19 Feb 2013

Aldo insists: £12m star is 'better than Suarez' in one specific area. Is he right...?

The partnership between Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez is really taking off at Anfield, and with both players having great skill, technique and goalscoring ability, Liverpool's attacking future looks extremely bright right now. Suarez remains the Reds' number one attacking threat, but according to Reds legend John Aldridge, Sturridge is superior to the Uruguayan in one particular area of his game.

In his column for the Liverpool Echo today, Aldo insisted that Sturridge's return from injury 'made a big difference' against Swansea, and marvelled at how Liverpool look a 'much more dangerous side, with the £12m signing in the team. He then added:

"Sturridge’s movement is good and he holds the ball up so well, even better than Suarez. You can fire balls into him and it sticks which I love to see. It doesn’t bounce off him as his control is so good.

"That enables the likes of Steven Gerrard and Suarez to get up in support and helps Liverpool play in the opponent’s half"


I can't argue with that. Sturridge has a fantastic ability to shield the ball and keep possession, and I can't recall a single instance where he's given the ball away. So how is Sturridge doing statistically compared to Suarez. In the Premier League:

Passing Accuracy: Overall
Sturridge: 88% | Suarez: 77%

Passing Accuracy: Opp Half
Sturridge: 86% | Suarez: 73%

Shooting Accuracy
Sturridge: 56% | Suarez: 44%

Minutes per goal
Sturridge: 105 | Suarez: 129

Minutes per Chance Created
Sturridge: 40 | Suarez: 29

Stats: OPTA

Right now, Sturridge exceeds Suarez in four different attacking areas, which is a great testament to the new striker's Anfield impact, and definitely bodes well for the future.



NOTE: Please stick to the Comment Policy (Click to read)


87 comments:

  1. It's very refreshing to show these two pair up dice and strike up a partnership in such a short time. Suarez looks like a born again playmaker engineer....Wish against Zenit, BR puts in same formation like these two... who can play the Sturridge role is beyond me at this time...some new youngster?

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  2. yes sturridge is better than suarez in every aspect,next thing you will be after selling suarez and getting someone else in to partner sturridge,and jaimie no mention of sturridges stumble in the box against swansea again twice hes gone down now,or is the diving thing a suarez exclusive,

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  3. suarez the best in da world

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  4. Sturridge has been a top player since he was 17, politics kept him out of football NOT lack of abilility! the guy will become a beast at LFC, did you not see his goal in the olympics? pure quality...

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  5. what politics please expand i fought they were better players that kept him out of the chelsea team

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  6. after messi and ronaldo, its surely debatable hes the 3rd best in the world. his impact on a our club is immense, despite the fact he hasnt got the likes of di maria, iniesta, xavi, ozil, alonso(amazing player) around him like ronaldo and messi have. if he did have these players around him, i have no doubt he can get 60goals and so on like they do. suarez has proved himself at the world cup (3goals/2 assists in 6 apps), lead his team to win the copa america (4goals/2 assists in 7 apps) in which he was player of the tournament ahead of the likes of messi. hes now proved that hes more than just a handful in the best league in the world but also a goalscorer. suarez is amongst the elite footballers of the world and in my order it would be 1st. Cristiano Ronaldo 2nd. Lionel Messi 3rd. Luis Suarez. 

    LETS REALLY PUSH FOR 4TH SO SUAREZ CAN SHOW THE WORLD WHAT HES REALLY ABOUT IN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. YNWA

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  7. sturridge is very good, and its his self-belief in himself what impresses me more. that high self esteem reminds me of Suarez. but hes need to be a bit more less selfish both in his play and attitude. he said he wants to help suarez get the golden boot, so why didnt he let him take the penalty? suarez basically won that penalty too. he said he wants carragher to get a goal before the end of the season, were 4-0 up mate, why didnt you let him take it? im absolutely loving sturridge and the new dimension he brings to our squad but he should start to stop thinking so much about himself and become a real liverpool man

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  8. big money signings kept him out of Chelsea...dito..Man city, if you spent 50 mil on torres who would you wan't to see playing on the pitch? Aguero, tevez and dzeko adds to the politics...

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  9. I'm liking sturridge and Suarez upfront, they compliment eachother, also coutinho and downing are creating chances, even hendo impressing! I trust Rodgers!:)

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  10. so better players like i said lol he may have potential but the players you mention are proven

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  11. Also the two clubs i mentioned wan't instant success, hense all the big money tranfers, when he did play he was still quaility even though he was played out of position everytime.
    This caused him to try to hard to make an impression, shooting from 40 yards and so on, which he then got the greedy player award by pundits and haters alike.

