You can fault Suarez's individual actions (his finishing can be akin to an off form Benzema, his dribbling/passing comparable to an off form Di Maria) but you can't fault his contribution to the team in general.
Messi's most amazing run of form since early 2013 has been after the inclusion of Suarez into the side, as a direct result of what Suarez does. Suarez's presence allows Messi to roam on the right and link up with Alves, one of his best weapons. Suarez has provided a number of goalscoring chances or assists to Messi. Suarez's various runs and movements create space for Messi to attack channels at will instead of being static the way he was in both Tito's/Tata's systems as the lone 'central' outlet. Suarez has also been key to unlocking the most cohesive and dangerous front three unit we've had since MVP (2011, 4 years ago). All 3 link up well and create chances for each other, greatly facilitating our best player (Messi).
One can make an easy general claim that "Alexis also provides workrate/movement" but if you were to ask Messi which player helps him perform better of the two I can practically guarantee he'd say Suarez. Alexis's attacking movement was more peripheral than Suarez's is and he wasn't exactly creating space for others by doing it. He was just getting into good positions for his own chances (which he'd either fluff or score confidently, depending on his form). Pedro is more of a support player than Alexis was and yet he doesn't even facilitate things for his teammates as much as Suarez does.
I fully agree that Suarez is not performing up to the level that he's capable of (he can be much more clinical/refined in practically every aspect) but there's no way you can belittle his importance.
I can't agree with you about Alexis. Whenever Sanchez has played in the CF position, Messi has profited. Barca's best performances in 2011/12 were with Sanchez ahead of Messi and Cesc. There are enough allas videos on youtube to prove my point. Obviously while on the wing, as in 2012/13 and 2013/14, Sanchez is not going to create a lot of space for you and his movement wasn't as beneficial for Messi, who will still got crowded out in the middle. In addition the team as a whole was also a lot staler with Tito and Tata and their slow possession game, and Messi was also quite noticeably saving himself for the World Cup last season. This season, I credit mainly Lucho and Messi himself for his resurgence in form. The team is clearly more focused on an attack-centric shape, with the ball being provided to them as soon as possible to exploit spaces in defence. Messi has also been undeniably better in his own actions and his consistent brilliance this season has been documented even before Suarez played a single game. I do credit Suarez though with essentially forcing Lucho to play Messi on the right.
Suarez was bought because he is a much bigger goal threat than Alexis, not to create space for Messi. Of course, as a by-product of his playing style, he creates space for Messi, just like Alexis did in his first and second seasons. I believe that he is also a better dribbler and better at creating chances than Alexis. But when it comes to creating space for Messi (when played in the right positions), I don't find either one of them clearly winning the battle.
Exactly. The only reason David Villa, the only forward in recent years who was better in his first season at Barca, was so good in 10/11 is because, by playing with Spain, he already knew the team and how it worked.
Every other forward (for example Neymar, Sanchez, Henry) has been better in subsequent seasons.
Alexis had a really really good first season.
