Luis Suárez
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Messigician
Senior Member
All strikers go through bad form, Siarez is working hard and the goals will come.
FCBfan22
Senior Member
...yeah. He's been working hard and hasn't scored in 16 straight away CL games.
CatalinR10
Senior Member
+1
even though i'm waiting since 2015 for him to score an away goal , his goals will clearly come.
El Flaco
Active member
Luis Suarez' interview with RMC Sport ahead of Lyon-Barca game
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You will soon play against Lyon in the Champions League, do you know some players from this team?
Yes, of course. there are key players like Memphis Depay, there are major players. The thing we must do, it is to study the team well. We know that French teams are very hard to play against.
What do you think about Memphis Depay?
He is a player who had some opportunities at Manchester United, and that plays at Lyon today, at a good level. He is more or less the leader of this team. If he is good, the team is too. We must be really careful of these great players.
Did you see Lyon's match against City?
Yes, of course. It's a difficult opponent. They finished second in the Manchester City's group, which was not an easy group. We must be careful. They have good players. We will be on our guard.
We will talk about your footballing other half: Lionel Messi. How do you explain this strong friendship since your arrival here, at Barcelona?
At the beggining, everyone thinks that Leo is different. But he always treats me like a normal person since I arrived. For me, he is not Leo Messi, the one that everyone sees, for me he is Leo, my friend. He welcomed me very well since I arrived here and I will always be grateful to him about that. And even more that his talent to score goals, etc. It's a true friendship that was built outside of the pitch and it shows on the pitch.
Yes, this friendship that you have outside of the pitch really translates well on the pitch, does it?
Yes, I think if you have great relationship outside of the pitch, you can feel it on the pitch. We have known each others for years, we know ourselves by heart. Each of us knows what the other is going to do, with a glance, we know what movement the other will do. And this is why it is so great to have him as a teammate.
From a statistical point of view, you, Messi and Neymar were one of the best trio in Barcelona history, how did you live that time? Was there a moment that marks you the most?
Of course, it was enjoyable to see 3 wordclass players, the way we played with the complicity from day to day. There was no jealousy between the three of us and this is what made our relationship on the pitch so spectacular. Neymar was happy and so was I. For the statistics, when one of use scored fewer goals, we helped each other. It's a great image of football, without jealousy. 3 worldclass players can get along very well like we did it. Not only on the pitch, outside of it too, and this is really important.
Do you see differences in the way he [Neymar] plays and his behavior on the pitch?
Of course, he is different because at PSG, he has more fame, he plays more freely. Here, there is more positioning, exact positioning. It's different, LaLiga and Ligue 1 are a total different type of football. He adapted really well the first year and we can see what Neymar can do.
But did you feel that he needs to distance himself from Leo to become the unique leader of another great team?
For me, no. Here, at Barcelona, he was among the best 3 players in the world and he left. Each one can think what they want but for me, it's no. It's a question that you could ask him but I think not.
Cavani, your teammate in the National Team plays with Neymar and Mbappé. Do you think that he can truly blossom between these 2 players or that he should leave?
It's a kind of a similar situation that Neymar had here. If you want to be among the best players in the world, you have to play with the best players in the world. And Cavani is among the best players in the world like Mbappé, Di Maria, Verratti, Neymar...There are really great players. He is in the club where he already shows what kind of goalscorer he is, what kind of player, kind of person... And he doesn't have to prove it anymore.
Before the game between France and Uruguay, you said about Dembélé: "He have to be more responsible". Since then, he played 12 games and scored 7 goals. Did he become aware of your support and improve himself?
He is young. He knows what it means to be at Barcelona. He will learn the role that he had to have here at this club. Things can be misinterpreted. I said that he needed to learn. Me too, when I arrived at Ajax or at Liverpool, I learnt from the older players. The younger ones here do the same. I think that changing club is really brutal in general. A change of a club, of a city, of a language needs a period of adaptation. But as a teammate, and in the group, he integrated on the first day. The spanish he speaks is understandable. He gets along very well within the team.
He already speaks spanish?
A little
In France, you have the image of a controversial player. Yet, these storie from 2014 (biting) are far now... Do you feel changed, more calm, what is the thing that changes you?
First, I'm older, more mature. I'm aware of the stakes that there are every day, every game. My way of playing, my way of being, I will not change it, I can't change it. I live football this way. We never gives me something when I was young. Some people appreciate that, other don't.
People talk a lot about your goalscoring abilities but you also deliver a lot of assists, espcially since your arrival at Barcelona, did you look at the numbers?
No, we talk to me about that, many people comment on that. As a striker, there are moments when you can't score, you try to play with your teammates, to assist. It helps your teammate and brings him confidence. There are moments for goals and moments for assists, which for a 9, are very important because it bring confidence and help the teammates.