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  12. 1 game m8 1 game against a side who were not bothered about the result like i,ve said before easily pleased

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  13. Not necessarily better players, more expensive players with a track record, remember Sturridge is still a kid in football terms!

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  14. we all want instant success and anyone who says they dont are talking b0llocks,why wait if you can have it now,and he has got a greedy streak no doubt about that otherwise he would not have asked for the pen(strikers need to be greedy to a certain extent)

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  15. 1 game for what? Sturridge? Suarez? They've scored alot between them when they've played, also downing and hendo have been scoring and assisting all this season, with coutinho, he showed he can stand up to players, it's not only me raving about him, other people are too. Also I've said before if you don't like my comment? Then don't look? SIMPLE.

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  16. better m8 no ifs no buts and whats age got to do with it ,what you are really saying is he was not good enough for them but to us hes a saviour 

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  17. sorry m8 i will not bother again you said don,t look then posted 5or6 times on my posts,so i am glad we know were we stand

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  18. I haven't commented on yours?:) I've only replied back to you when you commented on my comment.

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  19. michael ngoo in front of suarez. i think that will be a partneship that blossoms ver well

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  20. 1. I don't believe Jaimie is trying to convey that Sturridge is a better player than Suarez. More so that they are complementing each other well.

    2. Thank you for bringing up the "stumble".  This was exactly the point I brought up last week after WBA.  Suarez goes down in the box and Jaimie's on here two hours later claiming he dove.

    No mention of Sturridge's "stumble" though.  

    To be clear, I think Sturridge may have gone down a bit easy because there was contact.  But I don't think he dove.

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  21. I agree with you on that! yes i would like instant success, defo, but i am also prepared to wait for it too if it brings lonjevitee to LFC.

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  22. He wasn't good enough to them, that I will agree with you.
    The question is: Why?  Especially considering the fact that he would consistently perform when given the chance.

    I think it really comes down to a lack of patience with developing younger players.  Chelsea aren't opposed to younger players (i.e. Oscar, Hazard, etc.) but it's as though they don't want to develop them.  They want them to show up and produce results right away which isn't necessarily realistic.

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  23. henderson and poss shevly up top ? but 4 gods sake not sterling hes a best a resi player should be no were near the 1 st squad

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  24. OMG! what do you wan't the guy to do? he is trying to impress the likes of YOU... Hense why he wan'ts to keep scoring goals. He's been at LFC for a hot second and already people wan't him to be somethin that he is not, the guy just loves scoring goals..long may it continue...

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  25. Is it a problem he asked for a penalty and converted given our poor penalty record.
    I cant understand how a striker can be accused of converting a penalty ahead of a defender who may or may not have scored simply out out of mentality yet preach about putting the team first in the same accusatory sentence.
    Sturridge is a Liverpool player who aids his team by scoring whether he has asked to take a penalty or not and by doing well he is helping the team no less.
    This accusation smacks of Real Madrid fans last season on voting Higuain flop of the match in a game he got a hatrick because they prefered he passed to Ronaldo so that Ronaldo could have that hatrick instead.

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  26. Also don't mention his attitude! his attitude is fine compared to the premadona's in the prem, don't jump on the media band wagon who talk excrement for a living, please tell me the last time u heard anything that was real about his so called attitude?.

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  27. City,Chelsea loss, liverpools gain, he got talent and he only 23, 12 million is a coup if he keeps scoring.

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  28. That's what i'm talking about, it's a no brainer!!!

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  29. Could not agree more!

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  30. I agree fully with you, but you can't please everyone with signings (you know who) but other fans are, we haven't had two strikers on the same wave length for ages, it's good to watch.

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  31. I'll choose to treat this story as a positive Jaimie. What you're saying, is that we have two of the potentially best players in the world, that is, if you're saying Sturridge maybe better than Suarez.

    Personally, I'm totally delighted to have both of them.

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  32. Why can't people just be happy with Daniel Sturridge and stop moaning and picking faults.

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  33. sturridge and suarez are 2 totally different players, I think suarez has more grit and determination and has obviously proved himself on the world stage with his country amongst the best.
    very exciting partnership that with better service will cause havoc.
    ive never been a sucker for stats so means nowt to me on paper, obviously stats don't say jack about different opposition they have faced to get those stats etc etc !!

