December 12th. £12 million. Twelve months ago.
Daniel Sturridge has quickly turned into the kind of player Liverpool fans suddenly think they can’t be without; not bad, considering exactly 12 months ago an awful lot were praying he wasn’t the name on Brendan Rodgers’ list when the Reds needed to sign a forward.
On the face of it, Sturridge’s soaring reputation is deserved: 22 goals in 30 games since he joined is a fantastic return, with many of those goals proving decisive in helping the team put points on the board this season.
He’s currently the third-highest scorer in the Premier League having scored nine goals in 12 games, five of which have been the first goal in a game. So often that one is the most difficult to grab, to break down an opposition defence, and also the most important.
His first three goals of the season alone were worth an additional six points for Liverpool, each being the difference in consecutive 1-0 victories.
No wonder, then, that so many quickly see his latest injury as a big problem for Liverpool to overcome.
Thankfully, a certain No. 7 has been making that absence a little easier to stomach.
But that’s one of the things about Sturridge, isn’t it? His injury record. Since he’s joined Liverpool the club have played 38 competitive games, which means that with one niggle and another, he’s missed a little over 20% of matches. That figure will rise a little higher with each of the passing games over Christmas as he sits out with his ankle ligament injury.
It begs the question, do Liverpool need another forward? Can Luis Suarez alone carry the can while Sturridge sits out?
Iago Aspas and Fabio Borini have not yet proven goalscoring additions to the side, so it’s either Suarez, the midfielders or the purchase of another forward which has to make up for Sturridge’s missing goals.
Those two,Aspas and Borini, should give Liverpool warning though. There’s little point in the club bringing in another ‘backup’ standard of forward, who will not likely stand out above either of those two and will not start ahead of Sturridge when he is fit.
But, bring in a top-quality striker, and someone will be left unhappy when all are available.
“I’ve not signed here to play for a couple of years and then move on. I’ve signed to be here for as long as possible.”
So spoke Sturridge in his first interview with the club after signing, but he’s also repeatedly stated how not being given a chance at Chelsea left him at breaking point.
Sturridge is a proper striker: happy when he’s playing, happiest when he’s scoring. Keep him on the pitch and he’ll keep hitting the back of the net. Anything less than that, being rotated with other players perhaps, and Liverpool could start to have a problem.
See him score and the beaming smile (and that dance) break out straight after. The rest of the game, though, even at three or four goals to the good, he’ll be irked if chances don’t fall his way or he misses his shots on goal.
There cannot be much doubt that Brendan Rodgers has improved a number of players, but it’s difficult to see exactly where he has improved Sturridge’s game to this point other than the fact he’s actually got him onto the pitch and let him show the world just what he’s capable of.
Sturridge started scoring almost as soon as he pulled on the red shirt and has continued from there. Small pointers, tactical alterations and fitness aside, the Sturridge who scored a fine follow-up finish against Manchester United in January is essentially the same one as who netted a delicate chip against West Brom and a glancing header against Everton in December.
Liverpool’s No. 15 shows an extraordinary amount of game intelligence in his forward role, far too much to be merely labelled ‘lazy’ or ‘selfish’ as some still claim.
That’s not to suggest he hasn’t had the odd performance where he got through less than the requisite amount of work rate, because he has, but that’s a malaise which affects the entire squad from time to time.
Sturridge’s great strength lies in his movement and ability to pick space. Whether he is using pace to exploit giant gaps behind defences and run onto through-balls (see his first against Newcastle last season) or dropping off into space in front of the defence to shoot from range (Stoke this season), he has the vision and the mental capacity to pick a position where his team mates can find him.
And his goalscoring, as we’ve seen, can encompass a whole range of techniques and finishes.
While nobody should be comparing the two at this point, Sturridge does share similarities with the great Robbie Fowler: able to score from anywhere, and by any means necessary.
Long-range piledrivers, close-range tap-ins, headers off crosses or because of sneaky, quick movement on set pieces, Sturridge has already supplied a shed-load of goals which negate any attempt to label him merely a penalty-box striker.
In build-up play, too, Sturridge has shown his importance. Individually, he’s linked up well with Suarez and Philippe Coutinho extremely well at different times, though getting all three on the pitch together for any extended period has proved challenging for one reason and another.
Final-third players naturally tend to give the ball away with more regularity than midfielders or defenders on account of the areas that they operate in, but Sturridge has proven an integral player in transition and attack phases without needlessly conceding possession. His pass completion rate is the highest of the three forwards at the club this season and as we’ve seen in games where Liverpool are leading yet under pressure, his hold up play continues to mature.
A short dribble infield, perhaps even backward, followed by a cross-field pass, that has become a regular feature of Sturridge’s play which allows the team to regroup, push higher up the field and keep hold of the ball.
All told, the Reds have themselves a genuinely top-class forward who can still improve further. They’ve got to be careful that he also doesn’t regress; he hasn’t yet been consistent for long enough or done enough in the game to suggest that it’s no longer a possibility, but there’s certainly enough about his game to believe he can make a significant contribution even if the goals don’t continue to flow at the same rate.
See, Sturridge is a striker, but it’s not all about scoring goals at Liverpool.
But it doesn’t half help that he does that extremely well!
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