Luis Suarez shows why he's an expert in silencing the critics
The Barcelona striker has scored four goals during the last week
Goals breed happiness. A typcial football phrase which makes reference to the joy which comes with finding the back of the net. For the scorer, his team-mates and supporters, it's difficult to compare that moment which accompanies the ball crossing the line. Goals can serve for many things, too: to end bad runs, to complete comebacks, to win titles, to dedicate to a loved one... or to silence the critics.
Because while goals for forwards breed happiness, a lack of them can lead to anguish, anxiety and criticism. When a striker's on a bad run, when he's struggling to score, that usually comes with debate and critics. These critics, in addition, are usually exaggerated when talking about a striker who has set such high standards throughout their career.
One of the players that falls into that group is Luis Suarez. 'Luisito' is a pure No.9, someone who usually dominated in the area. A player that lives for goals. It's mutual. It's for that reason, for his spectacular figures (averaging more than 42 goals in the three full seasons he's played at Barcelona) that it's been strange to see him not score for a few of games. We're not talking about 10 matches, not even five or six, but about three or four, about 300 minutes. For other strikers it isn't a bad run. But for Suarez, it is.
Suarez's form has been called into question
His form and fitness has been discussed before. It's not the first time. It's true there was one alarming piece of data as well: the fact he did not score in 392 days in the Champions League (from the 6-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 until the 4-1 win over Roma in 2018).
A similar thing happened at the start of the new campaign. He didn't score in the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla or in the league games against Alaves or Real Valladolid. Three games, zero goals. Nothing too alarming for other players, but for some sectors of the press and fans of 'Luisito' it was. The Uruguayan, though, was not worried (a four game drought if we include the final game of last season). He knew, sooner or later, the goals would arrive.
And they did. Last week he scored a double against Huesca. And he scored another brace for Uruguay against Mexico this weekend. Four goals in a week. For lovers of numbers, that's a goal every 39 minutes. That's Luis Suarez. And when he responds, he responds.
