One of the main causes for the sacking of Kenny Dalglish last summer was his handling of the Luis Suarez racism case. By throwing all his support behind the Uruguayan and after the humiliating handshake fiasco at Old Trafford, Dalglish ruined Liverpool's name. Part of this season's job was to recover the reputation of the club, on and off the field.
Suarez remains a troublesome, controversial individual. His behavior last season wasn't helped by some ordinary finishing, with the striker seemingly confused about his role playing behind Andy Carroll. This is the same man who will forever be remembered as the man who stopped Ghana reaching the World Cup Semi-Finals (becoming the first African team to do so) by blatantly handling the ball on the line in the final minute of extra time. Yet he's shown signs of improvement, collecting just 2 yellow cards since January. His football has been absolutely outstanding, and he could probably nutmeg a mermaid. For a large part of this season he's carried the club through, then struck a deadly partnership with Daniel Sturridge. He's been one of many players to have improved significantly under Rodgers. Just as people were slowly warming to him, he admitted to diving to win penalties. As the anger to that died down, he bit Branislav Ivanovic, something which has earned him a 10 game suspension and ruined his image even further. His season will be remembered for that.
Yet despite having the obvious issues he does, Suarez is genuinely loved on Merseyside. This might be the worst team the club has had since Shankley took over, and in a group of mediocre players, Suarez stands out. He could walk into any club in the world, and has been rumored to be one of Pep Guardiola's summer targets in Bavaria. The fact is his goalscoring record is beaten only by Robin van Persie and his overall contribution to Liverpool's game is fantastic. On the field he stands above the rest of his squad, a player with rare amounts of ability stuck in a transitional side attempting to get into the Europa League. Liverpool supporters genuinely know they owe much to him for staying this long at the club.
Up until January, he was the club's only striker. His form would practically decide just how far Rodgers would be able to bring about progress. For the first half of the season they seemed to have improved only a little, with young players like Wisdom, Sterling, Shelvey and Suso all giving their all in the league. You couldn't say this was a better team than the one he inherited, though. The whole process required time and investment, the latter not provided in the summer. The fact remains after spending 22 million in January, we can start to see where Liverpool are going and what Rodgers wants. He does have an eye for a player, with both Sturridge and especially Phillipe Coutinho impressing. The team has versatility in attack, and the midfield is slowly getting the hang of Rodgers' version of Tiki-Taka. They won 6-0 at Newcastle last weekend, which prompted questions about whether they could survive without their No 7. The immediate answer is no.
But Liverpool are planning for the long term and the owners, despite their significant investment, seem more like Stan Kroenke than Sheikh Mansour. Liverpool must spend what they earn, and clearly they need to improve a lot this summer. Hence the rumor they will listen to offers above 40 million for Suarez this summer. The decision seems logical; Suarez clearly won't accept a long wait for Champions League success, not even qualification, but success. He's clearly good enough, and has enough suitors more likely to win. Also, he's probably sick of English football, sick of the controversy and the FA's biased decision-making. Him moving would provide funds to sign the likes of Christian Eriksen, a graduate of the Ajax academy which means he will clearly fit in nicely, and the new center-backs Rodgers needs. Without Suarez, he may give Sturridge the chance to play through the middle more, and can reinvest in another striker to support him. He hasn't got as much backing as maybe he would like but still he must over time restructure the squad to play his way. A lot of signings are necessary, as January showed. It might lift all the attention the club get from Suarez's controversial nature, and it's extremely important for Rodgers to decide whether or not his best player will ever mature like Wayne Rooney has. This is a big summer for Liverpool, one in which atleast 5-6 signings are required. Selling Suarez will hurt the supporters, but reinvesting the money quickly will help bandage the wound.
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