Luis Suárez fearful of falling foul of 'Eto'o syndrome'
The Cameroonian striker topped the La Liga scoring charts on two separate occasions only to be pipped to the Pichichi prize by Diego Forlán both times.
Luis Suárez has not hit the target in his last three games. The Uruguayan saw two efforts crash off the posts against Arsenal and Sevilla and also spurned a few chances a player of his caliber would usually be expected to put away. He missed his second penalty of the season on Thursday night (to add to his failed spot-kick at El Molinón) and was denied by the woodwork yet again during the match against Rayo. This recent dry spell aside, the former Liverpool marksman is still the division’s top scorer (25).
While this is not an ideal situation for the Barca forward, some parallels can be drawn with a certain Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroonian suffered similar goalless streaks during the 2004-05 and 2008-09 seasons. On both occasions, the Catalans were enjoying success after success, much like they are these days. In 2005, Los Azulgranas were on the verge of picking up a first league title in six years and Eto’o was on his way to being crowned LaLiga’s top scorer. However, a Diego Forlán hat-trick (against Barcelona now less) on the last day of the competition meant the Villarreal striker leapfrogged his African counterpart in the running order for the Pichichi prize (24 vs. 25). Rijkaard, the manager at the time, was blamed for the travesty as, in the eyes of the former African Player of the Year, the Dutchman fielded far too weak aside to fend off his rival hitman.
History repeated itself four years later. Barcelona were looking to win the treble and Forlán, now dressed in the red and white of Atlético Madrid, overtook Eto’o on the goal-scoring chart during the final stretch of the season (28 vs. 30).
Barcelona haven’t won the league title yet nor has Suárez been handed the coveted individual accolade that was twice denied to Eto’o, but the South American’s team-mates will be keen to keep their talisman happy. Iniesta, the team captain, had a close relationship with Eto’o when he was with Los Culés, and saw how obsessive the Cameroon international was with being named the Pichichi. Some Barca fans might find it alarming that Suárez’s fixation with outscoring everyone this year is causing them to waste penalties (as was the case the other night). There’s still a very strong possibility though that Luis Enrique’s men will soon shake off their strangely poor form from the penalty spot and, as was the case against Arsenal, Messi will be the designated shooter from here on out.
Barren patch aside, Suárez stats in La Liga are nothing short of spectacular. He has scored 25 times from 100 shots on goal, and in 39 games he has got on the scoresheet on 41 occasions and provided 16 assists.
Barcelona will have to make do without their prolific number nine in two weeks as he embarks on international duty. Messi and Neymar, his closest buddies at the Camp Nou, will try to keep his mind at rest so he doesn’t brood over other players catching up with him in the race for the top goal scorer gong.