Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has again backed currently misfiring forward Luis Suarez to come good in front of goal.
Suarez scored 31 Premier League goals for Liverpool last year, leading Barca to pay 80 million euros to sign him last summer, but his first 16 games in all competitions for the Catalan club have seen him find the net just five times.
The Blaugrana coach told a news conference that all forwards had low moments, however he was more than happy with Suarez's contribution to date, which which has included eight assists.
"All forwards go through these moments, for whatever reason, when it seems he is far away from scoring," he said. "But in each game he has chances, in each game he brings us a lot of things, and we are delighted with his performance.
"We are worried about winning the game, not who scores the goals. We are happy with all Luis brings us, and what he will bring in the future. He is perfectly adapted and integrated into the day to day of the team. There is no aspect of Suarez's play that worries us, none at all."
Asked by reporters if he was concerned about Suarez's dramatic reactions to his recent misses [such as against Atletico Madrid in last Wednesday's 1-0 Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg win over Atletico Madrid, or his being overshadowed by high profile attacking partners Lionel Messi and Neymar, Luis Enrique was again confident in his comments.
"All players make mistakes, all coaches too," he said. "Suarez will have very good numbers, regardless of the players he is alongside. Very few players I have seen move better inside the area, shooting is something natural, and it will come good for him soon, for sure."
Generally speaking things have been much better for Barca lately. The doom and gloom around the 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad on Jan. 4, and subsequent reports of a row between Luis Enrique and Messi, have been replaced by a new optimism following five straight wins in all competitions. The Asturian said no one big change had led to this turnaround.
"It is not that one thing has changed, it is an accumulation of things," Luis Enrique said. "If everyone is pulling in the same direction, then results come, although there can be better or worse games. There are aspects of play we need to improve, areas we keep evolving. I see all this as something normal during a season for a top class team."
Those five wins included 5-0 and 4-0 victories over Elche in the Copa del Rey, however Luis Enrique said he did not think the recent tie would have too big an impact when the teams met again on Saturday in La Liga.
"We do not look back, and do not have those games as references," he said. "La Liga is full of surprises, there is no easy game in football. So we have prepared, in the few training sessions we have, for this game. For sure it will be difficult, they have a lot to play for. Intensity is very important in football, if you lack that any opponent can make it hard for you."
Luis Enrique has named a strong squad for the trip to Elche, with just midfielder Ivan Rakitic being rested ahead of next Wednesday's return Copa quarterfinal at Atletico.
The aim of not demanding too much of his players was helped by Barca's planned friendly in Qatar on Feb. 4 having been cancelled, the Asturian admitted.
"Of course it is better not to play this game, it is positive news for us, allows us to focus on the games we have to play," Luis Enrique said. "I told the president [Josep Maria Bartomeu] a while ago that we saw this game as dangerous. But we must understand Qatar is our sponsor and we have commitments with them. In this case we were able to avoid playing a game so far away in this such complicated week for us."