Liverpool: Better without Suarez?

It may not have seemed it after a difficult game against this seasons “Team in Turmoil” Southampton, but according to Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge, the Reds are better off without their mercurial Uruguayan striker after his recent departure on a £75m transfer to Barcelona.

Of course, Sturridge has something of a vested interest in the statement. Most pertinently, out of all the players in the Liverpool who will possibly benefit from the departure of Luis, it’s Daniel Sturridge. He played second fiddle to the Uruguayan last year and despite being the Premier Leagues second highest goalscorer (behind Suarez), his name wasn’t mentioned in the running for many of the end of season awards. Now with Suarez taking an extended 4 month holiday in Catalonia, it’s Sturridge’s time to shine up front. His time to step out of the shadows is now and he must be rubbing his hands in glee.

But is he correct? Are Liverpool likely to be better than last season with Luis Suarez gone?

Liverpool have spent Luis’ massive transfer fee and then some, racking up just over £100m in transfer fees on the likes of Lallana, Lovren, Markovic and Emre Can, but they have yet to actually replace the Uruguayan, allegedly being on the lookout for a super-star striker for much of this transfer window.

Lovren appears to be a significant upgrade in a position that Liverpool struggled in last year and they will hope that he, along with the likes of Manquillo and Moreno will provide the solidity in a defence that leaked 50 goals in the Premier League alone last year. To put that number in perspective that was more that newcomers Crystal Palace (48), Southampton (46) and crisis-club Manchester United (43). Without the 101 goals that they fired in at the other end the end of season party may have been looking a lot different, and nobody can argue that Suarez’s goals and general attacking play didn’t contribute greatly to that goal tally.

Getting more goals out of Sturridge will be less important than getting goals out of the rest of the team. Beyond the SAS, only Gerrard got into double figures last season (and the majority of his goals were penalties). The likes of Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson, Coutinho and Sterling need to step up their goalscoring return in order to minimise the loss of Suarez’s goals; and this is where Markovic and Lallana come in. Liverpool will be hoping that along with goals their new attacking recruits can replace the creativity of Suarez. They certainly seem to be an upgrade on the likes of Victor Moses and Iago Aspas.

So, back to the initial question posed by Sturridge’s post-game statement. Are Liverpool better without Suarez?

I don’t think any team could lose a player of Suarez’s talent and claim to be better, but with the funds made available to Brendan Rodgers to improve the squad after Luis’ departure it’s probably safe to say that the squad as a whole is much improved on last season.