KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Daniel Sturridge set to stay for another season!

He was being played on the right wing to accommodate Drogba and Torres, and still massively outperforming Torres and showing flashes that could outshine Drogba. He was, as you say one of the most talented strikers in the prem.

Torres was Abromavich's shiny new toy, and 3 managers fell on their swords being forced to make him work, despite the fact that he couldn't hit a barn door while wearing blue. That club was in chaos at the time, and had to call up Rafa to shore things up. Sturridge left because he wanted to play. Chelsea let him go because they had Abromavich's plaything and a club legend they were having trouble phasing out as competiton. It wasn't about ability or attitude, it was politics of the Chelsea Circus Club and their merry-go-round of managers.

There is nothing to suggest that they knew something we didn't. Their fans were gnashing their teeth while he tore it up for us. He would miss the odd game, but he was usually back in a week or so until that dinosaur Hodgson's 18th century training methods pushed his body beyond its limits in 14-15, which Rodgers publicly criticized Hodgson for. There were complications with his recovery, and his body was never the same. Brittle, breakable, unreliable.

But to say that he didn't try his hardest for us or didn't care is nonsense. His stifled tears at the league cup final and Europa league final tell me a different story.

Sturridge has received way too much negativity from certain quarters. He doesn't come across as being anything other than the usual pro-footballer, trying to get on the pitch, trying to make money. To be honest, the response we've had from him after his pretty disastrous loan to WB, appears to point to a player with a genuine desire to play. Even a player that was totally honest (which he does appear to be) would be forgiven for throwing in the towel, given his injury record. He hasn't done that, though. It's obvious that he would have preferred to play and be lauded by the fans, than not play, be sent on loan and experience derision. Why would anyone prefer the latter? That he has been over-played when injured, rings true, and is reminiscent of what happened to Owen. I'm hoping Klopp gets more chance to play him and I'd renew his contract - particularly if we could get him to agree to something that reflected the amount of time he was likely to play, given that he needs protection. He is a class player that is great to have for the last half hour of a game. Not sure how pressing he can do, early on, but that's for Klopp to sort out.

It could be that it could be they saw something in him they didn't like. I don't know for sure I was not managing Chelsea at the time sounds like you were

A bit rich trying to have a dig at them for pretending to know things he doesn't. You did the same thing in your previous post.

Changed your tune in the next one, but you sounded just as sure as he did in your last post. Which is it, did they see something we didn't, or are you not sure?

Red i was not managing Chelsea at the time but what I do know is sturridge was very talented at Chelsea and when he first came to Liverpool and now on occasion. So why did both Chelsea and city sell him? Klopp clearly had tired of him loaning him to West Brom with a view no doubt to a sale on a permenant basis. West Brom decided no. Now he is back at Liverpool he is doing ok and I hope it continues I really do. However would you bet your life against him being injured before October is out ? I bet you wouldn't

Sturridge also has had discipline problems and the photo at the beginning of this post hardly instills confidence. He looks like a gangsta rapper I know you are going to say how he portrays himself is up to him. To which I say it depends if you are delivering you can dress as a clown for me. But when you are earning £120k a week for doing nothing it's hardly endearing himself to fans looking like that.

When he finishes his career it will be seen as a great talent gone to waste and a guy who is a bit of an idiot. Maybe not as bad but along the lines of Stan collymore.

Harry Kewell got plenty of stick for his injuries and appearance record from the fans, similar to Sturridge, especially when he was on big money at the time when we signed him, I think Sturridge is being judged in the same way. But the way he acted a few years ago annoyed people as well, he was being flash with his bling etc, which doesn't help when you are always out injured, it's not going to help endear you to the fans.

Owen also got allot of stick for being out injured, I think that's partly why the fans never took to him compared to Fowler, Owen always seemed to be aiming to be fit for England and tournaments rather than Liverpool.

I think Sturridge suffers abit as the story came out that Gerrard had to try and convince him to play against Utd after the physio's gave him the ok to play but he didn't feel 100%, I think all the injuries have really affected him mentally and riddled him with self doubt. I saw an interview with Owen a few weeks ago when he said he was scared to open up and sprint in case he did his hamstrings again, so he would change how he played and sometimes avoided putting himself in a position where he would be expected to make that run.

Back in the summer I would've preferred we got rid of him and brought in a replacement, but he's having a good season so far and is a great option off the bench. Best of luck to him.

There were never any buyers, with his pay and injury record no one would touch him. He is worth keeping this season, but we all know an injury is never far away unfortunately, Klopp is using him wisely in short bursts for his impact, I am guessing the medical staff are heavily involved with how he is used to help prevent any injuries.

He's one of the few players we have who can hit one in from 30 yards out of nowhere, like he did on Saturday, so he's a great option, just bring him on must create space for other players as the defenders will focus on him.

True, there wasn't any solid offers for him. I think you're right about West Brom, maybe that was a wake up call for him. If Klopp was saying 'the future is bright for him' then thats good enough for me. I also think he's more willing to play the part that Klopp wants for him, I guess we'll see.

That line of rhetoric is making several lazy generalizations. When City sold him he was an unproven teenager. He was highly regarded, won young player of the year, and he was starting to break his way in the first team. He wasn't sold to Chelsea, his contract expired because he wanted more guarantees of playtime and wouldn't sign a new deal. This is when City were stockpiling Strikers. Robinho, Tevez, and Bellamy were ahead of him in the pecking order, and Dzeko and Aguero were being lined up for the next year. City didn't let him go willingly. His move to Chelsea was settled by tribunal. So to say that his attitude or even his fitness were why City offloaded him is nonsense because City didn't offload him. He left.

