6 Nov 2014

Big Blow: Why LFC may have to sell 'incredible' £29m star to avoid £20m loss repeat

Daniel Sturridge's injury issues are a real problem for Liverpool FC, and with the Reds in the midst of a terrible run of form (four defeats in six games), it seems that the team is going to have to struggle on without the 'incredible' striker for a little while longer.

During his pre-Chelsea press conference today, Rodgers provided the following fitness update on Sturridge:

"He's out on the field today with the rehab team. He was moving very well, but he's probably a little bit of time away still."

It's fair to say that Sturridge's injury has seriously derailed Liverpool's season, but it's not really his fault. Rodgers' deserves the lion's share of the blame as he has singularly failed to sign players capable of picking up the slack.

The manager spent £66m on Balotelli, Lambert, Markovic, and Lallana, and with three months of the season gone, they've collectively contributed a pathetic TWO goals between them. Sorry, but that is just not good enough.

Sturridge is an amazing player, and I'm one of his biggest advocates (and continually reject spurious rumour-mongering about his alleged attitude/arrogance issues), but he is, sadly, unreliable. Since arriving in January 2013, £29m-rated Sturridge has suffered EIGHT separate injuries (including the latest issue):

* SEP 2014: Thigh
* AUG 2014: Hamstring
* APR 2014: Hamstring
* NOV 2013: Ankle Ligaments
* SEP 2013: Hip/Thigh Injury
* MAY 2013: Ankle Ligaments
* FEB 2013: Hamstring
* FEB 2013: Hip/Thigh Injury

Including his pre-LFC career, Sturridge has suffered FOURTEEN injuries since 2011, which is a Daniel Agger-style rate of injury. And it's not just one issue; it's 4 or 5 different problems that keep recurring. It's maddening, and the striker's susceptibility to injury may have a knock-on impact on his future LFC career:

* If the regular injuries continue, LFC may be forced to sign another, more reliable striker, which could lead to Sturridge falling down the pecking order. Given his superb goals/assists rate, I'd hate to see that happen, but the team has to come first, and if Sturridge can't remain consistently fit, then the issue should be addressed.

* It's hard to build a team around a player who is constantly injured, and if Sturridge is not careful, he could go the same way as Agger, who was gradually phased out of the team. Granted, the Dane's form is one of the reasons he's no longer at the club, but his atrocious injury record is another major reason.

* The club may also decide to cash-in on Sturridge at some point to take advantage of his high transfer value, rather than watching his value decline as a result of repeated injuries.

Again, Agger is a good comparison here. In August 2012, Liverpool rejected a £20m bid from Man City, which the club obviously should've accepted. Fast-forward two years, and Liverpool scraped in a paltry £3m for the defender, which represents a major retrospective financial loss.

As such, the club surely has to learn from the Agger situation, and if he's not careful, Sturridge could ultimately become a victim of a more prudent and pre-emptive approach to transfers relating to injured-plagued players.

As for this Chelsea game this weekend - Liverpool will be up against the best defence in the league, and will once again have to rely on a group of players who've failed to score in 4 of the last 6 games.

It doesn't bode well...

Author:


35 comments:

  1. Selling Sturridge would just be wrong. We've already proven that trying to replace at top striker given Liverpool's geographic and finance contains is incredibly difficult. Trying to replace two would be nigh on impossible. Sturridge playing 65% of the season will score more than most prem strikers.

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  2. i think players who are always fit and available to play through either not picking up suspensions or looking after themselves don't get enough credit in this country,im a big fan of danny but his fitness is a concern maybe hes just no built for contact sport

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  3. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:53 pm, November 06, 2014

    29m ?
    when andy carroll is worth 35m ?


    i would want 50m for sturridge

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  4. Nevergonnacrackthecode8:58 pm, November 06, 2014

    Look sign Martinez ,musa , and origi hopefully come in


    ...............................................martinez
    sterling....................................coutinho.........................origi
    ,......................................can...................wanyama




    that should pick up the slack
    bench: lambert,musa,lallana,


    with stuzza playing whenever he is fit

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  5. The whole feature is full of COULD and MAYBE and so on. All in all just a single minded feature writer suffering from verbal diaheria with nit a single fact to support the conjecture

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  6. what sort of muck is this

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  7. Fair point but Carroll didn't have the injury history Sturridge has and also no other club has a manager silly enough to pay out like Dalglish did for Carroll (sorry Kenny but it has to be said). Though there is Abramovich so there's always hope we could get £75mil for him as he once gave us £50mil for a injury prone over the hill guy :)

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  8. We lost a guy like that in the summer

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  9. unfortunately it's realistic thinking as we could potentially get £30mil for a player who costs £100k plus a week yet may only be available for 2 thirds of a season, and as he gets older the injuries will only take longer to recover from.. It's not a nice thing to consider as he is quality but the longer the injuries continue the more it will have to be considered

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  10. Enemyofeverydisbeliever9:37 pm, November 06, 2014

    Sturridge should retire. We're throwing money on his wages for nothing, its just nonsense anymore, hes a weak guy so leave football and look for another job.

