Liverpool’s Suso is dazzling in La Liga

Suso in action against Barcelona

When Brendan Rodgers arrived at Anfield last summer, he brought with him a love of silky football and a strong belief in implementing youth players into the first-team. It would seem natural, then, that he was quickly drawn to the talents of Suso, a Spanish teenager who held every attribute needed to slot straight into his plans. And he did just that. Although he had been at the club since 2010 it was last season that his progress really shifted forwards, finishing the campaign with 14 Premier League appearances under his belt and another six in cup competitions.

Suso is blessed with a creative mind, which combined with his typically-Spanish technique and his composed state of mind looked as though it would be an equation for success. All he needed was a stage to find his feet and show people what he was capable of, and he since been handed that in La Liga with strugglers Almeria.

To be blunt, Rodgers won’t lose any sleep over Almeria’s lowly position in the table, nor the fact that many have them down to sink straight back down to the Spanish second division. All the ex-Swansea manager will be worried about is how his starlet beds in, and he will be elated to how the 19-year-old has adjusted from a bit-part player at Anfield to the talisman at the Mediterráneo, and at such a rapid pace too.

Despite the Spanish outfit slumping to a 10-match winless run to begin life in the top-flight, Suso offered some solace with his enchanting performances. His flexibility across the front line has seen him deployed in all three roles behind the striker, and although he is primarily a central player who floats just behind the centre-forward he has proved his worth from the flanks, with half of his chances created coming from the right.

Suso’s ability to thread balls through to his team-mates is exquisite and the way he pulls them off even more so. He exudes a gracefulness that is rarely seen in such a young player, and he’s able to use that to create pockets of space around the opponent’s penalty box before slicing them open with a precise pass. Suso has claimed five assists so far this season, a tally which only Cesc Fabregas and Koke, who each play for one of the top two teams in the league at present, have surpassed.

There is also an audacity about the Liverpool youngster, which if nurtured in the right way could be an astounding addition to his arsenal. However this season he has shown that he is much more comfortable cutting down defences with his sharp, snappy passes rather than attacking a defender – as his 47% take on success supports.

This season has also seen his first goal in professional football. After a neat spell of play inside the Levante half during their clash in September, the ball is rolled to Suso’s feet, who proceeds to turn and fizz an effort into the back of the net from distance, which again shows the confidence he is playing with.

On paper, the 19-year-old is the perfect player to come in and work with the likes of Philippe Coutinho, Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, all of whom are inventive, nimble players who can chop and change at any given moment. Should Suso continue his development at the same rate for the rest of the campaign, then not only will La Liga be in for a real treat but Liverpool can potentially welcome a player who has grown in every aspect of their game next summer.