Jamie Carragher Not just a biter – the Suarez I know
Kicking me in training made me realise he was different and he can use that to drive Uruguay
Footballers who play on the edge tend to be divisive. That is why there has been no one more controversial in recent World Cups than my former Liverpool teammate Luis Suarez.
Suarez has a dark past in the competition, sent off for a goal-line handball against Ghana in the quarter-final eight years ago, sent home for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in 2014.
He has arrived in Russia seeking redemption – to ensure his contribution to the competition is eventually celebrated for positive reasons rather than overshadowed by a highlights package of provocative incidents.
At 31, time is not on his side to transform perceptions of his World Cup career. Each fixture he plays from this point might be his last ever in the tournament.
The shame for Suarez is too often his suspensions eclipse how good he is.
For the past five years, he has been the best striker in the world, although Harry Kane’s form has put him in position to use this tournament to assume that mantle.
There are a group of players just below Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo who would be lauded even more in another era. Suarez comes into that category.
The greatest players are not only those who thrive in the greatest teams, but succeed in making average sides look good, or good sides exceptional.
It is not just Suarez’s individual performances that make him so great. He makes those around him better. Suarez has done this for club and country.
This was especially apparent at Liverpool, where I had the chance to play alongside him for 2½ years.
I recall my introduction to Suarez after he moved to Anfield in 2011. He kicked me in a training session at Melwood.
“This fella is a bit different,” I thought. I loved it. Then I kicked him back!
His skill was obvious – Suarez is the best Liverpool signing I played with – but the most instantly reassuring quality was how he approached every game the same way, whether behind closed doors or in front of 45,000 at Anfield.
Not all players do this. Some hold back until match day. Such was Suarez’s passion, he would refuse two-day recovery sessions after a match. If the first team did not train as usual, he would join the reserves rather than head to the gym or for physiotherapy.
Not once while we were playing, or even in the year after my departure, did I ever see or hear of Suarez missing a session or game due to slight injury.
He would need a broken bone to miss anything, and even then would probably argue with the doctor about his fitness.
He cannot live without kicking a football, and he plays every minute of every game as if it is the most important of his life.
I played in the game which saw him banned in England for biting, against Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in 2013.
I remember Suarez being asked about it in the dressing room after the game and denying it, even though the video evidence was compelling. When reality dawned on him about how much trouble he was in, it was not what the club, or the Football Association, would do that most troubled him. He was most worried about the reaction of his family, especially his wife.
Not for the first or last time, the devil within that he took on to the field – that win-at-all-costs mentality – had gone too far.
Despite these flaws and the broad condemnation of his behaviour, his inspiring qualities nearly won Liverpool the title during the 2013-14 season. He will always be remembered fondly on Merseyside. The scale and speed of Liverpool’s deterioration in the season after he left for Barcelona demonstrated his influence even more than was felt at the time.
He has been world class at the Nou Camp. After Pep Guardiola left Barcelona, there was an expectation his great side would dip. Suarez ensured Luis Enrique was able to protect Guardiola’s legacy, winning a La Liga, Spanish Cup and Champions League treble in his first season in Spain.
At international level, Suarez has elevated Uruguay to the point where they are genuine contenders for this World Cup, and he may yet
After he bit Ivanovic he was most worried about how his wife would react
emerge in the knockout stages to challenge for the Golden Boot. He is already his country’s record goalscorer with 53.
He was massively influential as Uruguay reached the semi-final in 2010 and won Copa America in 2011 – a massive achievement.
His country finished runners-up to Brazil in South America’s World Cup qualifying and, having won three games in their group without rave notices, have the capacity to get better.
When we talk about Suarez, we are undoubtedly discussing one of the greatest modern players.
Now, Suarez goes head to head with Ronaldo in the last 16, with all the attention on Portugal’s superstar. Suarez is not in awe of Ronaldo. He will not consider the Real Madrid man superior. There are few footballers who can take to the field against Ronaldo certain of their ability to outshine him. Suarez is one of them.
Knowing Luis, he will also be thinking he can do his friend Lionel Messi a favour by ending Ronaldo’s tournament.