a touch of ‘vertigo’ to their attack that they didn’t have before.”

In short, he has made them better. Much better. It is impossible to know what would have happened had Suárez signed for Arsenal but it is extremely unlikely that he would have won the treble. More to the point, it is extremely unlikely that Barcelona would have done either. Suárez could have joined Arsenal but he ended up in Barcelona instead. Five trophies later, he faces the team he could have signed for. Back then, John W Henry stopped him; now Arsenal must do the same.

 

[CLARiiON]

His body is twisted in all the wrong ways!

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[Brown Toothpick]

His transfer contract just leaked. The official fee was £64,980,000, 10 million pounds less than his release clause and what was reported by the press to be whats paid. Absolute bargain I might say.

Spoiler

 

[TheNewEra]

His transfer contract just leaked. The official fee was £64,980,000, 10 million pounds less than his release clause and what was reported by the press to be whats paid. Absolute bargain I might say.

Spoiler

I think he adds so much to that team, Barcelona don't look the same without Suarez.

The understated player of Barcelona is Busquets but Suarez is the one who stretches teams, pressures defenders and when he isn't playing its noticeable.

His hold up play is good too, the way he rolls players... his passing isn't always perfect as is the case for Neymar but what Suarez brings to the table is some of the "dirt work" which they haven't had.

Players like Eto'o, Henry great players but didn't do the dirty work like Suarez does, works for the team and brings the best out of Suarez and Neymar.

I thought at the team as most did "Where does he fit in?" I never thought in a million years Messi would go out to the right.

64M seems a lot but when you look at Bale, Aguero (World class but fails to make the different for City sometimes), it is a bargain as you said.

 

[Phurry]

His transfer contract just leaked. The official fee was £64,980,000, 10 million pounds less than his release clause and what was reported by the press to be whats paid. Absolute bargain I might say.

Standby for irate Dippers claiming it's a forgery as they got £75m for him...

They know £75m to be the true figure because their mum's best friends dog walkers cousins hairdressers binman heard it down the pub.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I think he adds so much to that team, Barcelona don't look the same without Suarez.

The understated player of Barcelona is Busquets but Suarez is the one who stretches teams, pressures defenders and when he isn't playing its noticeable.

His hold up play is good too, the way he rolls players... his passing isn't always perfect as is the case for Neymar but what Suarez brings to the table is some of the "dirt work" which they haven't had.

Players like Eto'o, Henry great players but didn't do the dirty work like Suarez does, works for the team and brings the best out of Suarez and Neymar.

I thought at the team as most did "Where does he fit in?" I never thought in a million years Messi would go out to the right.

64M seems a lot but when you look at Bale, Aguero (World class but fails to make the different for City sometimes), it is a bargain as you said.

Eto'o was very, very, very good at chasing defenders in his prime. Probably the hardest working striker at pressing from the front when he was at his best, so I'm not sure it's fair to say Suárez is better than him at that.

Otherwise agree with the post.

 

[KM]

It's not really. You look at the sources and you make a judgement based on who is reporting it. You've said you don't trust and think he's biased Barrett - fair enough. Are the BBC, The Guardian and the Telegraph all biased too?

BBC, The Guardian, The Times and the Telegraph all say £75m, it doesn't get much more reliable than that. Barrett is by far the best journalist for LFC related information.

I wouldn't bother mate, the Beano & Dandy could say £60m and people would believe it.

Remember having this argument about Suarez fee with Barney and Johnny Boy, and why you shouldn't trust club based journalists.

Heh.

 

[KM]

Standby for irate Dippers claiming it's a forgery as they got £75m for him...

They know £75m to be the true figure because their mum's best friends dog walkers cousins hairdressers binman heard it down the pub.

T'was a fun summer. All the dippers were claiming that he wouldn't be sold for less than a world record fee.

 

[BobbyManc]

I think he adds so much to that team, Barcelona don't look the same without Suarez.

The understated player of Barcelona is Busquets but Suarez is the one who stretches teams, pressures defenders and when he isn't playing its noticeable.

His hold up play is good too, the way he rolls players... his passing isn't always perfect as is the case for Neymar but what Suarez brings to the table is some of the "dirt work" which they haven't had.

Players like Eto'o, Henry great players but didn't do the dirty work like Suarez does, works for the team and brings the best out of Suarez and Neymar.

I thought at the team as most did "Where does he fit in?" I never thought in a million years Messi would go out to the right.

64M seems a lot but when you look at Bale, Aguero (World class but fails to make the different for City sometimes), it is a bargain as you said.

£64m for Suarez was a very good deal, bit of a stretch to label it a bargain considering his age but he has certainly justified the price and for me is indisputably the world's best striker now. I agree I'm surprised at how well he fit in and he's also proven me wrong about his big-game ability, the only real question mark over his time in England.

 

[adexkola]

I think he adds so much to that team, Barcelona don't look the same without Suarez.

The understated player of Barcelona is Busquets but Suarez is the one who stretches teams, pressures defenders and when he isn't playing its noticeable.

His hold up play is good too, the way he rolls players... his passing isn't always perfect as is the case for Neymar but what Suarez brings to the table is some of the "dirt work" which they haven't had.

Players like Eto'o, Henry great players but didn't do the dirty work like Suarez does, works for the team and brings the best out of Suarez and Neymar.

