Last updated at 2:15PM, October 8 2013
An introspective Luis Suárez has claimed that he has returned to first team action a much calmer person following his latest suspension and admitted he does not want to be “the same as before”.
The Liverpool forward has scored three goals in as many games since his ten-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic, the Chelsea defender, ended and Suárez believes that he was able to find an inner calm while he served his suspension.
Liverpool have gone to great lengths to remind Suárez of his responsibilities and also offered the 26-year-old the services of Dr Steve Peters, the club’s in-house sports psychiatrist. While it is not known whether or not Suarez has taken up that offer, Brendan Rodgers has been sufficiently satisfied with his behaviour and attitude to hand him a regular starting place in the Liverpool side.
“I am aware that in recent matches that I played I’ve been calmer,” Suárez said on his return to Uruguay ahead of crucial World Cup qualifiers. “I am very self-critical and I realised that playing well, with more tranquillity, is helping me a lot. I realise and I prefer to continue and not be the same as before.”
On Saturday, Suárez made his first appearance at Anfield following a summer in which he attempted to force a move away from Liverpool. Ahead of kick-off against Crystal Palace the 26-year-old emerged onto the pitch carrying his newborn baby son, Benjamin, in his arms in a move that was misconstrued in some quarters as a cynical attempt to win over the Liverpool fans.
Club officials had initially resisted Suárez’s plans to perform the unusual pre-match routine but after being convinced that it is a tradition for South American players to parade their offspring they relented.
“In England it is not common and the first club people told me I was not going to go with them but I told them that my children were going to come with me, like it or not,” Suárez told El Pais, the Uruguayan newspaper. “They understood in the end and it was a nice moment, a unique moment for me.
“They [family] make me think hard and calm me. Nowadays I think a lot of them when I’m on the field. I wanted my son to live as I do. I suffered a lot as a child and I do not want my children, or any other child, to experience the circumstances as I did. As a parent I try to give them all the love in the world and all the best.”
Suárez dismissed some suggestions in the media that he had used his children to help win over fans on his first appearance at Anfield since the furore of his summer transfer saga when he accused the club of reneging in a deal allowing him to leave for a Champions League side.
“What the English papers say I do not care,” added Suárez, who earlier in the summer had cited the British media as being one of the reasons he wanted to leave. “The only thing I care about is playing football, and enjoying my family is what I love most.”
That Suárez remained at Anfield despite interest from Arsenal, who tried to sign him with a cheeky £40,000,001 bid, owed much to the intransigence of John W Henry, the Liverpool owner, who refused to entertain selling their prize asset.
Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s captain, admitted to “waking up every morning, hoping that nothing would happen and that he would still be here” and revealed that he had gone to great lengths to try to persuade the Uruguayan to stay.
“I do not know if he prayed but what he said is what he feels because he was talking to me all the time,” Suárez said. “Gerrard, for me, is a legend in Liverpool and a great team-mate that helped me a lot.
“His attitude was an extra boost for me to take the decision to stay in Liverpool; both he and the fans of Liverpool influenced much for that. I admire him for the great player he is worldwide. For me he will always be a benchmark and at club level he is the best player I have played with in my career, as a person and as a footballer.”