Gareth Bale Vs Luis Suárez: A Short Comparison

This is not your typical player analysis scrutinizing each stat and the details behind it as both the players play in a completely different role from each other. But ever since Bale’s rise in form and Robin Van Persie’s recent goal drought, the only attacking player who stands to match his level is undoubtedly Luis Suarez. My opinion is Luis Suárez is better than Gareth Bale and if you look at the stats of these two players it’s really incredible.

Luis Suarez made a £22.8 million move from Ajax to Liverpool in 2011 and since then; he has scored 37 goals from 72 appearances. This season, has been the most productive for the Uruguayan with 22 goals from 28 appearances and scoring 22 goals, the Anfield star has scored on average every 114 minutes in the top flight  this campaign, taking 117 shots in total and converting his chances with a 19%  success rate. In addition he has created 74 opportunities for his team-mates and has four  league assists to show for it.

Luis plays a different style to most premier league strikers as he is known for his clever dribbling around defenders, deadly finishing inside the box and his engine, a prolific forward – all in all a Uruguayan Messi with a slightly less finishing ability. Luis’ weaknesses and probably the only one is the disciplinary issues which have frequently threatened to undermine Suarez. However, if you look at it from a totally different point of view his tendency to pick up yellow cards can be seen as a sign of hunger to win and fight for Liverpool.

Suarez has also received his fair share of interests from big names across Europe and notably from Pep’s Bayern Munich. There have been rumours circulating around Germany that Pep Guardiola, who will take the reigns of Bayern Munich in the summer, has made Luis Suarez his top target to use in the false 9 role like he did with Messi, and the Germans are ready to pay as much as £50 Million for the player.

Gareth Bale on the other hand made a £5 million move to White hart Lane back in 2007, potentially rising to £10 million based on appearances and success. However, Tottenham paid Southampton an early settlement payment of £2 million in 2008 to reduce the final fee to £7 million and allow the Saints the immediate cash that they desperately needed. Since then Bale has developed into one of the best players in England and maybe one of the best players in the world.

Started as a left-back and has worked his way into an attacking midfielder this season, a tactical change solely deployed by Andre Villas Boas to create more space for Bale and to give him more touches and shots with the ball. It all started back in 2008, the game vs Inter Milan that changed the life of the Welsh man as he single-handedly destroyed one of the best right backs in the world at the time, Maicon who now currently plays for Manchester City.

Gareth Bale has made 26 appearances scoring 16 times for Spurs making 122 shots and 2 Assists for his team mates. (Shot>goal-23.1%). Before he had that amazing season in 2008 Gareth Bale was labeled a jinx by all the Tottenham fans and he was close to leaving the North London club to join Birmingham in 2006/07 as he didn’t deliver the performances the Tottenham fans and coaching staff expected from him. However, that’s history now.

Bale’s most destructive weapon is his pace both on and off the ball and a beautiful goal scoring touch. He can deliver a great cross on the run and he is also a free-kick specialist. But his main weaknesses is his decision making when to shoot, or to pass and when to run with the balla. He is still a young footballer who hasn’t reached his peak and I think these will develop with experience.

If you compare these two spectacular footballers I think stats is the only way to compare these two.

Suarez	Bale
Appearances –  28	Appearances – 26
Goals – 22	Goals – 16
Assists – 4	Assists – 2
Shots – 158	Shots – 122
Total open play passes – 1062	Total open play passes -1021
Completed – 800	Completed – 846
Chances created – 95	Chances created – 59
Dribbles – 189	Dribbles -184
Successful dribbles – 72	Successful Dribbles –  69