Complete Analysis of Luis Suarez's First 6 Months at Barcelona

Luis Suarez was officially announced as "100 percent a Barca player" by Andoni Zubizarreta (h/t BBC Sport) on July 16, 2014.

It would, of course, be almost three and a half months later before he was able to don the Blaugrana for the first time in competitive action.

Was it worth the wait? 

Prior to that debut against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu at the back end of October, only the staff at La Masia had the pleasure of seeing Suarez out on the football pitch. 

David Ramos/Getty Images

An U19 Indonesian XI were invited to give Suarez and Thomas Vermaelen some much needed match practice and both were on target in a win that merely informed the public—via reports such as Pete Jenson's in the Daily Mail—just how overweight Suarez was at the time.

To many it was inconceivable that he would shed enough pounds to make his fighting weight come the big day. But shed he did, and his impact was almost instant with an assist to Neymar after just three minutes of his debut.

His 69-minute cameo was far from the disaster that many had predicted, despite the final result. It was a satisfactory start to life at Barca and Johan Cruyff's summer assertion in his De Telegraaf column (via ESPN) had already started to sound a little hollow:

"

I can't see how Barcelona intend to continue playing the same way, with a keen focus on team play, if Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez are in the side.

The three of them are too individual. In signing Suarez, the club are showing a preference for individual genius over a team that plays great football.

The style of play developed under Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola is being wiped out.

"

Strangely, by the time of debut, Cruyff had already begun to change his tune, telling reporters, per Sport24:

"

Perhaps the presence of Suarez will improve the connection between Messi and Neymar.

With Messi, sometimes you cannot score so you need to assist and he has the quality to develop. Last year the partnership did not work, so we will see what happens in the future.

...

We will see if he succeeds but things are looking good. 

"

In any event, in his first half dozen games, three assists, a goal and a man-of-the-match award, per WhoScored, was a more than acceptable return.

Since then, however, like Neymar 12 months previously, the Uruguayan has struggled to completely settle into the new system, one that at this point often sees him shoehorned into a role to which he is unaccustomed.

Interestingly, Barcelona are evidently a better team without him on the pitch:

"

Stats clearly show that Barcelona's form has regressed ever since Luis Suárez's debut. pic.twitter.com/Xyw04GTHoF

— lucas moura (@Njr10s) January 6, 2015"

Let's take more of a detailed look at his first six months...

Goals

Since opening his account at the sixth time of asking against APOEL, Suarez has found the net on four further occasions in all competitions, against Paris Saint-Germain, Cordoba, Elche and Atletico Madrid.

Hardly the sort of Golden Shoe-winning form he displayed for Liverpool, for whom he plundered a record-equalling 31 in all competitions during the last Premier League campaign.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

The goal against PSG was probably the most important, closely followed by a well-taken strike against Atleti which really put the Catalans in the driving seat in that match.

The other three were in games where Barca's goal difference stood at 14-0 and arguably meant little other than to boost Suarez's confidence.

Goal-line clearances, last-ditch tackles, incredible saves and the woodwork have all contributed to Suarez not adding to a disappointing tally.

However, lack of goals aren't a new phenomenon for Suarez. In his autobiography Crossing The Line, per Pete Jenson of the Daily Mail, Suarez noted of his time at Nacional:

"

At first, I missed chances. Lots and lots of them. It reached the point where people insulted me and whistled me. They called me burro meaning ‘donkey.’

Even now I meet people who say to me: 'I used to insult you, I used to shout at you, I was one of those people who thought you were never going to score any goals.'

"

Goals are a strikers currency and it's time Suarez started cashing in on a more regular basis.

Assists

Six La Liga assists, per ESPN (six in all competitions), is better than Isco, James Rodriguez and Gabi, with only a handful of exponents faring any better.

In the absence of goals, Suarez has at least made his presence felt in this area.

Pete Jenson of the Daily Mail noted: "Suarez was top-assist provider last season in the Premier League and he is capable of repeating that in Spain. But he will not want to finish too far down the goal charts in his first season."

At the current rate, he could well become Barca's top assist provider, and the chemistry between Suarez and Lionel Messi in particular has already borne fruit.

If he's unable to register as often as Luis Enrique would like, the bare minimum expected would be an excellent hit-rate in providing goalscoring chances for his team-mates.

Barca absolutely need to see a return on their estimated £75 million investment. Twenty-two chances created in La Liga so far, per Squawka, is only bettered by Xavi and Messi.

That will be of some comfort to the number crunchers around Camp Nou.

Pass completion

Barcelona as a club hold great stock in their teams' ability to keep the ball. To only pass when necessary and to make that pass count.

From the youngest teams of La Masia to the first team, the methodology is the same. Pass, pass, pass.

It's what many of Barca's players do with aplomb, and per Squawka, seven of the first team can look on a better than 90 percent pass completion rate.

Suarez unfortunately falls well below this bracket and is among the worst in the squad with 77 percent.

That said, it should be noted that it's Suarez's best season in the last five in terms of pass completion, per WhoScored.

Difficult to be too hard on him if it was never his forte in the first place.

David Ramos/Getty Images

Dribbling

Probably the weakest part of his game at present.

That electric burst of pace that took him away from the opposition back four on many occasions while at Liverpool is still missing to a large extent.

We've seen the odd spark from Suarez when running at defenders and taking them on. However, his decision-making has been found wanting on occasion with over-running of the ball a feature in-play as a result.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Tackling/Defensive contribution

Aside from aerially, where Suarez has been beaten in two-thirds of his headed duels, per Squawka, the Uruguayan has fared relatively well when it comes to the defensive side.

Five of his 11 tackles (or 45 percent) have been successful, and if that seems on the low side, compare it to Sergio Busquets' 48 percent. A player that is renowned for carrying out the "dirty work" for the Catalans is only marginally better at this stage of the season.

More than happy to work back in order to move forward, Suarez's overall contribution defensively isn't to be sniffed at.

Alex Caparros/Getty Images

General Play

There are still times when Suarez's natural game seems a little forced and doesn't quite flow naturally.

That's wholly understandable while he's still trying to find his feet.

Let's not forget that he has still only played 14 games in all competitions and only in eight of those has he played the entire 90 minutes.

For once Luis Enrique got his tactics absolutely right against a strong Atletico Madrid side and we saw just how well Suarez can link with Messi and Neymar when everything clicks.