Liverpool fans are known worldwide for their terrific support of their club.
There is a reason Anfield is such a legendary stadium in the world of football and it has everything to do with the supporters who fill it on a bi-weekly basis.
Often this support is shown through a cacophony of noise, as Liverpool fans sing songs for their favourite players.
To earn your own song from the Kop is a rare honour in football, as is the achievement of having a banner displayed in your name.
For everything he gave to Liverpool during his time with the club, Luis Suarez was a well-deserving recipient of both.
And according to former West Ham defender James Collins, one banner he saw in tribute to Suarez over 10 years ago has left a lasting impression on him to this day.
James Collins recalls Luis Suarez banner
Suarez was a sensational player for Liverpool. There is an argument that the former No.7 is the most gifted player ever to pull on the red shirt.
By the end of the 2012/13 season, Suarez was starting to approach the peak of his powers at Anfield. He hit 30 goals that year before going on to get 31 in the next.
This was the Suarez Collins faced during a 0-0 draw on Merseyside on April 7th 2013. But ahead of that match, the Welshman says he saw a banner in the crowd which made him determined to keep the Uruguay icon at bay.
“Anfield, I think it was 2013. I don’t know if anyone ever really remembers their best game, but that game stands out,” Collins told That Peter Crouch Podcast.
“Why it stands out I think is Suarez was Suarez at the time, unplayable at points. He was little and I didn’t really fancy playing against a little player. I was better against the big ones.”
“I remember being on the Anfield pitch and looking up and seeing a sign that said ‘Luis Suarez could nutmeg a mermaid’ and thinking. ‘yeah, this is going to be tough!'”
“I’ve never heard that, nutmeg a mermaid, that’s brilliant!” laughed Peter Crouch. “He was brilliant at it.”
Collins vows to ‘steam into’ Suarez
Expanding on how the game ultimately played out, Collins says that after seeing the banner, he vowed to not let Suarez get the better of him.
“Right then on that pitch I just decided, ‘I’m going to steam into him’,” he admitted. “Every time he gets the ball I’m going to steam into him. Kick him, bring him down, whatever, so it makes him as uncomfortable as possible, rather than him dictating to me.”
“So I literally kicked the s— out of Suarez for 90 minutes, didn’t get sent off, didn’t even get a yellow. But there’s pictures about of him wincing with me steaming in and that.
“It’s the best game I ever played and my tactic literally was to kick him every time he got the ball!” Collins continued. “Not hurt him, but be really aggressive against him because otherwise if you let him play, he’s far superior than me, he’s going to take the p— out of me. He didn’t react at all.”
Given that Liverpool could not get a goal all game, it sounds like Collins did his job. But it’s also true that Suarez did get a nutmeg or two in during the match. He really could put the ball through the legs of anyone.
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