Luis Suarez comes good at Carrow Road
Luis Suarez must dream about playing at Carrow Road. For the second successive season he has steered his side to victory in the fixture by twisting and turning his way to a hat-trick. This time around, the three points crafted from his goals will be all too wonderful for Brendan Rodgers, who finally has his first win in the league.
The three points may only lift the side up to 14th in the table, but it takes the zero out of the wins column. It creates confidence in the team’s new style, demonstrating strong performances bring victories and not just ill-fortune.
Suarez was the star and led the line with a majestic showing. What has lacked with him this season all came together. His three timely strikes derailed frustrations over his inability to finish and proved how dangerous a striker he is.
But what appealed most were his all-round attributes. They epitomised the whole team. Tenacity. Guile. Awareness.
If the performance of Wednesday night was the highlight of the season so far for Liverpool fans, it has quickly been trumped.
Rodgers again showed faith in the youth prospects, which have performed admirably this season. There were first league starts for young talents Andre Wisdom and Suso. Turkish international Nuri Sahin was brought in to replace the suspended Jonjo Shelvey, playing his part in a dynamic midfield trio with Steven Gerrard and Joe Allen.
Sahin's first involvement led to the perfect start. His forward run, a constant theme all afternoon, was traced, but a poor clearance deflected straight into the path of Suarez. The forward gave himself a yard before slotting a shot past Ruddy.
Sahin and Suarez continued to link up well, aided from the wings by the vision and trickery of Suso and Rahemm Sterling. But it was in central midfield where the game was controlled. Playing three v two in the centre of the park, there was the first inclination a one-touch passing game had emanated from Rodgers’s spoken word into the players boots. The team were free in movement, flowing between the static Norwich defence.
Suarez picked holes of space in the defence and extracted them into acres for his onrushing midfielders. His ability to run at defenders has never been questioned, but his vision for a pass came to the fore as Gerrard burst through, only to be thwarted for a second time.
In the week, Rodgers lobbied referee's chief Mike Riley over the treatment of Suarez by the officials. This was to be his only defeat of the day when Leon Barnett, who appeared mesmerised all match by Suarez, was not pulled up for a clumsy entanglement with the striker. Referee Mike Jones waved away the protests and again the striker seemed the victim of his reputation.
It got worse before it got better, too, for Suarez. Daniel Agger sent him through and, after curving his run to beat the offside trap, his awkward shot spewed embarrassingly wide. But seconds later he went back to being a hero for the travelling fans. The high pressing style of Rodgers proved decisive as Suso disposed Michael Turner on the edge of the Norwich box before finding Suarez. He checked inside and bent a shot round Ruddy with the outside of his boot.
Football is a matter of fine margins and timing. Thirty seconds into the second half and the decisive moment of the match became evident. Robert Snodgrass failed to give Chris Hughton the dream team-talk from one yard out before the away side hot-footed forward to extend their advantage to three.
Sterling again showed his capacity to run with his head held high, and he found Suarez to dance into the box. It was perhaps the moment which showed Suarez had added guile to his grind. Instead of trying to poach his hat-trick, he laid the ball on a plate for Sahin to grab his first Premier League goal with a coolly taken strike.
The creative passing continued. Suso combined with Sahin and Sterling once again to hand Suarez his chance to grab the match ball. His curling shot into the far corner proved he was up to the challenge and capped off a magical display.
The beauty of the attacking football resonated from each player’s passion for the ball. They all cried out for it. They all made themselves available for it.
With the first three points all but secured, it was perhaps feasible for the team to reserve energy supplies in the final quarter.
But it will disappoint Rodgers more than most that the side failed to keep a clean sheet. And again, as it has been throughout the season, the goals conceded came from individual errors. Pepe Reina looks a goalkeeper devoid of confidence in his own ability. A few panicky moments was emphasized when he spilled a shot drilled at his midriff straight to the penalty spot, and the yellow shirt of Steve Morison.
Norwich caused issues within the defence, which need tidying up on the training field. Wisdom, albeit excellent, at times was found on a different radar defensively to his pair of centre-backs. But his strength and ease in possession offset any flaws and his reputation can only be enhanced.
Had Steven Gerrard’s deflected strike been the final goal of the training exercise the match had come to, Rodgers would have been completely happy. But the lacklustre defending by the usually reliable Martin Skrtel, which allowed Grant Holt in for his team’s second, could sour the manager’s mood a little.
There were also times where the high pressing midfield left a gap waiting to be exposed in front of the back four. However, the metronomic Joe Allen remained to his task in replacing the injured Lucas Leiva and assured that those gaps emerged on a minimal basis.
Nevertheless, the ball is rolling and rolling well. Brendan Rodgers has his first win in the league and the panics as to whether his style with reap the rewards of victories can be settled. There is still a long way to go for the team and the style. But when the performance and the result come together it certainly is sweet.
To comment, you must be a registered user. Please Sign In or Register