Are Liverpool struggling without Luis Suarez?

Luis Suarez is certainly missed at Anfield

I can answer that question m'lord. However the guts of the piece is more investigating why Liverpool have not hit the heights of the season and not just the obvious.

Liverpool, after coming so close to the title last year, are languishing in 14th place having lost three games already.

The Premier League table may be in its infancy with teams having played just six games apiece but Liverpool, after coming so close to the title last year, are struggling early on.

Much of the attention has been placed upon a player who no longer wears the famous red shirt, having swapped Anfield for the Camp Nou in the summer. Such was his impact during his turbulent spell on Merseyside it is perhaps no surprise that Luis Suarez continues to attract such debate.

Liverpool finished last season as runners-up in the Premier League, just two points behind champions Manchester City. They won 26 of their 38 league games, scoring 101 goals. Suarez and Daniel Sturridge combined to form a deadly partnership, scoring 52 goals between them with the Uruguayan ending up as the league's top scorer with 31.

So it was inevitable therefore that Liverpool would miss a player of his ability. Though he has always attracted controversy, there is no doubting his talent on the field. He has developed into one of the best players in the world and any team would miss the attacking threat and the goals he can provide.

Liverpool's struggles so far this season mirror those of Tottenham during 2013-14. Last summer Spurs sold their talisman Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a huge fee and spent all the millions received on a host of new players, none of who individually or collectively made up for the loss of Bale.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has, on the face of it, gone down the same route, buying many new players in with the money received for Suarez but, so far, none have come close to making the sort of impact on Merseyside that Suarez did.

Liverpool drew with local rivals Everton at Anfield in their most recent Premier League game, having beaten them 4-0 in the corresponding fixture last season.

Opposing boss Roberto Martinez was asked about the difference between the Liverpool of last season and this year's version. He said that with Suarez in the side Liverpool were "very dynamic" and many would agree with that.

There was an unpredictability about Liverpool that was exciting to watch with goals possible almost every time they surged forward. This season, at least on the evidence of the first few games, they are easier to defend against and, having scored just eight goals in those first six games, it is obvious that scoring is more difficult this season than last.

One of the main signings Brendan Rodgers made in the summer was that of Mario Balotelli, brought in from AC Milan for his second spell in English football. The striker would have been expected to have replaced at least some of Suarez's goals, yet he is not yet off the mark for his new club in the Premier League though he has scored in the Champions League.

Other new recruits are also still yet to find their feet for their new club. Winger Lazar Markovic was signed for 20m but has yet to fit into the Liverpool style of play while Adam Lallana arrived from Southampton and similarly has not shown the Anfield crowd the talent he demonstrated for the Saints last season.

There is some mitigation for Rodgers in that Daniel Sturridge, who had such an outstanding season in 2013-14, has been out injured and when he comes back the partnership with Balotelli will begin to develop.

However, throughout the rest of the team Rodgers has some decisions to make, not least in terms of formation. Last season he used a midfield diamond to good effect but some of the new signings, notably Markovic and Lallana, are more used to a 4-3-3 shape and therefore Rodgers has a decision to make.

Does he give the new players time to adapt to his preferred formation or does he scrap his diamond and go back to the type of formation that the players are more comfortable with?

Formation is a bigger issue overall for Liverpool as they search for the form shown last season even when they were without Suarez. Four or five different formations have already been used this season including 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and even 3-5-2 on occasions.

When Sturridge returns it is likely that Rodgers will play two upfront, so that brings him back to the question of what to do with the midfield to bring the best out of his new signings and to allow Raheem Sterling to play in his best position.

Arguably Sterling has been the one plus for Liverpool so far this season. His development last term was outstanding, earning him a place in England's World Cup squad. Though the team disappointed in Brazil, Sterling impressed. He has also started the new season well, scoring three goals so far and his future looks bright.

He played well too in Liverpool's last game,against Everton but that team performance, while promising, also demonstrated the difference in quality when comparing last season to this. If ever Liverpool needed a Suarez in their team it was against their near neighbours. They dominated possession and should have won the game only to be pegged back late on through a wonder goal by Phil Jagielka.

There were a number of good Liverpool performances; Lallana, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson and Alberto Moreno among them, but they could not make their territorial advantage count and the late equaliser deprived them of two points. It's hard not to think that last season, with Suarez in form, Liverpool would not scored a second and gone on to win the game comfortably.

So the question of whether Liverpool are struggling to adapt post Suarez cannot be answered fully this early in the season. With many new players yet to fully adapt to their new team and, in some cases, to English football in general, it will take time.

Also, Liverpool have the added distraction of Champions League football which was not an issue last season. So, time will tell whether the side can adapt and put the Uruguayan's departure fully behind them. However, it is certainly an issue and Brendan Rodgers, who has impressed as Liverpool manager so far, will need all his skill to get Liverpool moving forward after the Luis Suarez era.