Liverpool Tactical Analysis: Taking a Closer Look at Luis Suarez

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez is not your average centre forward. Not in playing style, not in temperament and certainly not in terms of ability.

He is currently enjoying his best season in English football and is many pundits' tip for the Player of the Year gong. But what is it that Suarez does uniquely to make him such a nightmare for the opposition? What makes him such a vibrant talent, the player that gets supporters on the edge of their seats?

Complete Package

Well, put bluntly, Suarez has it all.

Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp described Suarez as a "street-baller" earlier in the campaign. You can see what he means, as the Uruguayan’s has a real fire within him.

His raw and unorthodox dribbling style is so distinctive and certainly not from the coaching manual. Looking at Suarez purely as a footballer, you can't help but get that sense of anticipation when he squares up a defender and runs at him.

Suarez has developed into a complete forward for the modern game.

He is a hybrid of the classic “on the shoulder” striker and the archetypal, between the lines, No.10. For Liverpool in particular, a team who build from the back and play passes into feet, Suarez is the perfect man to lead the line.

You have to feel for defenders going up against him. The aforementioned skill-set makes him such a tough customer to handle.

How are you supposed to stop him? Push up and limit the space for the Uruguayan to operate in and he’ll use his clever movement to run in behind.

Drop off and he’ll find pockets of space, turn and drive at you. Lionel Messi aside, there are no centre forwards in world football who have the ability to do this as well as Suarez.

Here are a couple of instances of this in action from this season's Premier League:

His first goal against Wigan on Saturday is a prime example him showing clever movement and a turn of pace to run in behind. 

The Wigan defense push up to pressure the ball carrier Philippe Coutinho. Suarez (circled) is all but static before seeing a gap between centre-back and full-back. He shuffles across before arcing his run and driving into the space. 

By doing this he creates an angle for Coutinho to play the ball through. His third goal was similar, bending his run before latching onto a Glen Johnson through ball. Not too dissimilar to goals a young Michael Owen might have scored in his Liverpool days.

Earlier in the season in a game against QPR, he shows his ability to drop off and isolate defenders:

In the first image Clint Hill is tight to Suarez (circled).

Suarez uses his superior agility to drop off into the space in front of the back four. He's away from Hill before the defender has time to react.

The QPR centre-back goes with him, leaving himself one-on-one with the Uruguayan. There is not much hope for Hill from this point on. The QPR defenders don't plug the gap he leaves by pushing out and Suarez takes full advantage, skinning his opponent before slotting home.

Best Position?

Dragging centre-halfs of out position has been a major feature of Suarez's game this season. He tests out defenders, probing them into making tough decisions. Under Rodgers, when he's played at the spearhead of a three-man attack, he has been devastating.

Pat Nevin argues here that Suarez should play off the striker to give the Uruguayan more freedom. With Sturridge at the club, who is keen to play as the main centre forward, this is a logical assumption to make.

But I would respectfully disagree with Nevin on this. Suarez is at his best when at the point of a three-man Liverpool attack. It is no coincidence that we have seen such a rapid upturn in his form this season since he has been operating in that particular role.

Nevin refers to the QPR goal I have highlighted above as a reason as to why Suarez should play in a deeper role. Sure, it highlights his ability to wreak havoc between the lines when he finds himself in those areas. But if anything it emphasises why Suarez should play at the spearhead. 

If Suarez was operating as the classic No.10 in this game, then the goal would not have been scored. It is his movement away from the centre-half and subsequent isolation of him that creates the opportunity. Operating as a No.10, he would have most likely been picked up by a defensive midfielder, a player much more comfortable in those areas of the pitch.

But in this instance he teases the defender, the man tasked with marking him, into an uncomfortable area. This is what creates the chance to score the goal.

I for one would rather see Suarez attacking players with his marvellous dribbling as opposed to trying to find space behind a crowded midfield and playing a pass through the lines for another forward. He should be on the end of those passes.

It's a tough one for central defenders, because if he plays right up top, then you have to pick him up. But if you follow him everywhere, he's going to get at you at some point.

How often have we seen Suarez's clever movement lead to a one-on-one with a defender 25 yards from goal or in the channels of the penalty area? Play him in a withdrawn role, you might not get the same results.

Relentless

One thing that goes somewhat unnoticed about Suarez is the phenomenal amount of running he does. Both with and without the ball.

With the ball, he is a menace. He is relentless with his dribbling and so direct in his running at opposition players. This makes for some pretty staggering stats. 

Suarez is the most frequent dribbler in the Premier League and he has attempted more take-ons than any other player.

Above are his attempted take-ons from two games from this season's campaign.

Whilst we can see he is not always successful in these, it wears opposition players down if somebody is so persistent and direct in their play. Especially for someone like Suarez, who is agile and tricky in his running style. After all, only takes one successful dribble in a dangerous area to score a goal or create a chance. These are match winning contributions.

From a defenders point of view, one lapse in judgement and he’ll be brought down or past you in a flash. But staying that sharp of mind and body for 90 minutes is a real tough ask. If someone with so much class is testing you so often, you are going to make mistakes, aren’t you?

Suarez puts defenders through their paces more than any player in England.

Without the ball, as the centre-forward he plays a crucial role in the pressing style that Brendan Rodgers in looking to implement. He is the first line of defence in this "defend from the front" style. The Uruguayan obliges and constantly puts his man under pressure.

For all his technical abilities, it's the interminable nature of his dribbling and pressing that sets him aside from the majority of other strikers.

Goalscoring

But, the main improvement in Suarez's game this season compared to the last is his goalscoring.

Last season his finishing was much maligned. You might put this down to a lack of composure. Maybe a few unlucky shots off the woodwork. Either way, for a player who once scored 49 goals in a single season in his time at Ajax, he wasn’t scoring enough as he potentially could have been.

Now he is. If we look at the statistics (courtesy of EPLIndex.com) in this season’s Premier League compared to the last, this is emphatically backed up.

	2011/12	2012/2013
Goals Scored	11	21
Shot Accuracy	44%	47%
Chance Conversion	10%	18%
Clear Cut Chance Conversion	25%	56%

He has already surpassed last season’s total of domestic goals with 10 games still to play. At the time of writing he is the top scorer in the Premier League.

The other areas of his game in front of goal have also improved. Suarez is more accurate with his shooting and almost twice as clinical with clear cut chances. 

In adding goals to his game, Suarez has to be talked about in the world class bracket of player. There are murmurings of a summer transfer away from Liverpool and potentially a move abroad. But for the sake of the Premier League, it would be fantastic to see if Liverpool can build a team around him and push on.

If not, lovers of the English game should enjoy him whilst they can.

From an footballing point of view, what are your opinions on Suarez? Should he be the Player of the Year? Will he stay at Liverpool? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section or on Twitter @MattJFootball