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  34. The gimme penalty skewed the minutes per goals stat a little. It was a little cheeky of Sturridge to ask for it, but he is very cocky in a good way. He backs himself. He could have the nerve to take penalties in the future.

    But finally we are blessed with a brilliant front pairing.

    We are now the highest scoring team in 2013, maybe have played a game more than most.

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  35. Does this post need moderated, like my last half dozen or so?

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  36. all of you dont know what your talking about. carragher has served our club for almost 20 years and if the captain of our club who has also served us for a long time wants carragher to take the penalty every other player should be supportive of the decision. sturridge is played up front to score and if he cant score from play should not be asking to take the penalty when carragher has almost half the chances sturridge has to score and a penalty would be a perfect oppurtunity for carra to score. and if we are 4-0 up at home, if there saying they want him to score before the end of the season then that is the best oppurtunity for him to score. if your saying you dont want a defender to take the penalty but he saying he wants to help suarez win the golden boot why didnt he say 'let suarez take it'? then he goes in the media and says he wants to help suarez get the golden boot and help carragher to score. im just saying he should be a little more considerate. especially if he is going to contradict himself

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  37. Jamie mate, you should try and keep the articles you post on this site like this one; informative, not to opinionated and any points made backed up with stats. You've clearly shown you can write informative articles without being over-opinionated. 

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  38. I actually thought that was a clear cut pen. The defender got no way near the ball, and took Sturridge out completely.

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  39. In fairness Torres was picked ahead of Sturridge, dispite never scoring, which was prob down to the amount they paid for him rather than a case of who is better. I`m not suggesting either one is better than the other, but I do feel the main reason he didn`t get games at Chelsea was down to the fee paid for Torres, not due to talent.

    Which worked out to be a win for us, got him cheaper, and he may never have moved if they had played him more.

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  40. I don`t think its that they don`t want to devlop them, but if you are fighting for the league title you can`t ever have any player on the pitch which isn`t already 100%. 

    This is the difference with them than us, we aren`t fighting for 1st place, so can afford that risk, or so the powers that be feel anyway.

    It is also why lower placed clubs often have a better record for producing youngsters. Man Utd did years ago, but not for a long time, the game has changed, and to win the league you can`t afford the time of letting players develop i the first team

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  41. Yep, and he is already getting picked for England, which means if he keeps up his form, he will be worth double that in no time.

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  42. letting Carra take a pen no matter how many goals we have scored is just wrong right now. goal difference may be the difference between 4th and 5th. 

    Suarez is as selfish as Sturridge, if not more, thefore maybe after having been in open spaces several times during the game, yet not had the ball passed to him, but instead stand and watch Suarez try to take a impossible shoot, or go round someone, he thought actually I`m taking this one.

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  43. So if we missed out on 4th by 1 goal difference stat, which was the pen we let Carra take and miss, you would be happy?

    Carra is a legend, but the party for him should start the day he retires, not now. We aren`t sitting pretty in the top four, and we need every goal, every point we can get, as it is a long enough shot as it is.

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  44. I do agree with most of the stuff, but downing and hendo both need to score a lot more, other than Suarez and Sturridge, no other player has done enough in the goals area, which has been one issue for us. Gerrard is doing about right on that front. 

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  45. Sturridge has been the difference, without him we look so much weaker. Its not just his skill, but also adding a cog that was needed, it may have been the same if a different player had come in, but either way, he already looks the difference for us. When he is in the team, we look like we can beat anyone, when he isn`t we rarely have anyone in the box when crosses and passes go in there.

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  46. Good article. Interesting stats comparison and best of all no bitching. Well done!

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  47. Nah, I think I'll stick to being opinionated. Sorry :-)

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  48. The irony is that Sturridge will probably still be at LFC whilst Saurez will be long gone seeking trophies & CL football.
    Therefore lets appreciate the partnership whilst it lasts!

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  49. I agree, the Sturridge bashing baffles me??! One things for sure, if Andy Carroll had half the impact of Sturridge he would be idolised. It seems certain players have to work harder to please the fans. This attitude issue with Sturridge, where did this come from?
    If he dances, he's arrogant, he has every right to ask for to take the penalty as a STRIKER. I agree with the sentiment that Sturridge is now integral to LFC's success & he is the future, Carragher is a great servant & will always be loved & cherished. Carragher taking penalties should be left for testimonial matches, not competitive premiership matches, this smacks of complacency & misguided sentimentality!

