Luis Suarez Talks Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers and More in New Autobiography

Luis Suarez lifts the lid on his time at Liverpool and praises former manager Brendan Rodgers in his upcoming autobiography entitled Crossing The Line: My Story.

The controversial Uruguayan spent three-and-a-half years at Anfield—two of them with Rodgers as manager—and top-scored last season as Liverpool came second in the Premier League. Last summer, he made a switch to Barcelona for £65 million.

He was undoubtedly Liverpool's star player last term, and they are struggling without him in the side. However, Suarez's Liverpool career was marred with controversy, including two lengthy bans for racially abusing Patrice Evra and biting Branislav Ivanovic.

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

In extracts of his book reproduced by The Guardian, he is largely positive about his time in the Premier League, and he believes his former team is in terrific hands under Rodgers:

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Liverpool are in very good hands with Brendan Rodgers. The way he coached us during my time there was impressive and I am sure that the methods I enjoyed and found so effective will continue to be employed. Everything Brendan does is built towards perfecting the mechanics of football and making adjustments for the next game or to fulfil a particular objective.

"

The Reds have got off to a slow start so far this term and currently sit seventh in the Premier League with just four wins from their nine opening matches.

Suarez's nominal replacement, Mario Balotelli, is taking much of the blame. Balotelli has performed poorly, but Rodgers has also taken his fair share of flack, according to the Daily Mirror's Nooruddean Choudry:

However, Rodgers' management style has been criticised in the past, and Suarez also gives his opinion concerning the Northern Irishman's infamous envelope technique, which was seen in the 2012 documentary Being: Liverpool.

In the programme, the newly-appointed Rodgers showed his team three envelopes in which he claimed were the names of players who would disappoint him during the upcoming season.

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The aim was clearly to motivate his players not to be one of the named, but his actions were met largely with bemusement and criticism in the media. Suarez admits it was somewhat inconsequential in the long run, via The Guardian:

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We never did find out what was written in those envelopes. It was unusual and I must admit that for a moment I did think: 'How can you think before the season has even started that there are three people who are going to let you down? And if there is a name in there and he plays well, and you doubted him, what are you going to do then?' I’m sure there were no names, it was just a way of motivating us; a tactic to make sure we gave everything. And in truth it got forgotten pretty quickly.

"

It is clear that Suarez has a huge amount of respect for Rodgers and his philosophy, suggesting the former Swansea boss was not afraid to shake things up when he moved to Anfield and that "he changed us all [as players]."

Tim Ireland/Associated Press

He picks out Englishman Jordan Henderson for special praise in responding well to his critics and having a major influence on the team last season, via The Guardian:

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You watched him [Henderson] the following season and he was playing the passes when he saw them. He was taking his time, he was calmer, cleverer. He learned to understand the movements of Daniel [Sturridge] and me more too, while the shift to a one-touch game suited him. He also rebelled against the critics; maybe they brought out a part of his character that we didn’t know he had.

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Indeed, Liverpool's success last term saw them finish just two points shy of a first English title since 1990, and a late run of 11 consecutive victories nearly pushed them over the line.

Despite that success, Suarez still felt the desire to make his eventual move to Barcelona, Having finished his four-month biting suspension, he finally made his competitive debut for the Camp Nou giants on Saturday in El Clasico.

The 27-year-old often expressed his dislike of the way he was treated by the English media, per the Liverpool Echo, and he will likely hope to be a less divisive presence in La Liga.

However, Rodgers was adept at protecting Suarez in the main and must now do the same with Balotelli if the Italian is to improve and help turn around Liverpool's fortunes.

As far as Suarez is concerned, there is no man better to do that job.