After what was arguably the best season of his career, Liverpool ace Luis Suarez made a highly-touted move to Barcelona this summer.
The Uruguayan was expected to slot in seamlessly alongside fellow South Americans Lionel Messi and Neymar as the Blaugrana sought to add more firepower to their attack.
However, things have not gone as well as he would have liked. Due to a ban stemming from his biting incident involving Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, Suarez was unable to really link up with his teammates until October in his first competitive match with his new side.
Since then, he has netted just one league goal and three in all competitions and is hardly setting La Liga alight thus far. What's interesting, though, is how his presence has affected his teammates and the findings are not flattering in favor of the former Reds attacker.
"MSN"--Messi, Suarez, and Neymar have not clicked as fans would have hoped
Check out this surprising stat regarding potential points earned in La Liga for the 2014/2015 season so far:
- With him in the side, Barcelona have won just 59% of all the potential points they could earn.
- Meanwhile, a Blaugrana sans Suarez has won 92% of all potential points.
Additionally, the "negative" effect even extends to his former club, Liverpool, which is quite surprising as the Reds enjoyed one of their best seasons to date last campaign largely due to the brilliant goal-scoring form of the former Ajax man.
Very odd--have a look at these surprising stats concerning Suarez's stay at Liverpool from February 2011 to May 2014 (only Premier League matches):
- With Luis Suarez as part of the starting XI, Liverpool boasted a 48% win percentage.
- However, with no Suarez, they enjoyed a 61% win percentage.
Messi has had a good start to the 2014/2015 La Liga campaign, but has seen his assists dry up since the introduction of new teammate Suarez
Indeed, Luis Suarez's presence has even affected Lionel Messi's game, as these numbers show:
- Prior to Suarez's October debut, the four-time Ballon d'Or winner had recorded 7 assists.
- Since then, "La Pulga" has made zero.
Certainly while this could certainly be a mere coincidence, it is some interesting food for thought. Still, with his Barcelona career still in its earlier stages, these numbers could certainly change as he aspires to really get settled at Camp Nou.