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  50. Whether or not he dove or dived, he had diven! :D

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  51. He's not really showing what he's about in the Europa league. But I am sure the Suarez/Sturridge axis would be quite something next time round! If we do make it to Europe next season.

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  52. Anelka and Torres kept him out at Chelsea and they are not better players by any stretch of the imagination.

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  53. Look, calm down and take a step back. Carragher will go down in history as one of the best centre backs in the world when he was at his peak, so whether or not he scores one more goal will not change a thing for me.

    Ur making it sound like there is turmoil on the pitch, both strikers need to score goals in order to move the club further up the table.

    Sturridge WILL help Suarez to the golden boot by scoring goals, causing mayhem in and around the box, leaving Suarez to do what he does best..Score great goals! 

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  54. He does seem like quite a tidy player, even if he isn't all that expansive with it, imo. In this system, keeping the ball is key. Even though I wasn't a big advocate of signing him, I'm just glad he is here, Suarez had too much of the goal threat burden on his shoulders.

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  55. hes hardly played in the europa league. and dont question suarez, if your a true liverpool fan you will know due to his determination he can turn up at anytime and score goals. he'll be a menace in the CL. we just need a CL squad

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  56. then suarez should have taken it or stevie g. simple. fair enough he scored, but if he actually means what he says he would have suggested for suarez to bury it

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  57. rubbish rubbish rubbish. suarez is actually allowed to be greedy, and ordered to make runs by rodgers. so all be it sturridge has to watch in awe just like he did when he scored vs swansea. but even though suarez is selfish, hes no longer the focal point of our attack, so he does pass far more often. you always see suarez to sturridge, never really sturridge to suarez. thats because sturridge is too selfish to even look up for whats around him and whenever hes running hes going for goal! not saying this is a bad thing, as i know he only wants to prove himself, but i repeat he needs to be more considerate. i really want Suarez to get that golden boot, if we dont finish 4th, he amongst everyone deserves that at least

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  58. i guess suarez will leave us end of season....

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  59. That is great comments going around and good statics analysis
    done...but we should know that Suarez or Sturridge it doesn't matter who is the
    best but can both give the best out for Liverpool to topple the top places in EPL.
    When we always look every player as individual there always a problem in the
    ego of each player in Liverpool. So let us think for Liverpool in 1st place and
    let both of them be the best to make liverpool the best. Thanks.


     

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  60. It's a great partnership and Rodgers deserves a lot of credit for spotting it. He was doubted by a lot of supporters, myself included, when the rumours started but everyone who doubted him have to hold their hands up now and admit they were wrong. He gets a lot of stick for the transfers of Allen and Borini but Coutinho and Sturridge have really hit the ground running and I'm optimistic about Allen as well judging by Henderson's progression over the last six months. That pass he gave Sturridge on Sunday was Gerrard-esque.  

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  61. Something very special is happening at Liverpool, we can all see it for ourselves. It's been frustrating but we knew it was coming together, Sturridge is staggeringly good but Suarez is the daddy. With Coutinho, Sterling, Gerrard, Suso and Downing playing well we have real talent, the football is fantastic at times.........let's be patient even if it's hard as it will be worth it under BR.

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  62. Sturridge seems to  be exactly what we've been missing (most). Hope he continues his fine form.

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  63. He was running for Prime Minister... How did you not know this?

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  64. Young players often don't play well week in week out, our players still need time to develop. Even in defeat we dominate the 90mins so that is encouraging, we now need a dominant CB to replace Carra............as well as bringing through Teixeira, Ibe, Coady etc next pre-season.

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  65. lol m8 one rule for one one for another

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  66. Question....Did he or did he not score the penalty??? I rest my case plus I'd rather Sturridge than Andy whats his face any day. Stop dealing with hypotheticals and embrace the fact that this guy is actually scoring goals unlike the $50mil bust.

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  67. Sturridge is doing well lets appreciate it. We are too critical of everything including what we need to support!

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  68. All I can say is let the goals flow. Be it DS or LS. If Buck scores and it is allowed. I will take that too. and so will all LFC fans. 

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  69. Seems strange that people are giving sturidge a hard time for doing exactly what he was bought to do?! He has been absolutely brilliant since he arrived,the spearhead of the team and his game compliments Suarez perfectly,they've been born to play together! I've been going to anfield for nearly forty years and in my  opinion I've never seen a partnership look so natural and fluid in such a short space of time!

