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LONDON. — Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has claimed that his future does not depend on the club securing Uefa Champions League football this season.
The Uruguay international is enjoying a prolific campaign for the Anfield outfit, with his 24 Barclays English Premier League goals firing the club to second in the table.
Suarez recently signed a new long-term contract to keep him with the Merseyside outfit until 2017 following a summer of speculation amid interest from Arsenal.
There have been suggestions that the 27-year-old could look to move on if Brendan Rodgers’ side miss out on the top four, but Suarez has moved to calm any concerns among the Reds faithful.
Asked if he would stay even if Liverpool fail to finish in the top four, he told FourFourTwo magazine: “I think so. I signed my new contract because I’m very happy here and I want to stay where I’m enjoying football and life.
“Playing in the Champions League isn’t dependent on that.
“I’d actually prefer not to win this Golden Boot and for Liverpool to qualify for the Champions League this season.
“Any player would miss the Champions League. We’ve not been good enough since I’ve been here to qualify, but this could definitely be our year.
“It would be a frustration not to get fourth because we’ve done everything possible and given our maximum to qualify.”
Suarez feels that as ‘one of the best players in the world’ he can help drive Liverpool on over the final 10 games of the season as they look to return to the top table of continental competition.
“This is my best season yet. I feel in a very good place, physically and mentally,” he added.
“Every day, I feel better in this club. I hope to continue down this path because we want Champions League football for Liverpool and, personally speaking, I want to continue that mentality throughout the World Cup with Uruguay.
“I’m 27, at my peak, and I feel very happy within the club because I’m part of the best football in the world — the Premier League. I’m enjoying every game I play and my family life here, which is very important.
“I like winning. I hate losing — I’ve done enough of that. I’m one of the best players in the world, so having the opportunity to win everything — and losing only occasionally — is what drives me. I’m ambitious. I want to win and won’t stop until I score one, two or more goals.”
Suarez believes Reds boss Rodgers has been pivotal in Liverpool’s recent resurgence and feels he can lead the club to even greater heights next term.
He said: “You can tell he studied in Holland and Spain. He wants us to play with the ball on the floor.
“He understands the atmosphere in which players thrive and talks to us on a regular basis about how he wants us to play. He always said his first year would be a building one and the second would be better, which it has been. I hope next season can be better still.”
Meanwhile, Glen Johnson admits that he enjoys playing for Brendan Rodgers much more than under Jose Mourinho.
England full-back Johnson served under Mourinho at Chelsea, but he was never able to become a regular first-team player at Stamford Bridge.
Johnson feels that the Portuguese tactician was unable to get the best out of him and says that Liverpool boss Rodgers is better at “man management’.
“It was difficult for me under Jose at Chelsea because there was a moment when he said I deserved to play on merit,” he told the Daily Mail.
“He said if I played well in the next game I would play the week after. I got man of the match so he couldn’t drop me. Then in the next game he said the same thing and I got man of the match again.
“Then we had another game and after that Barcelona. I remember speaking to my agent and saying, ‘He won’t play me in this game because if I play well then he has to play me against Barcelona’, and I knew that wasn’t going to happen.
“He didn’t play me in that game and from that moment I just lost it and thought, ‘Well, how am I meant to respect you now? It’s just finished’.
“Brendan wouldn’t do that. He’s shown that if you’re good enough you’re old enough and you’ll play in the big games if you deserve to. So in terms of man management, Brendan is definitely better.”
Johnson believes Rodgers’ style of play is not easily copied, adding: “Some managers like the thought of playing the way Brendan does but haven’t got the confidence or know-how to pull it off.
“Others would probably have panicked and changed their philosophy just to try and win. But Brendan was mentally strong enough and knew what he was trying to implement was right and that once we grabbed hold of it we would be a success.”
Liverpool have moved to second in the table, just four points off leaders Chelsea, and Johnson admits their confidence could not be higher.
“We believe we can win every game and I remember having that feeling at Chelsea,” he admitted.
“The first year we won the title (2005) we could be losing 2-0 and still think we would win, and we usually would. That was confidence at its peak and we are moving towards that at Liverpool.
“You have to believe you can win the league and until there are not enough points available we’ll keep thinking we can. We’ve got 10 cup finals, really, because we can’t afford to lose games or drop many points because Manchester City and Chelsea won’t. — Sky Sports.
Online Reporter