4 players who proved Barcelona fans wrong this season

#1 Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez has silenced his critiques lately - Real Betis v Barcelona - La Liga

This would seem the most unimaginable, but yes, a few months ago, fans had started writing Luis Suarez off. To be more precise, his performance in the first half of the current season was the reason for this.

Unlike any traditional number nine, Luis Suarez clocks a lot of assists to his teammates as well, and this has been his signature style whether at Liverpool or Barcelona. In the first ten matches of the current season, however, he scored a meagre five goals and provided just one assist. Needless to say, there were already calls for his head by the Camp Nou fanatics. That he was thirty, added to the claims of him having 'burned-out'.

Once again, the slump, in this case, was also owing mostly to team formations and personnel. Suarez thrives as the pin-point in the attack. As the spearhead of the fearsome MSN therefore, he soared. It was obvious, therefore, that Neymar's departure would affect his game. The effect was however much deeper than predicted.

For one, Neymar was irreplaceable. Though Barca landed Ousmane Dembele, he was accustomed to playing on the right side, unlike Neymar who played on the left. Before he could be integrated properly, he got injured as well. This meant that Barca did not have a top-quality player in the left wing. Valverde was, therefore, testing waters during the first half of this season.

The coach brought Messi back into a central position thus pushing Suarez further left. Gerard Deulofeu was given the right-hand slot in the absence of Dembele. This position towards the left tampered with Suarez's signature moves of receiving the ball over his left shoulder as well as that of receiving it with his back towards the goal and turning with a dip in the shoulder. In a general sense, it limited his movements and connection with the ball as well as his team-mates. Add to all this the injury strains and Luis really had his plate full.

A player with his experience was bound to come back from this slump, which he did. Since December, he seems a different man. The coach has settled the team into a 4-4-2 formation where Suarez plays centrally alongside Messi and seems quite comfortable. This shows in his stats as well.

In the fifteen games he played since December, he has scored sixteen times and provided three assists. Of course, the pace of his peak years may be behind him, but his understanding with the teammates along with his reading of the game and experience still makes him a deadly striker.