Luis Suarez’s failure to launch worries Barcelona

In none of Barca fans’ worst nightmares would Luis Suarez have spent seven La Liga games as their team’s main striker and not have scored a single goal.

Granted, he did score against Valencia, although his legal netting was wrongfully disallowed, but the Uruguayan’s overall performances with his new club are still quite far from those he put out last year at Liverpool or during the World Cup with his National Team.

There is no doubt Suarez is a top notch goal scorer. His Golden Boot from last season, when he scored 31 goals despite missing the first two months of the competition due to suspension, is just a small proof of his talents when facing the opposing goal. But most impressive was the way he manned Uruguay’s attack in Brazil, during the World Cup.

SEE ALSO: Jose Gimenez takes Europe by storm

A team that was built to keep their goal intact rather than break past their rivals’ defensive system, found in Suarez the hero they had been looking for; the man who could win a game by creating and finalizing his own scoring opportunities.

After such convincing credentials, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that teaming up the former Liverpool star with Neymar and Messi would make Barcelona the ultimate, and unstoppable, attacking machine. Unfortunately, things haven’t panned out quite as planned though.

Since he signed for the Blaugranas, Suarez has spent three months banned, and one a half competing with his new team. In that time, he has only managed to score two goals: In the Champions League, against APOEL Nicosia and Paris Saint Germain.

(function(d, s, id) {

var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];

if (d.getElementById(id)) return;

js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;

js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=313098648827735&version=v2.0”;

fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);

}(document, “script”, “facebook-jssdk”));

But the lack of goals, at this stage, is not the worst issue for Suarez. The attacker simply seems out of place in his new club.

Luis Enrique has not yet found a starting eleven he can trust, he has in fact used 23 different lineups in the 23 matches his team has played so far this season, and while Luis Suarez has been a prominent part of the team since his ban was lifted on October 26th, the instability in the team hasn’t helped him find his sweet spot within the coach’s plans.

There are many critical voices who actually think Suarez is simply not a good fit for the team. These biased opinions speak of the need of the Uruguayan to play as a lone striker to be as effective as possible, and in Barcelona, the center forward role is reserved for Lionel Messi.

However, these opinions do not take into account that Luis Suarez played –and won– the 2011 Copa America as a winger, alongside Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani, in the Uruguayan National Team.

SEE ALSO: Cristiano Ronaldo – Lionel Messi: The competition that never ends

While there is some truth to the fact that even geniuses like Neymar, Messi and Suarez need adjustment time to find their perfect footing together, seeing as how the Brazilian and the Argentine are performing at a very high level, it would be safe to assume that Luis would be playing a much more important role in the squad by now, but his lack of connectivity is starting to worry the Board and the management staff.

Signing Luis Suarez for 80 million was obviously a long term bet for Barcelona, so there is no real rush to make him start reeling in the goals, but at the same time, the longer he goes without breaking the spell in La Liga, the tougher critics will come down on him, which could become a true threat to his self-esteem.

The Uruguayan is still on track to have a great first season as a blaugrana, but he’ll have to get on the scoreboard a lot more if he wants to make an impact. Because of that, Neymar and Messi, of course, will play a key role in Suarez’s adaptation to FC Barcelona.

The post Luis Suarez’s failure to launch worries Barcelona appeared first on Voxxi.