The Uruguayan, who has scored six in five Premier League games, is hopeful that the Reds can maintain their strong start to the season and claim Champions League qualification

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has sounded a warning to his side’s top-four rivals, telling them that the “best is yet to come” from Brendan Rodgers’s charges.

The Reds sit third in the Premier League despite Saturday’s 2-0 loss to leaders Arsenal, with the Uruguayan’s form helping to establish the Anfield outfit out as credible contenders for a Champions League qualification spot.

Since returning from a lengthy ban, imposed following the striker’s bite on Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in April, Suarez has scored six goals in five top-flight appearances, yet he feels that he and his team-mates can do even better.

“We’re doing well right now but we need to carry on that form into the Christmas period,” the 26-year-old forward told Match.

“I think our best is yet to come, which hopefully means well for the end of the season and our chances of making next season’s Champions League. That’s one of our aims.

“It’s good to be playing well and contributing with goals but the most important thing is getting three points every week. I wouldn’t be scoring without the help of my team-mates, so thanks to them.”

After welcoming Fulham to Anfield on Saturday, Liverpool face a trip to Goodison Park to take on rivals Everton following the international break.

Contrasting fortunes for two players of a similar age who emerged as top talents in the Bundesliga, only to take very different paths with Real Madrid and in the Premier League

COMMENT
By Ben Hayward | Spanish Football Writer

The comparisons were understandable. Born just over a month apart, each in Germany with Turkish roots, and impressing as youngsters in the Bundesliga in their formative years, Mesut Ozil and Nuri Sahin both left to join Real Madrid and subsequently moved to England. But while one enjoyed spectacular success in La Liga and is now blossoming in the Premier League, the other failed to hit the heights in Spain and England.

Both men were identified by Jose Mourinho as key components for the Portuguese at Real. Ozil settled quickly and connected instantly with fans at the Santiago Bernabeu and, in an era dominated by Pep Guardiola’s brilliant Barcelona, Madrid now had a footballer who was a match technically for the midfield masters at Camp Nou.

Something similar was expected of Sahin. Nuri became the youngest player to appear in the Bundesliga as he made his debut at 16 years and 344 days in 2005 and, following a year-long loan at Feyenoord, later led Borussia Dortmund to the title in 2010-11 – at the tender age of 22. Sahin scored seven and assisted eight in BVB’s success that season, yet his contribution was much more than that – he had pulled the strings in midfield for Jurgen Klopp’s team and was voted Bundesliga Player of the Season.

A move to Madrid was his reward and the youngster was tipped for great things. “Sahin is going to become one of the best midfielders around in Europe over the next few years,” Germany legend Paul Breitner said at the time. It sounded good – and it sounded plausible.

But so far, so good quickly became too much, too young as Sahin struggled in Spain. While Ozil continued to impress in his second season at the Santiago Bernabeu, Nuri disappeared almost without trace.

The Turkey midfielder missed pre-season with a medial ligament injury and his recovery was a slow and arduous process. And when he eventually returned in November, Madrid were in full flow en route to winning La Liga in 2011-12. Mourinho’s maximum intensity style seemed unsuited to a player who had missed months of preparation work and Nuri featured minimally.

Mourinho saw Sahin as an alternative to Xabi Alonso in midfield in Madrid’s double pivot. The Portuguese believed pairing the two together would see the side lose some stability in defence – especially given Nuri’s fragile fitness – but was also reluctant to rest Alonso in any Liga or Champions League fixtures.

Xabi’s importance cannot be understated, with current coach Carlo Ancelotti still struggling to find a balance in midfield when the Basque is missing, as he has been for almost all of this season so far.

So Sahin was playing catch-up and even when he did start for Madrid in a Champions League quarter-final first leg against APOEL in March, Mourinho questioned his ability to face the top teams. “Turkey can decide whether he plays or not,” he said. “But it is easier to play for a country than for a club like Real Madrid. We are in no mood for joking or giving playing time to players performing less than others. It will be difficult for Sahin.”
 
It was. The German-born midfielder ended the season with a winner’s medal but had featured only four times in La Liga and in 10 games overall for the Spanish side. By comparison, Ozil ended the campaign with over 50 appearances in all competitions and 17 assists in La Liga – a Primera Division high.

