'Few teams could cope with that'
Few teams in world football could have coped with the talismanic contribution of Luis Suarez in notching four goals against Norwich City on Wednesday, according to Reds midfielder Joe Allen.
The Liverpool No.7 became the first player in Barclays Premier League history to achieve three separate hat-tricks past the same opposition, guiding his team to a 5-1 victory in the process.
Allen returned to the line-up at Anfield and completed the 90 minutes, enjoying a close-quarters viewpoint of his Uruguayan teammate's unforgettable performance.
Afterwards, the Welsh international tried to conjure up fitting words to describe Suarez. "That's what you call a masterclass," he told the Liverpool Echo.
"Luis showed why he's one of the best players in the world. There are not many teams in the world who would be able to cope with that kind of performance.
"He was unstoppable. It was fantastic from him individually, and for us to get three points after the disappointment of the defeat to Hull was vital.
"We were lucky we had the chance to get back out there just a few days later. We all wanted to get back to winning ways and back to performing in the way we know we can.
"Luis takes the burden off a lot of the players when he scores goals like that. He inspires everyone and it's a pleasure to work with someone of his quality.
"He is getting more and more consistent and that's fantastic for Liverpool Football Club. Long may that continue.
"When you have a player of that quality in your team, you want to keep hold of him for as long as you can. At times it's just a case of getting the ball to him and letting him produce. His goals came out of nothing really."
Allen was selected from the start against the Canaries for only the third time this season, and was only denied a goal by an outstanding John Ruddy stop, after an early hamstring problem disrupted the 23-year-old's opening to the campaign.
The No.24 did feature in the Merseyside derby, although his experience was marred by an unfortunate miss in the second half - but the Welshman is determined to produce a response.
He added: "In some ways I feel like I'm starting again. It had been a long time since I started a league game here.
"There are things I've improved on since I joined Liverpool and hopefully I'll get plenty more opportunities to get out there and show that.
"What happened in the derby was massively disappointing but these are the things you have to deal with as footballers. It was a bad miss - I accept that. I accept the responsibility and the repercussions of the miss.
"I've moved on and it was good for me to get an opportunity to play and get back to what I do best. It would have been nice to score after the disappointment at Goodison but it was a great save."
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