Rodgers: Suarez has improved me

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers feels working alongside striker Luis Suarez has improved him as a manager.

During his first two campaigns at Anfield, Rodgers has achieved finishes of seventh and second, with Liverpool having competed for the Premier League title up to the final day of the recent campaign.

The Uruguay international, named Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Writers’ Association player of the year, has been a key part of Rodgers’ strong start at the club, scoring 54 league goals in his past two seasons, despite regular speculation of a departure.

Suarez has endured difficulties in recent years, which include bans for using a racial slur towards Patrie Evra and biting Branislav Ivanovic, but Rodgers feels the striker’s undoubted quality has helped him grow as a manager.

“I know for however long I am at Liverpool, whenever I leave I will have become a better manager and a better person because of Luis Suarez and for that I thank him so much,” Rodgers said at the FWA dinner.

“For a young manager like myself coming into a club like Liverpool, I understand the pressures of the club and those pressures include everything that involves managing top players.

“For me, he has challenged me every day of my life, he’s done everything that you would need to do at the top level of the game as a player.

“When I came into Liverpool as manager, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard said to me this was the best player that they had played with.

“I thought about those two and all the great players they’ve played with in their career, so I was really interested to see what his play was like close up.

“He is a winner, his determination is unique, he is absolutely relentless. He is someone that trains every single day of his life. He doesn’t look for an excuse.”