When he signed at Chelsea, he was Drogba's understudy. It was a move up (mind you Chelsea were winning trophies and City weren't), and there was less competition for places. The lad wanted to play, so he went to Chelsea. And did well. He looked like their future. After a very productive loan to Bolton, he got more appearances, more goals, and he did particularly well in the FA cup for them.

Enter Torres. Abromavich gets our star striker, but it's clear he doesn't fit. In the 2010-11, and 2011-12 seasons Sturridge outscores Torres, but he's forced to play on the wing to accommodate him or to come off the bench. Daniel is frustrated for playing time. Benitez comes in and starts to get more out of Torres. Sturridge goes from 43 appearances in 11-12 to only 12 halfway though the year. There is one injury involved there, but it's not terribly serious. He's gone from having 25-45 games a season for the last 4 years to 12, and he's about to hit his peak years. The problem isn't injuries or discipline. He wants to play, and he wants to play his natural position. So he moves to us. Noticing a theme?

At the point he arrives to Merseyside, he has never had a documented discipline problem and he's only had one major injury. He is still very young with pace and skill, with lots of potential, but he wants to be a main man. He gets that opportunity, and he lights up the league. He brings the best out of Suarez and has the most productive season and a half of his career. He picks up knocks every so often, which are worrisome, but never misses more than a week or two. We have Suarez, meanwhile, so it's not a big deal.

Then after we slip on our way to the title, we lose our biggest player Suarez, with Gerrard on the wane, so we give him a hefty pay bump to keep hold of him. He's England's best striker, and he's our main focus in the attack. And then he has the first big injury under Hodgson's incompetence. His body is never the same. The niggles that took weeks to heal now take months. His pace, one of the main features of his game, starts to go, and other parts of his body start to give out, which is common when those muscles overcompensate after an injury. What he really needs is a proper recovery period, but we can't afford to give him one, because we're sh*t, now, and he's our only option. A crocked Sturridge is still better than Balotelli or Lambert or Benteke. So we rush him back and play him as soon as he's fit. He scores a couple worldies and gets injured a few weeks later. Rinse and repeat until Klopp arrives.

Notice, none of his managers: Benitez, Hodgson, Rodgers, Di Matteo, Villas Boas, Mark Hughes, or Ancelotti ever have a negative word to say about his work rate or his attitude. Not one. Hodgson (who broke him, and Rodgers called him out for ignoring the tailor made physical regimen designed to keep him fit) even praised him for his commitment in training, in spite of the injury. At Chelsea and City, he was often described as the guy who's more likely to stay in and play dominoes than go out on the lash. Family man, Christian, homebody. Some people don't like his dancing or the way he dresses, and there's one quote taken out of context in Gerrard's book about playing through pain (and according to Gerrard he did play through it if you actually read the book), but no actual complaints from anyone who's worked with him. None at all.

Now Klopp arrives, and he has a new way of playing that is all about running and pressing. Even more so at the beginning, because the players don't know the system. Klopp does what Rodgers was afraid to do and doesn't rush him back. He makes him have a mini pre-season. And he actually has the most consecutive appearances and goals that year since 13-14. But condition of his body when he was at Chelsea and what it was for the last 2 years are not the same, and the injuries never really go away. Klopp does make that comment of pain (and his comment is the only one I can find where someone he's working with actually accuses him of this), but he also has a spotty record of crocking pacey players (Goetze, Reus, Sahin, Gundogan). His system is demanding, and not every body can handle it. But to say this is some re-occurring attitude problem that other previous managers have complained about is nonsense, Klopp walks this comment back later in his next conference. No one notices though.

And Sturridge has another problem now. Sturridge has lost a lot of his pace, and has had to adapt his game to be a more poacher style goal scorer. That doesn't fit Klopp's style, and Firmino takes his place. Sturridge tries to adapt to the system, and actually looks really sharp in pre-season, but gets injured again, literally after finishing a goal against Bayern Muninch after having Hummels on toast at a dead sprint. Klopp loses patience at that point, and who can blame him?

He undergoes surgery again, he flies to Los Angeles for experts to help him manage his fitness, and tries everything, but in the meantime, Firmino becomes one of our best players and takes up the number 9 shirt. Sturridge doesn't fit the style, and he wants to play, especially now before his career is over and before his contract runs out and he ends up stranded, so he tries a loan to West Brom, and gets crocked again. So he comes back, rolls up his sleeves, and works his arse off, drops a ton of weight, and he's now having the season we see now, content to adapt his game and become more of an impact player, because he wants to play, however he can.

It's well documented that every move he has ever made was for playing time. Every single one. And yet, some so called fans accuse him of not wanting to play at all, of stealing his wage, for just wanting to do nothing and take a payday. Mind you, he's undergoing surgery and doing grueling and tedious physical rehab. But we don't seem him on the pitch, and off it he dresses a way they don't like.

Why move to Liverpool when Chelsea are richer and winning things if he didn't want to play? Why go to play for a sh*t team like West Brom when you can sit on the Liverpool bench if he didn't want to play? Whether his attire suits your taste or not has absolutely nothing to do with his professionalism as a footballer or his attitude as an athlete. But because his appearance doesn't fit the stereotypical honest old school English working class guy image that say a Danny Ings does, he's lazy. The same way as he was "selfish" when he was topping our assist charts. Dressing like a "gangsta rapper" when he goes to a friend's performance has zero to do with his work ethic, but you don't like it, so you call it a discipline problem. I call it bullsh*t.