Liverpool Finally over Luis Suarez's Departure, Just as He Returns to England

Luis Suarez returns to England for the first time since his £75 million move from Liverpool to Barcelona last summer as the Catalan giants face Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Suarez's departure is still being felt on Merseyside, but Liverpool look to have finally recovered from the loss of the PFA Player of the Year who scored 31 goals for the club last season.

But considering Liverpool's two top goalscorers in the Premier League this season, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling, have six goals each, Suarez has clearly been missed. Only now, after a run of one defeat in 17 league and cup games, are Liverpool showing signs of being over their ex-striker.

Midfielder Joe Allen told the Press Association (via This Is Anfield) after the crucial victory over Southampton on Sunday:

"

At the start of the year we talked about how losing Suarez was going to have an affect [sic] but now we have overcome that. It took us a little bit of time to overcome that because the injury problems we had were not ideal.

We are certainly back up to that level and if anything with the different system we play this season we might even have taken a step forward.

"

Is Allen right? Are Liverpool back up to the level of last season?

Liverpool

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In terms of style of play, Liverpool are perhaps reaching the same fluidity of last season, but they're a long way from matching the incredible goalscoring form of last season.

The Reds' biggest victory this season has been the 4-1 win over Swansea City, whereas last season they beat Everton 4-0, Tottenham 4-0 and 5-0, Arsenal 5-1, Cardiff City 6-3 and Norwich 5-1.

The Swansea win is the only time Brendan Rodgers' side have hit four this season. Last season they hit four or more goals an incredible 12 times in all competitions.

Clearly, Suarez's departure left Rodgers searching for solutions. Initially—and perhaps bizarrely—the boss implemented a rather static 4-2-3-1 formation which ultimately ended with the Champions League exit against FC Basel.

There was also a stint with 4-4-1-1, with Rickie Lambert as the lone forward and Steven Gerrard behind him against Leicester City and Ludogorets.

Finally, the change to 3-4-2-1 has brought about a turnaround in performances and results.

It was first implemented in the 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford in mid-December—the last time the Reds suffered a Premier League loss.

The style of play, fluidity and chance creation has returned, just without quite the prolific goalscoring—something that may arrive once Daniel Sturridge is finally fit and firing.

You get the feeling somebody is due to be on the receiving end of a big defeat.

Suarez at Barcelona

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While Liverpool have certainly missed Suarez up until recently, Suarez has perhaps equally missed Liverpool, finding life at the Nou Camp less productive than at Anfield.

The Uruguayan has seven goals in 22 games for Barca—a far cry from his incredible tally of 31 goals in 37 appearances for Liverpool last season. 

Robbie Dunne wrote of Suarez's new surroundings, relating the change to relative deprivation:

"

Luis Suarez was a big fish in a small pond and life was good last season. Then Barcelona came knocking and it looks as though Suarez may be suffering from a term coined by sociologist Samuel Stouffer called relative deprivation. Has he regressed as a footballer? No, but perhaps he needs to be a big fish in a small pond again to recapture the creativity we saw during Liverpool’s unlikely trip to the brink of winning a Premier League title.

"

With Lionel Messi and Neymar alongside him in attack, Suarez is surrounded by two superstars of the game. Where Liverpool have had to adapt to life without him, Suarez has taken the same time to adapt to life at Barcelona and is, like Liverpool, improving in the second half of the campaign.

Liverpool can move on knowing they have come through a tough period from losing one of the best players in the world.

And with a host of young, developing players, as Ian Clarkson writes for This Is Anfield: "It’s not as spectacular as the fireworks we saw in the second half of last season, but at least this time round, the display might last a bit longer than just into one summer."