Suarez Quality Shines Through

By KP

The first clash with the Magpies since the transfer of Andy Carroll was a disappointing affair in terms of the quality of football produced.  Luis Suarez stood out like a lighthouse amongst the darkness of inferior technique and shoddy play. Everything and anything that was good about the game had the Suarez stamp of quality on it.  Liverpool took time to get a hold of the game, which was no surprise as the recent slick passing seemed to have been left behind at the Birmingham game.

The sloppy start didn’t stop Liverpool from opening the scoring on the 10 minutes when after a great interchange between Kuyt and Maxi, John Flanagan produced an excellent cross forcing a tepid defensive header. Maxi’s volley deflected of Simpson, wrong-footing the keeper, giving Liverpool the lead.  Rather than taking control, Liverpool proceeded to play at the same sedate pace, a part from a Spearing shot which almost fell to the marauding Kuyt and Meireles, allowing Newcastle to get into the game and increasingly look more threatening from dead-ball situations.

Newcastle should have scored early in the second half, with the possible Liverpool bound Joey Barton (if you believe the rumours!) failing to score from close-in when it seemed harder to miss.  That was the Magpies last real attempt as ten minutes later, as he has on so many occasions, Pepe Reina was the protagonist behind a Liverpool goal.  He launched a long goal-kick down field in the direction of Suarez who refusing to give up on the ball,  being ushered out by Newcastle’s Williamson, capitalized brilliantly on the defender’s lack of concentration, keeping the ball in play.  Williamson hauled down Suarez and Kuyt firmly side-footed home the resultant penalty.  Kuyt almost made it three, minutes later when he glanced Meireles deliciously floated free-kick wide when unchallenged.  A minute later the game was over, when Suarez pass inside fortunately landed at the feet of Kuyt in the area, who played a great ball back in the path of Suarez with the outside of his right foot, with all the touch of a Tiger Woods bunker shot, for Suarez to dispatch with aplomb.

That Suarez has adapted to the English game quicker than most foreign players is testament to his clash and strength of character.  It’s  easy to  fit it to a highly successful side surrounded by quality players; he has adapted in a side flirting with the lower regions of the table on his arrival which says a lot about his will to succeed.  He already has two created partnerships within the team, the first with Meireles at times seems almost telepathic and the second, Kuyt, is one borne out of the hard work and the obvious respect they have for each other.

Suarez closes out the game (Image: The offside.com)

Liverpool coasted through the remaining half hour, with Carroll, Shelvey and Cole making appearances Lucas and Spearing producing yet another top class performance in tandem, ably assisted by Glen Johnson in attack.  John Flanagan struggled for the first time since he arrived on the scene, as in Newcastle’s Jose Enrique and Gutierrez he was up against one of the strongest left-sides in the Premiership.  King Kenny wisely swapped sides in with Johnson  for the second-half as Flanagan picked up a yellow card for a rash tackle on Gutierrez. He showed that he was unaffected by the experience, putting in some solid challenges in the second-half – the experience will hopefully be a positive one in the long-run.

We are now fifth, having leap-frogged Spurs on goal difference who have one game in hand.  We have a chance of finishing fifth, but moreover, the side is showing that as much as we want Steven Gerrard back, there is enough talent in the squad to show that we can succeed in his absence.

KOP-POST MAN OF THE MATCH: LUIS SUAREZ