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London - Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has heralded Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers for finding the perfect tactical system for him during the two years they worked together at Anfield.
Rodgers introduced a slick, passing style following his arrival from Swansea City in 2012 and Suarez was one of the chief beneficiaries, scoring 61 goals during his last two seasons on Merseyside.
The Uruguay international left Liverpool for Barcelona during the close season after being pilloried for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup, but he says that he will always owe Rodgers a debt of gratitude.
"There was a moment during the first real, in-depth conversation that I had with Brendan Rodgers when I looked at him and it hit me: 'He's right,'" said Suarez, in an extract from his new autobiography published by British newspaper The Guardian on Tuesday.
"We had been talking for a little while, he was explaining the way that he wanted the team to play, and everything was falling into place. Everything he said made perfect sense. I was completely convinced."
Suarez said that Rodgers's playing philosophy, encouraging the goalkeeper to play like an outfield player and asking a central midfielder to drop deep in search of possession, was something he had never encountered before.
"I listened and I was sold. It seemed so simple that way, but no one had ever walked me through it like that before," Suarez writes in Crossing The Line: My Story.
"I thought: 'He's right. It is impossible in a 30-metre space, with the players Liverpool have got, with the ability that (goalkeeper) Pepe Reina has with the ball at his feet, for them to get the ball off us."
He adds: "The new style suited me. Playing in England where all the centre-backs are tall and strong, the long punt up the pitch is no good to me, but a quick ball to release me either side of them works well.
"He (Rodgers) was keen to play to my strengths, and my style suited his."
