Luis Suarez has revealed how he was greatly impressed with Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers’ training methods during his time at Anfield.
Within is new book, ‘Crossing the Line: My Story’, Suarez has praised the Kop boss’ tactics and how he prepared for games, with Rodgers being able to bring out the best of the forward and helped him seal a £75 million pound move to Barcelona this summer.
Suarez wrote: “The way he coached us during my time there was impressive and I am sure that the methods I enjoyed and found so effective will continue to be employed.
“Everything Brendan does is built towards perfecting the mechanics of football and making adjustments for the next game or to fulfil a particular objective.”
“Although there weren’t any specific instructions to begin with, I knew that as soon as I got into training on Tuesday all the exercises were conditioned by the game the following weekend.”
“It might be a small exercise where we couldn’t yet see what he was working towards, but it was always building towards the match.”
“He doesn’t explicitly tell players the plans for the game all week long because that would just wear you down and you’d end up switching off.”
“If you came into training on Tuesday and he was already telling us how the opposition’s left-back was going to play then by the Friday we’d all be going mad.”
“So we worked slowly towards the game and then on the Thursday or the Friday, he might say, “they’re weak here” or “they’re vulnerable in this space”.
“The instructions became more explicit: “Look, if they step up here, you’re faster than them cutting inside”; “They always hold the line and you can run past them”; or “Watch the left-back – he’s the one who reacts slowly and doesn’t step up, playing you onside.”
“He stands watching and doesn’t respond as quickly as the other defenders.”
“Brendan didn’t obsess about telling us about opponents constantly, but through working on certain exercises the message seeped into our minds.”
By Ollie Brown