I thought at the team as most did "Where does he fit in?" I never thought in a million years Messi would go out to the right.

64M seems a lot but when you look at Bale, Aguero (World class but fails to make the different for City sometimes), it is a bargain as you said.

Not true, Eto'o was great at working the channels both in Rijkaard and Guardiola's teams.

 

[TheNewEra]

Not true, Eto'o was great at working the channels both in Rijkaard and Guardiola's teams.

I think I caught Eto'o later or maybe my memory isn't what it was, I remember Pedro working hard but it may have been Henry,

 

[BobbyManc]

Remember having this argument about Suarez fee with Barney and Johnny Boy, and why you shouldn't trust club based journalists.

Heh.

To be fair if all those sources were reporting the same figure, most fans would accept it as truth.

 

[Bwuk]

Said it whilst he was at Liverpool. Best striker in the world.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

To be fair if all those sources were reporting the same figure, most fans would accept it as truth.

All the Spanish sources were reporting the opposite though. I don't think all of those English sources carries any more weight than what the club reports given they just based it on what Liverpool told them.

Didn't really believe the £75m reports personally, not surprised it was fabricated.

 

[adexkola]

I think I caught Eto'o later or maybe my memory isn't what it was, I remember Pedro working hard but it may have been Henry,

Definitely not Henry.

Eto'o always put a shift in. Even in his time at Inter under Mourinho.

 

[R'hllor]

Maybe i didnt see it right but full amount was split in few payments,right?

 

[Bob Loblaw]

Maybe i didnt see it right but full amount was split in few payments,right?

Yeah. 99.999999% of transfer fees will be paid in installments though so that's not unusual.

 

[R'hllor]

Yeah. 99.999999% of transfer fees will be paid in installments though so that's not unusual.

Yea i know that,just checking,i find it really unfair towards Liverpool,i would rather take 10mil. less and get full amount right away,thats just me.

 

[Ish]

Impressive that these transfer documents are only 6 pages long! Usually legal docs are so over complicated and unnecessarily long - especially if there's that much money at stake.

 

[Phurry]

Impressive that these transfer documents are only 6 pages long! Usually legal docs are so over complicated and unnecessarily long - especially if there's that much money at stake.

The IT support contract I'm involved with negotiating at work currently amounts to over 300 pages, but it's divided into schedules plus a T&C's document. That T&C's part is only a few pages & is what actually gets signed, I'd guess it's similar to that.

 

[Ish]

The IT support contract I'm involved with negotiating at work currently amounts to over 300 pages, but it's divided into schedules plus a T&C's document. That T&C's part is only a few pages & is what actually gets signed, I'd guess it's similar to that.

Yeah, most likely! We have a NDA at work which alone, is around 20+ pages. FFS

 

[Phurry]

Yeah, most likely! We have a NDA at work which alone, is around 20+ pages. FFS

Could be worse...you could have to complete a 53 page government form instead

 

[Ish]

Could be worse...you could have to complete a 53 page government form instead

Trust me, our government documents this side is a pile of monkey polony as well!

But yeah, I've heard of contracts and NDA's etc which are much, much greater than the odd 20-30 pager!

 

[Cait Sith]

T'was a fun summer. All the dippers were claiming that he wouldn't be sold for less than a world record fee.

Barcelona's vice president or financial president (someone official in any case) had officially announced it as 81 million Euros (which is in line with the leaked report) so I was surprised to see that people still used some random news paper estimation figures.

Edit: Here it is: http://www.marca.com/2014/08/19/en/football/barcelona/1408468588.html

It's also on the official Barca homepage somewhere but I can't bother to search now.

 

[Brown Toothpick]

Barcelona's vice president or financial president (someone official in any case) had officially announced it as 81 million Euros (which is in line with the leaked report) so I was surprised to see that people still used some random news paper estimation figures.

Edit: Here it is: http://www.marca.com/2014/08/19/en/football/barcelona/1408468588.html

It's also on the official Barca homepage somewhere but I can't bother to search now.

Vice president. People dismissed it as it was lower than the release clause and because of how desperate the club was and badly run.

 

[Snow]

Remember having this argument about Suarez fee with Barney and Johnny Boy, and why you shouldn't trust club based journalists.

Heh.

I don't trust any report on transfer fees and this is news is great for my conformation bias. But seriously, unless the either club involved in a transfer inform the press directly how much the fee is the media is just guessing. I don't even think the players know or care half the time themselves.

 

[RedDevil@84]

How does it matter how much Pool got? They seemed to have blown it anyways..

 

[Snow]

How does it matter how much Pool got? They seemed to have blown it anyways..

It doesn't in the sense that transfer fees matter to us. It does in the sense to expose how journalists operate.

 

[FCBarca]

I'd like it if football leaks were able to expose much of Rosell's shady dealings

 

[FC Ronaldo]

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[VorZakone]

His highlight compilation after retirement is going to be mouthwatering.

 

[Massive Spanner]

His highlight compilation after retirement is going to be mouthwatering.

You could say that.

 

[VorZakone]

Outscoring Ronaldo in the league. Simply amazing player...already pushing towards Ronaldo/Messi level in 13/14 when he was directly involved in 44 goals in the PL (31 goals and 13 assists).