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  70. rubbish rubbish rubbish, right now we have both proved we can start a reply with random  ways to make ourselves feel like the others point was not true, we can move on to chatting properly, im sure you will agree?

    So what you are saying is Suarez is allowed to be selfish, but Sturridge isn`t? This is down to the orders you hear Br give when you are in the dressing room? Otherwise it looks like you are just guessing.

    If we were to work on actually facts, gathered by information, you would see that Sturridge has 2 asists in 7 games, and does actually pass. He set up one of the goals in the Swansea game. He does look up a lot, and does pass when needed. Yes he can be a little selfish, but thats a good thing. He is though no more selfish than Suarez, but as no one is allowed to say a bad word about Suarez, we must stick to the line of its ok for him to be selfish, but not Sturridge. All Suarez getting the golden boot will do, is make more teams want to buy him, so in many ways it could work as a negative.

    I don`t really care which one of the three (Gerrard, Suarez, Sturridge) takes a pen, as long as its a striker, or attacking player.

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  71. I don`t see what difference it makes, as long as its one of the attackers taking the pen, and not a defender who never scores, its all fine

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  72. like all things in football, everything is down to the eyes, each situation will be viewed differently by each person, so I respect the fact you felt it was a dive. 

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  73. Lets hope we keep Suarez in the summer. I feel he wants to stay, but may depend on where we finish, If we finish around 8th again, I wouldn`t blame him for leaving, as we would be showing no signs of making a challenge for CL football. 

    This would be a shame, as every time we look like we might have a partnership upfront, one leaves, sometimes before a ball is kicked i.e Torres/Suarez partnership. We then seem to spend at least one season if not more looking for that new partner, by which time the one who was already at the club leaves, and so the circle goes on.

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  74. Strongly believed that City had a clause written into Sturridge's contract when he moved to Chelsea that for every ten games played for chelsea they were to pay city 500K, maybe one of the political/financial reasons why he didn't get that much of a look in. People forget he scored some fantastic goals for bolton when on loan there.

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  75. Get a job jason

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  76. you haven't made any point here. Sturridge is paid to score goals, Carra isn't so lets cut the feel good crap!

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  77. We had a similar partnership to that of Sturridge and Suarez last season in the shape of Bellamy and Suarez.  Why didn't Kenny just stick to these two up front? he'd still be in a job now.  They played TWICE together and were menacing.  It was obvious that Suarez likes to play alongside a player who has pace and is technically gifted....has anyone hears of Diego Forlan?  There seems to be a sense of shock that our new strike force is working. It was inevitable. I'd take Chemistry, chemistry, Chemistry over stats anyday.

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  78. pretty much my exact thoughts, even the idea of letting him while in a competitive game, winds me up. 

    For whatever reason, Sturridge seems to have to do a lot more to prove himself than others. 5 goals in 7 games, is awesome. 

    Carroll on the other hand, is almost worshipped, and still seen as the golden child who could have changed it all, if only we hadn`t let him go on loan. Dispite the fact he hardly scores, and in the euros scored just one goal, and everyone was saying he is like Messi.

    I never understand how these things unfold. It it just the same for Assaidi, people are moaning all the time about why this star isn`t played, yet lets be honest, how many of us really know what he plays like? 

    For one reason or another, some players will get lauded, and some insulted, based on no logic, or reason. I guess a lot of it has to do with the press, they help form peoples views these days. i.e Rafa and his bad zonal marking, dispite a third of the prem already using zonal marking, only he got the press, therefore it was seen and used against him. Like Suarez and his diving, only he gets the press, so people views are formed on that. Carroll, scored for England, and got good press, Assaidi was written up as a right little gem of a signing, so next thing you know, band wagon jumping takes place.

    Kudos for seeing through it all bud

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  79. In America we can use Dived or Dove...

    In the words of White Goodman from the movie Dodgeball, "I read about it... in a book!"

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  80. Sturridge has nice technique... Good control... His movement is great... He just needs to be more clinical... And improve his decision making...
    He has the potential to be a scary forward...

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  81. m8 i will get a job when the chance arises shame that you will never get a life

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  82. if he had been what chelsea had wanted do you think abramavich would have been bothered about the money

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  83. No probs mate, I just say what I see whilst avoiding the bandwagon if possible!

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