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  11. Can't we just keep him away from Roy? That would solve half the problem.

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  12. Andy has had a worse record since that 35 Mil move to now. But your right injuries effect fee.

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  13. Aguero has injury problems you think there are any City fans being stupid enough to say he should retire? We need adequate options as well as Sturridge having a player like him for some if yhe season is better than not having him at all. Replacing that quality proves difficult.

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  14. I think we should keep all our players away from Roy, its not like he is going to improve them

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  15. Since, not before which is the most important thing

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  16. Keep him and get one more striker plus Reus after getting rid of borini and Balo

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  17. If there's one thing we've learned this season it is that selling your best players is not the way forward.

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  18. Our football operations are shithouse. Need to take a leaf from southampton's book.

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  19. Take their scouts....we'll get better though

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  20. Once Sturridge is fit i think we'll see a better Mario, but he does need to find his shooting boots soon because come January we will be in for another attacker...just a case of whether it will be at his expense. Saw a few signs midweek that the new players are settling in and am confident our form will improve soon. Lets hope it starts on Saturday, just think Chelsea might approach this game a bit cocky, certainly don't think they'll sit back like last season.

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  21. It's just sad that B.R didn't use the transfer fund money on good recruits,because Sturridge wouldn't be missed and Liverpool wouldn't be in the shit they're in.

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  22. I'm just glad that it's at least something that FSG strives to improve. Buying Southampton's scouts would have come cheaper than Lovren, and we probably would have signed some better players. In fact, we just released 3 of our scouts!

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  23. Nick 1811 - I'm surprised no one mentioned that info except you and I believe that move could help improve the club considerably , unless its BR who has final assessment !

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  24. Leo, you can't blame anyone for not talking about it because it hasn't been publicised very much. I had to find an article about J.Henry going to Dubai so I could confirm the rumour...

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  25. I reckon that the scouts find most of the players, they present the respective player profiles to BR, BR trusts their judgement and gives it a tick.

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  26. I'd be embarrassed if we sign anymore Southampton players

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  27. The thing with Studge is that he will hit the ground running when he comes back he is that kind of player. The problem is hitting the ground may injure him. Seriously though, selling him is not an option Arsenal never sold RVP, Man City Augero etc. We need real quality strength in depth up front, strikers win games and BR should of known that especially after last season.

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  28. I think you'll find that Arsenal did sell RVP as he has played for Man U for the past two and a quarter seasons.

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  29. Not too hopeful regarding Origi, bit of a David Ngoo if you ask me. Levezzi not an option, can't complete 90 mins.

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  30. Isn't the injury he's got now a calf injury and a separate one to the thigh problem he sustained with England? Is so, that is his ninth injury :(

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  31. I agree with your point and hopefully Origi becomes the quick alternative, able to stretch opposition teams which we just cannot do with Balotelli or Lambert. Surely Borini is worth a try ? I think any criticism of Rodgers purchases must be that they don't cover eventualities. For example, when considering that Sturridge might get injured (or should that be when), who did Brendan think would play the central role ? If he really thought Balotelli or Lambert would fill that gap, they are different players, nowhere near as mobile and would need a different team plan. He either didn't anticipate this or didn't come up with an acceptable plan to cope. Surely he must now play Balotelli and Borini in the front two role described and put Sterling into the No.10 role.
    Longer term, Higuain would be an ideal candidtae. I think Sturridge could play with him.

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  32. Sorry I meant to say at a similar age to Sturridge

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  33. I'm convinced that Sturridge's injury problems are caused by him playing too much. The docs at Chelski knew that and that's why he wasn't a regular for them. So yes bring in another striker or two but keep Sturridge all the same. If he plays a maximum of a game per week we could hang on to a great striker.

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  34. This is an article that might as well say "What if" before every sentence. It's rubbish. Sturridge will be with us for a long while yet. JK is talking bollocks because he has no other real stories to discuss. Terrible journalism. Boring

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