'I wouldn't take Luis Suarez back tomorrow even if I could, he's unreliable,' says WWE Superstar and lifelong Liverpool fan Sheamus

WWE's fighting Irishman believes the squad need time to gel together and have enough quality in their summer signings to put the memory of Luis Suarez to bed

Sheamus in action against The Miz (WWE)

The 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid was certainly a shock in that Liverpool weren’t handed an absolute beating by the reigning European champions, and there was enough to suggest that the Reds could still make something out of this season despite their poor start.

The departure of Luis Suarez has been accredited for this poor run, with the controversial striker completing a £75m transfer to Barcelona in the summer, four-month ban in tow for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup.

But this is not to blame according to one high-profile Liverpool supporter – namely WWE Superstar Sheamus. His passion for the club is undoubted, and the recently dethroned US Champion will head to Anfield on Monday for a look around the famous stadium in a rare break from his gruelling European Tour schedule.

Proud Irishman Sheamus told The Independent that Suarez simply had to go after his World Cup exploits, and even went as far to say that he would not take him back should the Reds have the chance to do so tomorrow.

Read the full Sheamus interview here

“No I wouldn’t, he’s one player and he’s unreliable,” says Sheamus as we talk in a hotel overlooking Wembley Arena, where he went on to defeat The Miz in the WWE’s live show. “When he’s on form he’s amazing but there are players that were around him that created those opportunities for him that he was able to put away and I just don’t think he’s worth it.

“He missed a couple of months last season and he would have missed a couple of months this season too, you can’t do that. You can’t rely on him, he’s unreliable and you have to build the team around players who are reliable, not just for a short amount of time.

“He’s a part-time player! If he wants a holiday he just goes and bites somebody, gets a couple of months off.”

Suarez bit Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 win over Italy at the World Cup (PA)

We’ve already spoken about all things WWE, but there’s an excitement in his voice when we begin to talk about football – thankfully he shows a strong resistance to being Americanised in that he refrains from calling it ‘soccer’ – and it’s unsurprising given the demands that being a WWE Superstar necessitates.

Sheamus only landed from his pan-Atlantic flight four hours before we meet, and after a minimal amount of shut-eye he’ll take to the ring before the WWE moves on to Cardiff, Belfast and his hometown of Dublin in the coming days.

Back on all things Liverpool though, and like most fans of the club, Sheamus feels they are on to a winner with Brendan Rodgers in charge. However, he tries to tackle perhaps his biggest challenge yet – explaining the great conundrum that is Liverpool’s drop in form.

“I don’t know, I don’t think it’s the Suarez thing,” says Sheamus. “Suarez was a great player but you know he got suspended again and would have missed a chunk of the season anyway. I think Brendan Rodgers is doing what every great manager can, he’s trying to bring a lot of new players in and strengthen the squad and make it better and I just think these players are having trouble gelling with each other. I just think it’s natural, you can’t build that overnight.

Brendan Rodgers looks on during Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Real Madrid (GETTY IMAGES)

“We had a great season last year but I think Brendan Rodgers was not happy to just sit back on that. He wanted to strengthen areas of the team that needed to be strengthened and I think some of these players are taking time to get involved.

“The team did a great job against Real Madrid last night. At the beginning it looked a little cagey and I thought it was going to be a slaughter but they really stuck together and pushed Real back and could easily have walked away with a draw. A lot of people on social media are obviously throwing their two cents in and got all these guys saying ‘oh he should have done this, he should have done that’, but I don’t see Gary Lineker managing any team, and it’s very easy to sit back in an armchair, point the finger and say ‘you did that wrong, you did that wrong’, like armchair managers, you know what I mean.

Sheamus will be given a stadium tour of Anfield on Monday (WWE)

He also went on to defend the Northern Irish manager for his decision to make multiple changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Newcastle. Rodgers was criticised for his decision to drop players such as Steven Gerrard, Raheem sterling and an out-of-form Mario Balotelli, but the Great White believes Rodgers got the decision spot-on with the match against Chelsea on Saturday threatening to make or break their season.

“I think what Brendan Rodgers did was right, I thought it was successful,” he said. “He was able to show that he was able to change several players, prove to everybody in the team that no-one’s guaranteed a spot, rest a lot of key players and at the same time walk away with a very reputable result.

Sheamus believes Liverpool are in safe hands with Rodgers as manager (Getty Images)

“Okay they didn’t win the match, but how many teams are able to walk away from the Bernabeu with a draw. Barcelona, the other day – a team worth hundreds of millions of pounds – couldn’t, so I think there’s potential there and I think it’s easy for people to criticise when they’re not in that position themselves. Brendan Rodgers showed a lot of bottle in what he did and I’m very, very positive and confident with the team in his hands.”

Buy tickets for WWE Smackdown at Liverpool's Echo Arena on Tuesday 11 November by visiting www.theticketfactory.com