Enrique Likens Stopping Suarez to Marking Messi

With the season winding down, the praise for Luis Suarez has only intensified, and by likening him to Lionel Messi in the way he can beat you even when you know exactly how he's going to do it, Jose Enrique may have set the new high bar when it comes to praising the Uruguayan striker.

"I tell him all the time that he always does the same thing," said Enrique, "he tries to do nutmegs. It's always 'megs, 'megs, 'megs and you just know he is going to do it but you can't stop him. When you know someone you can know what they are going to do, but he's still a very difficult player to train against and he scores so many goals in training.

"It's like with Messi. Everyone says he is going to cut inside all the time and you know he is going to do this but you can't stop him from cutting inside and scoring goals. With Luis it's the same [but] of course there are some differences between the two players."

Enrique, like many of Liverpool's other players, also considers Suarez to be the best player—or at least the best attacker—in England. And for the defender, it's not just about Suarez' ability to score goals and beat him with nutmegs in training, with his workrate and determination just as important in making Suarez the player he is.

"Luis is a great all-round striker," he added, "but it's not just about the goals, it's about what he gives to the team—it's about his personality and his attitude. He's the same in training as what you see in games. He gives 100 per cent all the time. He never misses training and, touch wood, he has not been injured so far."

Suarez will need a few more players to share Enrique's outlook if he's to have any hope of beating Gareth Bale and Robin van Persie to player of the year honoursin England this season—and given that players aren't allowed to vote for their teammates, it will have to be more than just those who ply their trade for Liverpool. Still, if Enrique's right, there might be a few opposition defenders ready to give him the nod.

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