Would you like to finish your career at Barcelona like other great players before you?
It's tough to say. We never know what can happen in football. It's awesome for a player to finish his career at Barcelona, the best team in the world, in my opinion. But we know how much it's difficult.
<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/gf67i/nvbugl" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
You will soon play against Lyon in the Champions League, do you know some players from this team?
Yes, of course. there are key players like Memphis Depay, there are major players. The thing we must do, it is to study the team well. We know that French teams are very hard to play against.
What do you think about Memphis Depay?
He is a player who had some opportunities at Manchester United, and that plays at Lyon today, at a good level. He is more or less the leader of this team. If he is good, the team is too. We must be really careful of these great players.
Did you see Lyon's match against City?
Yes, of course. It's a difficult opponent. They finished second in the Manchester City's group, which was not an easy group. We must be careful. They have good players. We will be on our guard.
We will talk about your footballing other half: Lionel Messi. How do you explain this strong friendship since your arrival here, at Barcelona?
At the beggining, everyone thinks that Leo is different. But he always treats me like a normal person since I arrived. For me, he is not Leo Messi, the one that everyone sees, for me he is Leo, my friend. He welcomed me very well since I arrived here and I will always be grateful to him about that. And even more that his talent to score goals, etc. It's a true friendship that was built outside of the pitch and it shows on the pitch.
Yes, this friendship that you have outside of the pitch really translates well on the pitch, does it?
Yes, I think if you have great relationship outside of the pitch, you can feel it on the pitch. We have known each others for years, we know ourselves by heart. Each of us knows what the other is going to do, with a glance, we know what movement the other will do. And this is why it is so great to have him as a teammate.
From a statistical point of view, you, Messi and Neymar were one of the best trio in Barcelona history, how did you live that time? Was there a moment that marks you the most?
Of course, it was enjoyable to see 3 wordclass players, the way we played with the complicity from day to day. There was no jealousy between the three of us and this is what made our relationship on the pitch so spectacular. Neymar was happy and so was I. For the statistics, when one of use scored fewer goals, we helped each other. It's a great image of football, without jealousy. 3 worldclass players can get along very well like we did it. Not only on the pitch, outside of it too, and this is really important.
Do you see differences in the way he [Neymar] plays and his behavior on the pitch?
Of course, he is different because at PSG, he has more fame, he plays more freely. Here, there is more positioning, exact positioning. It's different, LaLiga and Ligue 1 are a total different type of football. He adapted really well the first year and we can see what Neymar can do.
But did you feel that he needs to distance himself from Leo to become the unique leader of another great team?
For me, no. Here, at Barcelona, he was among the best 3 players in the world and he left. Each one can think what they want but for me, it's no. It's a question that you could ask him but I think not.
Cavani, your teammate in the National Team plays with Neymar and Mbappé. Do you think that he can truly blossom between these 2 players or that he should leave?
It's a kind of a similar situation that Neymar had here. If you want to be among the best players in the world, you have to play with the best players in the world. And Cavani is among the best players in the world like Mbappé, Di Maria, Verratti, Neymar...There are really great players. He is in the club where he already shows what kind of goalscorer he is, what kind of player, kind of person... And he doesn't have to prove it anymore.
Before the game between France and Uruguay, you said about Dembélé: "He have to be more responsible". Since then, he played 12 games and scored 7 goals. Did he become aware of your support and improve himself?
He is young. He knows what it means to be at Barcelona. He will learn the role that he had to have here at this club. Things can be misinterpreted. I said that he needed to learn. Me too, when I arrived at Ajax or at Liverpool, I learnt from the older players. The younger ones here do the same. I think that changing club is really brutal in general. A change of a club, of a city, of a language needs a period of adaptation. But as a teammate, and in the group, he integrated on the first day. The spanish he speaks is understandable. He gets along very well within the team.
He already speaks spanish?
A little
In France, you have the image of a controversial player. Yet, these storie from 2014 (biting) are far now... Do you feel changed, more calm, what is the thing that changes you?
First, I'm older, more mature. I'm aware of the stakes that there are every day, every game. My way of playing, my way of being, I will not change it, I can't change it. I live football this way. We never gives me something when I was young. Some people appreciate that, other don't.
People talk a lot about your goalscoring abilities but you also deliver a lot of assists, espcially since your arrival at Barcelona, did you look at the numbers?
No, we talk to me about that, many people comment on that. As a striker, there are moments when you can't score, you try to play with your teammates, to assist. It helps your teammate and brings him confidence. There are moments for goals and moments for assists, which for a 9, are very important because it bring confidence and help the teammates.
Would you like to finish your career at Barcelona like other great players before you?
It's tough to say. We never know what can happen in football. It's awesome for a player to finish his career at Barcelona, the best team in the world, in my opinion. But we know how much it's difficult.
