Most would assume we're moving towards a drastic struggle next season without our top goal scorer Luis Suarez. We will not be able to attract a player as good as him (he's the best striker in the world) but we do have a player who can perform in his place.
Daniel Sturridge may not be as talented as Suarez but something you may not know is we have a better win ratio without Suarez. Matches with Suarez we had a 50% win ratio but when he didn't play Liverpool managed a 65% win ratio. Similar stats apply while Suarez played for Ajax.
Playing without Suarez in the beginning of the Season we grinded out results and Sturridge ultimately carried us to victories. Suarez leaving will make enough funds available to create a stronger squad which means even less reliance on Sturridge next season.
Although I have 2 large concerns for next season.
My first concern is the way in which we spend the money. I trust Brendan to know which players requires for next season but as we know the transfer committee appears to often have a excessivly large influence on the players we sign, along with our owners previously being strict on how funds are spent (Konoplyanka, Salah, Willian, Diego Costa etc.).
My final concern is if Brendan tinkers with the system which he probably will, how long will it take to settle? Last season we spent far too long tinkering with systems which clearly weren't working which costed us results. Playing the same system would mean we need another world class player to directly replace Suarez. Can Alexis Sanchez play as a #9?
Providing these do not become problems I am confident we will become better without suarez and he will regret leaving us.
We are not in the same league as Barca and Real and since a long time, so Suarez leaving for any if those teams is not a decline in stature, but only a confirmation.
Some of the older fans have the feeling that we are still one of the biggest (top 5 probably) clubs in the world, but we are not, we have won only one major trophy in the last 20 years. We do have a very rich history though.
