Sunday, June 22, 2014

How good is Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz?

Before the World Cup match between Uruguay and England, Roy Hodgson said that Luis Suarez is not yet 'world class'.  Well, he found out the hard way how wrong he was.  Suarez may not have had the greatest match, but his world class ability shone through.

Let's see how he sizes up against some other players considered 'world class'.  Charted below is their previous seasons in their respective leagues except for Falcao, his stats are from his previous and last season in La Liga with Atletico Madrid.

SuarezMessiRonaldoBaleCostaFalcao
age272629242528
app (sub)3329(2)3024(3)34(1)34
mins296224982537206529522896
goals312831152728
assists121191231
chances877547404532
npg900.940.790.890.660.670.62
gcp901.31.41.31.20.910.9
ccp902.62.81.61.81.41
pass %74.88580.376.375.579.9
bp %44.144.656.452.26159.4
sacc %44.846.343.134.15043.1
shot %17.117.514.417.12522.8
TTI901713.112.911.515.512.8
SturridgeY. ToureAgueroRVPRooneyRibery
age243126302831
app (sub)26(3)3520(3)18(3)27(2)18(4)
mins226729171526157824461635
goals212017121710
assists79631010
chances294034165656
npg900.830.4310.570.510.55
gcp901.10.91.40.8611.1
ccp901.21.220.92.12.8
pass %79.390.184.976.780.183.9
bp %53.435.15650.948.450.8
sacc %42.442.25033.942.649.2
shot %21.231.319.819.416.817
TTI901110.211.810.515.417.8

Suarez comes in 2nd in non-penalty goals per 90, 3rd in goals created per 90, and 3rd in chances created per 90.  He also finished 4th in shot accuracy.  Unfortunately he had the worst pass rate, but he did have the second lowest back pass percentage, bettered only by Yaya Toure.  His TTI90 was second worst after Franck Ribery, mainly due to bad pass attempts.

Overall he is bested by Messi alone, but the Argentinian's stats are padded by 6 penalty goals where Suarez had none.  If you consider the six penalties that Ronaldo converted, Suarez is much better overall.  He already trumps the defending Ballon D'or winner in nearly every category, but take away spot kicks and CR7 is not even part of the conversation.

Speaking of the Ballon D'or, if Suarez can continue his scorching pace, Messi should be the only other player considered.  How they and their teams perform in the World Cup is probably on what the award will hinge.  Both are off to great starts, but Uruguay will have to beat Italy if they want to advance to the knock-out stages.  Suarez will probably once again have to prove his 'world class' if they are to do so.

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