Leo_Messi
New member
Luis Suárez has been one of my favorites ever since I "discovered" him during his Ajax days. When he was rumored to Liverpool, I was very vocal in wanting him here. When rumors of him moving to us when at Liverpool were surfacing I did not change opinions even despite the controversial incidents that he was involved in (Evra, Ivanovic, Chiellini). Stylistically and in terms of what a prime Suárez brought to the team, no other attacker (IMO) could do as well as him. It worked tremendously for the first 2-3 (if not 3) seasons. However in the past 1.5 seasons, age (as expected) has caught up with him and what not many seasons ago seemed like a question of time (his dreadful goalscoring record in the CL improving, in particular away from home), now looks next to impossible to "solve".
Sad to say it but it is time to move him on this summer and try to go for an established world class striker or go all in on a promising talent.
If Messi won't like such turns of events, he can follow suit as we can't have this current version of Suárez leading our frontline from next season on while being untouchable regardless of how he actually performs.
It is infuriating, baffling and insane that a 21 year old Dembélé (our fastest attacker by far) is sacrificed (substituted) every single time while Suárez is allowed to stink up the place. That performance on Tuesday night was so shocking that I suspect that I could have done better.
If the club wants to win the CL, we need to part ways with some of the "untouchable" seniors. Suárez and Rakitic would be a good start this summer. Won't happen. Already rumors out there that Valverde does not want Rakitic to be sold. Shocking but not surprising.
There is no doubt about that. However the board members need to ask themselves whether betting on a 32.5 year old and declining Suárez (with absolutely pathetic stats in the CL) is worth doing for another season with him being the main man alongside a 32 year old Messi. I certainly would look elsewhere if I had any power.
I am tired of the same old seniors stinking the place up and being untouchable due to their names and what they ONCE did for the club. We can't live in the past or we will end up as Carlo's Milan. I see the same mistakes being committed again and again excluding decent player purchases in recent seasons.
Sad to say it but it is time to move him on this summer and try to go for an established world class striker or go all in on a promising talent.
If Messi won't like such turns of events, he can follow suit as we can't have this current version of Suárez leading our frontline from next season on while being untouchable regardless of how he actually performs.
It is infuriating, baffling and insane that a 21 year old Dembélé (our fastest attacker by far) is sacrificed (substituted) every single time while Suárez is allowed to stink up the place. That performance on Tuesday night was so shocking that I suspect that I could have done better.
If the club wants to win the CL, we need to part ways with some of the "untouchable" seniors. Suárez and Rakitic would be a good start this summer. Won't happen. Already rumors out there that Valverde does not want Rakitic to be sold. Shocking but not surprising.
There is no doubt about that. However the board members need to ask themselves whether betting on a 32.5 year old and declining Suárez (with absolutely pathetic stats in the CL) is worth doing for another season with him being the main man alongside a 32 year old Messi. I certainly would look elsewhere if I had any power.
I am tired of the same old seniors stinking the place up and being untouchable due to their names and what they ONCE did for the club. We can't live in the past or we will end up as Carlo's Milan. I see the same mistakes being committed again and again excluding decent player purchases in recent seasons.
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vlad
New member
Suarez strikes me as a great humble guy, shame that he is past his prime still on high wages, absolute dead weight for some time now, i dont see how barca will get rid of him anytime soon, this board did make barca look like humanitarian organization, where everyone gets what they want, like some players decide between themselvs when its time to go, when they are underperforming heavily on the pitch, that is why CL trophy looks like unimpossible thing at the moment with most expensive team with best salarys in the football world.
Leo_Messi
New member
It should not be this hard to get rid of him. All it takes is for the board to grow some balls (if Suárez continues to decline further which looks more likely than unlikely) and tell him that from next season onwards he will not be untouchable and by default be a bench player as we will sign a younger and better player x or y.
That will quickly make him want to leave, I suspect, especially if other top clubs will show interest in him which despite his recent form, is not as unlikely to happen as some believe.
Givenchy
Senior Member
no seniors are leaving with EV leading the team, yes even Raki i believe will be given a new contract despite what Barto said recently - thats why Valverde has been given a new contract, the seniors love him. thats not a hate on EV either btw, im indifferent right now but i can only see another frustrating season next year
i'd actually be interested in seeing a team picked solely by EV without any la masia/senior bias, he wasn't exactly a shit coach at Bilbao and its getting to the point unless you put Pep/Moureen in charge, any manager is going to struggle with over the hill seniors
Leo_Messi
New member
Of course not. As I wrote in post 6078 in this thread, Valverde has already told the board that he wants Rakitic to stay and not be sold this summer. According to recent rumors that is. Why would the seniors want to leave when they are ensured constant playing time no matter how shitty they play? It was the seniors renewing with Valverde, not the board.
