Luis Suarez has yet to score for Barcelona in the league in his first six games.
His solitary goal for his new club came in the 4-0 Champions league win against Cypriot side APOEL.
On Sunday during the Catalan derby he was ineffective at centre-forward, with Lionel Messi wide right and drifting in off his wing.
Espanol played a very defensive game in the Camp Nou, especially in the first half, playing nine men behind the ball.
Suarez looked a frustrated figure and struggled with his back to goal trying to fit into Barca's style of play. His touch was poor and his attempts at intricate one-twos on the edge of the box were awkward.
He repeatedly looked to the sky after a mistake and his frustrated body language was reminiscent of when Chelsea visited Anfield and cut down his space in last year's league tie.
Suarez thrives on space and fitted perfectly into Liverpool's high-tempo counter-attacking style last season. Barcelona's build-up play is much slower and they regularly have to counteract teams parking the bus.
Messi scored all three of his goals on Sunday from the centre-forward position, and playing him anywhere but centrally is a mistake.
With Messi so prolific from the No 9 position it seems a strange policy for Barcelona to recruit world-class centre-forwards who end up playing on the wing.
Suarez can do a job there but Pedro, while less high-profile, is more natural in the wide area.
Pep Guardiola bought Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa and Thierry Henry, all world-class strikers, and asked them to sacrifice themselves by playing out wide. All three strikers-turned-wide-men chipped in with goals but not at the same rate as previous clubs. In effect they turned into providers for Messi.
Suarez is no longer the main man like he was at Anfield. He could adapt his game and become a success story at Barca. He is a winner, a warrior and a team player, but on the evidence of the Messi era at Barca the odds are against him.
No comments: