What Can Liverpool Expect from Attacking Midfielder Suso This Season?

Liverpool's busy summer saw them prepare to fight on four fronts in the 2014-15 season with an influx of new signings, nine in total, while one or two also returned to boost the squad following loan spells elsewhere last season.

One of those who spent time away from Anfield in 2013-14 was attacking midfield playmaker Suso, who featured early on in pre-season for the Reds while his name was linked with a move away once more.

Now part of the Reds squad for the new season, is Suso merely in place to make up the numbers, or can fans expect to see significant action from him as the season goes on?

Competition

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

The summer transfer window saw Suso linked with moves to the likes of Sevilla (per talkSPORT), Porto (via Sky Sports) and AC Milan (from Daily Mail), either on loan or permanent deals, but none materialised as ultimate destinations, and past the closure of the transfer window, he remains a Liverpool player.

With the likes of Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic signing, as well as Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho already being in place, competition in wide areas of the attack is fierce, especially as Sterling's form over the past nine months make him an absolute lockdown starter at every opportunity.

Bogdan Maran/Associated Press

However, with the Reds looking to go far in the cup competitions this season as well as compete in the Premier League, the "two players for each position" idea seems to fit Suso in just fine: Sterling and Markovic left, Lallana and Suso right. That counts Coutinho as one of the three central midfielders—along with Emre Can, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Joe Allen and Lucas, which again gives enough depth for two for each of the three roles.

The one thorn in that theory is Fabio Borini remaining at the club—that gives Liverpool four forwards, instead of the three that Rodgers seemingly wanted, and could potentially affect Suso's game time as a wider option in attack.

Fitting the Systems

Liverpool don't always play with a 4-3-3, though, with Rodgers changing from a 4-2-3-1 and a diamond midfield at different times this season. In the 4-2-3-1 system, Suso can comfortably fit anywhere in the entire attacking midfield arrangement, but it's neither the Reds' best nor most frequent system.

Tactically, Suso could certainly fit in as the playmaker at the point of the diamond, but he operates in a very different way to how Sterling makes the role look so effective. Play would pass through Suso in that position, rather than him being the driving force which signals the transition play, a key factor in Liverpool's attack.

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

For Spain, meanwhile, he has also played in a deeper role through the youth age groups: a No. 8 role similar to that which Coutinho has operated in at times for the Reds. It might not be that Suso can fit in at Liverpool in this position, given that he is not as aggressive out of possession as Brendan Rodgers would prefer, but he at least provides additional emergency cover in the centre of midfield.

It could even be that if Liverpool face minor opposition in a domestic cup game, he gets a chance to show if he can play that role, letting other attackers come into the side. Indeed, if training alongside the intensive work ethic of the likes of Henderson and Allen can display to Suso what he needs to achieve to get in the team, a playmaking role from deeper in midfield would be ideal for him.

Michael Steele/Getty Images

Right now, though, he doesn't offer enough off the ball for the first team to accommodate him in the centre, either in a 4-3-3 or a diamond.

Suso's recent comments to LiverpoolFC.com seem to indicate that he fully believes Rodgers is the right man to help him realise his potential, though.

"

I look at him and I see him as similar to a Spanish coach because all the work we do in training is with the ball. Every time he asks us to do something it's with the ball. He wants us to play with the ball, never play a long ball and for me that's really good because that's my philosophy. When I go away with Spain it's more or less the same.

He has done really well since he came here. When he first came he had to change some things and improve the team, which takes a long time, but now we can see all the things he was working with in the past is working now. It's a Spanish philosophy to play; you always want the ball, don't lose it and give it to the opposition. It's really good for me and the team.

"

January

Realistically speaking, Suso is not likely to feature in more than half a dozen or so league games between now and January, barring an extreme upturn in his own productivity or a fairly lengthy injury list.

It's worth bearing in mind that on the opening day of the season, regardless of Suso's own ability, he did not make the substitutes' bench even though Lallana and Markovic were both missing. Jordon Ibe did—but he has since departed on loan for the season.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

He will largely be looking at the League Cup as his initial opportunity to make an impact and impress Rodgers enough to be considered for league action, with Liverpool facing Middlesbrough in the third round on September 23. That could be the No. 30's first chance to stake his claim—and if things go badly, his only opportunity to add to his 20 first-team appearances.

Only once in the last seven seasons have Liverpool played more than two fixtures in a League Cup run (2012, winners), so recent history doesn't exactly suggest that this competition alone will give Suso sufficient playing time. Then again, recent history has seen Liverpool field substandard teams too often, which new arrivals should avoid the need to repeat.

Come January, if Suso has only played a handful of matches, then he will need to consider whether he is too far from the first-team scene to realistically make an impact, whether that be for this year or beyond.

There will no doubt be offers, if Liverpool want them, as he is a talented player with a big future, one way or another. The next four months will teach us whether that talent and his application is able to keep pace with the rate at which the team has grown in his absence on loan.

Follow @karlmatchett