He's been found guilty of racist conduct and been branded 'a serial diver' in his near two-year stay at Liverpool. But Luis Suarez insists he does not care about the public's perception of him.
The 25-year-old has been a figure of controversey since arriving at Anfield from Dutch giants Ajax in January 2011 with his goal scoring exploits married with a perceived penchant for diving.
Both Swansea defender Ashley Williams and Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny hit the headlines earlier this season when they both labelled Suarez a 'cheat' for going to ground far too easily.
The Uruguayan international also came in for severe criticism in the wake of being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra which landed him an eight match ban.
This season, though, Suarez has done all his talking on the pitch with his goal in Liverpool's crushing 4-0 win over Fulham at Anfield on Saturday his 11th of the campaign.
Suarez insists the negative press that he has received does not faze him, and insists the only opinion that matters is the Liverpool fans.
"I still sleep soundly every night," he told the Mail on Sunday. "I'm not worried about everything people say. I don't care what people outside Liverpool think."
That said the striker is intent on shedding the unwanted reputation of being a diver. "Sometimes you're standing there and someone comes flying in, so you move your leg out of the way or you go to ground because you're scared of getting hit," he said.
"If I leave my leg there so the referee can see it's a foul, I risk suffering a big injury. That's why sometimes your instinct tells you to go to ground. It's a split-second instinct, not a conscious decision you make on the pitch. Of course, I don't want people to go around saying 'this guy just dives'.
"I'm trying to change and to avoid doing it because I know football is different here, and it's helping me at the same time. I've discussed it with both managers I've played under here, Kenny Dalglish and Brendan Rodgers.
"Kenny also used to tell me not to protest so much, that I should focus more on playing football, that I have a lot of qualities and so should forget about referees. And Brendan has also told me a few things to help me improve."
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