“On top of the competition in every position at Real, Nuri was unlucky to be injured from the beginning of the season until the autumn,” former Germany, Madrid and Arsenal defender Christoph Metzelder told Goal. “And at a club like Real, nobody is waiting for a new signing who arrives in the team at that stage. So his conditions at the start were extremely difficult.

“There were already world-class players in his position. And if you are not able to get your playing time, be part of the process, show good performances and gain confidence and get the respect of your team-mates and the public, then it gets hard.“

Ozil stayed and shone for another season at Madrid (and would probably still be at the club if Mourinho had remained in charge), but Sahin was forced to move on and a loan to Liverpool looked likely to revive his promising career following a stagnant season in Spain.

It was not be be, however, as Sahin failed to fulfil his early promise at Anfield and ended up making just 12 appearances for the Reds in the opening half of the 2012-13 season before returning to Dortmund on loan, complaining he had been misused by the Premier League outfit. And having hailed Brendan Rodgers on arrival at Anfield in the summer of 2012, the midfielder took a parting shot at the Liverpool boss as he left Merseyside in January.

“I did not fail at Liverpool,” Sahin said. “Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a number 10. But I do not play behind the strikers. I talked to him and asked him why he was playing me there. It is not my real position. The coach could not answer me … Still, no regrets. To play at Anfield was a wonderful experience. And maybe if I had not gone there I would not have been able to return to Borussia Dortmund. For that, I am happy. Thank God I have left Brendan Rodgers.”

Sahin is now rebuilding his reputation at Dortmund (still on loan but expected to return to BVB on a permanent basis) and is starting to look like the player Madrid bought in the summer of 2011, following fogettable spells at Real and Liverpool – where he never found his ideal position nor a regular starting spot amid fears he would fail to cope physically with the demands of the Premier League.

Ozil, meanwhile, has gone from strength to strength. Surprisingly sold by Real to Arsenal on deadline day (against the wishes of most madridistas), Mesut has slotted in seamlessly under Arsene Wenger in north London and has cemented his standing at international level with some peerless performances for Germany in the lead-up to next summer’s World Cup in Brazil.

“Ozil is an outstanding football player,” Metzelder said of his former international team-mate. “He has astonishing abilities and he is a player that makes the players around him better. That is something you don’t see very often these days. There are many good players who look for the goal themselves, who want to score beautifully and who have great ratio. But there are few players who hold their head up and look for the player who is in a better position.

“For example Olivier Giroud is benefiting big time right now from Mesut Ozil. That says a lot for Ozil and it looks like he is the missing piece at an Arsenal team that have sold their best players in recent years.“

Two players with similar stories but very different fortunes in Spain and England now go head to head on Wednesday as Dortmund host Arsenal in the Champions League. And while Ozil continues to grow in stature away from home, Sahin is just happy to be back where it all began. What a difference two years can make.

Follow Ben Hayward on 

Jordan Henderson is finally coming good at Liverpool. Last season we saw glimpses of his potential but this season he is finally starting to look like a proper player; after the SAS strike-force Henderson is probably manager Brendan Rodgers’ first pick.

With Henderson playing some of the best football of his career, questions are being asked as to whether he should go to the World Cup next summer.

In short the answer is yes. The adaptability of Henderson is one of his defining features. He can play in any midfield position as well as playing behind the strikers, and he can even cover as a right back! Henderson is effectively four players in one body. England boss Roy Hodgson would be foolhardy not to take the 23-year-old to Brazil. The adaptability and professionalism of the youngster warrants him a place in the World Cup squad.

The current England team is one in transition as Hodgson tries to rejuvenate his aging side with young blood. Nobody gives England much of a chance at this World Cup, with Paddy Power pricing them at 20/1 to win it. With expectations lower than usual Hodgson should favour the younger players instead of the veterans. Henderson is going to be in the England squad for the next ten years; he could even become captain. Meanwhile, Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard are well into their 30s, and if Hodgson is serious about revitalising England then he has to favour the younger players as of right now.

More importantly, Henderson’s form merits him a place in the World Cup squad. He has been one of the best English performers in the Premier League this season and is also guaranteed first team football at Liverpool, something that James Milner and Tom Cleverley lack. If Henderson can continue with his industrious performances then Hodgson will simply have to take note.

A place in the World Cup squad is well within Henderson’s reach. All he has to do is continue performing and he should be a certified pick come June, something to bear in mind when it gets round to World Cup squad betting early next year.