Just like it was the same seniors who almost got Lucho fired in January of 2015 and not the board.
We, me included, tend to shit on Valverde but he is actually a much easier problem to get rid off (all it takes is another CL failure or for us to somehow throw the league away, much more difficult than us choking in the CL), than seniors such as Rakitic, Suárez etc.
We have no sporting model anymore LET ALONE following any Cruyff model.
The manager (be it Lucho or Valverde) has little say on who the club buys (tons of such examples), seniors are picking the team most of the time, being untouchable, the manager cannot bench seniors for many games bonfire they throw a tantrum (Alba and Rakitic during Lucho's tenure), Coutinho under Valverde's etc. Add to that a castrated board that is afraid of its own shadow. It's a mess.
Messi not without fault here. For him to want Valverde to continue is baffling. Like shooting yourself in the foot. Or his bromance with Suárez. Bad stuff all around. We need a clean up ala what was done by Pep back in 2008 when he parted ways with Ronaldinho (our by far biggest star), Deco and to an extent Eto'o who got the boot the season after.
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ronniecro
Active member
if only that was our main problem
FCBfan22
Senior Member
It is one of our main problems. If a player who plays closest to opponent's goal can't score to save their life and his number of goals in last 2.5 years is three times smaller than strikers that are on his supposed level, that is a huge problem.
Of course there are other ones like complacement, sluggish defending, shit managing, etc... But it still baffles me, that we aren't trying to find a solution for Suarez (Boateng is a joke).
xXKonan
Senior Member
On the talk with how much power the old guard has here, You start to appreciate how Puyol, Xavi, and Iniesta decided to bow out when the time came.
Puyol had the mentality of a guy who can play for many more years and someone who hated defeat. Yet he knew his own body couldn't keep out with the game and didn't want to be seen as a burden so he called it a day at the end of the 2014 season.
Iniesta was a starter in his final season but he knew his own body couldn't also keep up like it use to and decided to go to Japan seemed like the right step for him and Xavi despite being one Stubborn dude himself also seen the writing on the wall eventually.
Puyol had the mentality of a guy who can play for many more years and someone who hated defeat. Yet he knew his own body couldn't keep out with the game and didn't want to be seen as a burden so he called it a day at the end of the 2014 season.
Iniesta was a starter in his final season but he knew his own body couldn't also keep up like it use to and decided to go to Japan seemed like the right step for him and Xavi despite being one Stubborn dude himself also seen the writing on the wall eventually.
Arizona Scott
New member
Suarez has been a top 3 scorer in his league for as long as I recall, that includes this year and last year. He also also very high in assists for a #9. I don't think he needs to leave, but it is also clear he cannot keep up with playing most every week, all minutes.
What we also remember with Xavi and Iniesta is they started playing more like half the time, and they helped Barca achieve more trophies being very effective in part time roles until they left for good. Problem is right now is we don't have a player good enough to spell Suarez without a huge dropoff. It isn't like we didn't try with Griezmann. While not a pure #9 it is hard to think Messi, Griezmann and Dembele wouldn't play together some this year had this happened, and phased in more in the future. But AG left us high and dry, which is his right, but the timing and approach about was quite rude.
I have little doubt we will bring in another player who can play some #9 next year. However unless it is Mbappe or Salah, hard to imagine anyone completely displacing Suarez, where there would not be a rotation.
One final thing. Substitution should not be equated with punishment or because you are playing bad. Pep and Klopp substitute some of their best players. Football is an intense sport, sometimes you substitute because a guy is tired. In fact it should be a badge of honor because you played your guts out for 60-80 minutes--particularly for midfielders and wingers where the work rate is so high.
What we also remember with Xavi and Iniesta is they started playing more like half the time, and they helped Barca achieve more trophies being very effective in part time roles until they left for good. Problem is right now is we don't have a player good enough to spell Suarez without a huge dropoff. It isn't like we didn't try with Griezmann. While not a pure #9 it is hard to think Messi, Griezmann and Dembele wouldn't play together some this year had this happened, and phased in more in the future. But AG left us high and dry, which is his right, but the timing and approach about was quite rude.
I have little doubt we will bring in another player who can play some #9 next year. However unless it is Mbappe or Salah, hard to imagine anyone completely displacing Suarez, where there would not be a rotation.
One final thing. Substitution should not be equated with punishment or because you are playing bad. Pep and Klopp substitute some of their best players. Football is an intense sport, sometimes you substitute because a guy is tired. In fact it should be a badge of honor because you played your guts out for 60-80 minutes--particularly for midfielders and wingers where the work rate is so high.
FCB1987
Banned
I don't think he's humble at all. He seems like a narcissist that always blames others and is unable to judge himself honestly. It happened again against Lyon where he made a donkey error and then was trying to look around at Semedo or Roberto to blame it on them
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