1 Feb 2015

Carra insists: £26m star is now Liverpool's 'most important player'. Agree?

Who is Liverpool's most important player? There are several viable options, including Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho, Steven Gerrard, and Daniel Sturridge, but according to Anfield legend Jamie Carragher, there's only one choice.

In his column this week for the Daily Mail, Carra mused:

"I know from experience the effect too much football too soon had on Michael Owen.

"Like Michael, Raheem has become Liverpool’s most important player at 20 years of age and he needs protection".


£26m-rated Sterling scored his eighth goal of the season yesterday against West Ham, and I'm sure many fans will agree with Carra here. In my view, though, Daniel Sturridge is clearly Liverpool's most important player, and he started to prove that again today with a trademark goal on his return from injury.

When Sturridge is out, Sterling is one of LFC's most important players, but when he's fit. Sturridge is the man, and any serious 'objective' evaluation of both players will conclude that Sturridge is more important, for the following reasons.

* 47 Goals/assists in 53 games for LFC.
* Basically averages a goal/assist almost every game.
* More international experience.
* Still in his early-20s.

If Sturridge remains fit then the pressure on Sterling will dissipate, which is definitely a good thing. It will also allow Rodgers to rest the youngster every now and again, and afford him the 'protection' to which Carra refers.

Sterling may be growing in stature at Anfield, but it should be remembered that it's his *job* to score and create goals. He gets paid a shedload of money to do just that, so he shouldn't be lionised and deified for basically doing his job.

Plus, irrespective of importance, Sterling is not (IMO) worth £100k a week.

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61 comments:

  1. That's right mate. I don't like to talk about who might be most important. It's not, and should never be about that. We're building a team with players that complement and draw the best from each other, not just 11 individuals. And you could probably make a case for a number of the starting eleven being currently most important. Take Sturridge away and we look blunted in attack, take out Lucas and we look vulnerable to counter attacks. Take away Henderson and we lose the energy in midfield. Without Coutinho, we lose a considerable amount of that creative spark. Take away Johnson and we look twice the team, oh wait a minute.....

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  2. Agree on all positions, upvote for RB... RB standing for really bad...

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  3. All members of the team have an equally important role to play but in Sturridge and Sterling we now have a new SAS and we saw it briefly yesterday . Raheem has grown immensely in the main striker role whilst Danny has been out and the potential is there for all to see . If we don't pay him the 100k pw , if that is the real figure , then another club will !

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  4. Gerrard .not missed.not mentioned.and honestly not needed.how can you rotate your captain.what an example of poor management.either play or go.even when rested or tight groin? Performance.think gerrard was still trying to catch hazard

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  5. Team job no I is more important than anther

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  6. Markovic could have done himself a favour and put that chance away, Looks like he will be the one to make way for DS. I think he needs regular team time to progress, afraid his season will be on the wane and we may not get the best from him. BR said Lallana was 'brilliant' yesterday so I am assuming he will be ahead of LM. Hopefully they will both get game time we will see.

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  7. Take out Suarez and we lose a title challenge

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  8. Or it could mean he will be dropped for the next game...

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  9. OK, got a bit carried away with £50m there...being a Liverpool fan I'm getting a bit too used to adding 20m valuation onto players! But what a bargain - Coutinho for £8m when you probably couldn't get him for less than 25m now. Also, it's a bit dumb I know to say "with more goals he'd be worth much more" Same goes for everyone I know. But humour me, with some more goals to his game, he would be at least a 30-35. That's erm...profit. And entertainment to boot. Best player to watch.
    Sturdiness goals may in time prove to make him the most important player to the club, but in Sturridge own words, "Grateful to God, and Thanks to the magician @phil.coutinho" - those goals have to be created from somewhere.

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  10. Oops. Funny typo / auto-spell above - 'Sturridge' to 'Sturdiness' - the irony won't be lost on LFC fans after his 6 months out!

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  11. Put another way, if there was one player I'd be gutted to see leave, for me it'd be Coutinho - as well as the often stated ability to pick locked defences, more importantly he really has the ability to control the game. His awareness, ability on the ball, habit for taking players away with him, and eye for a pass makes everyone else around him play better. His two assists yesterday were typical of the way he now plays. Now if he can just add some goals to his game, we're sitting on a £50m player, for sure. Sterling is a gem for sure, but Coutinho you could imagine being a great.

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  12. 100% agree couthinos magic

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  13. Why there is no lovren and mignolet name on vote option?

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  14. I completely agree, and this can only be seen as a positive thing as now we don't rely on one player anymore to provide goals/ assists. Last season, which we have to admit was a team built around Suarez, was great but once he left we were left grasping at straws. But now we have several players to step up the plate and help to win a game and keep a clean sheet at the back.

    Some would say it's better to score a shedload of goals and concede three, but I would rather score a couple and keep a clean sheet. Defensive solidity has been a big part of our resurgence and as long as we keep our centre backs fit we can always count on a top 4 spot as a realistic target.

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  15. Sturridge gaining his influence back will lessen Sterling's pulling power on his contract, which will be a good thing.


    On a side note, I saw a link with Illarramendi... for 18M, I think it would be a steal, especially with Stevie leaving in the Summer.

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  16. The difference between great and poor is huge.

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  17. Where does this £26 million valuation come from anyway? We didn't buy him for that much and it would make absolutely no sense selling him for that so it really is just a number picked out of thin air.

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  18. Nicolas Chamberlain5:55 pm, February 01, 2015

    Well thank you Jonjo!
    Only 4 points...

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  19. No, but we still need a CM to take his place in the squad numbers wise. Illarra would be a good start. Much better than Allen anyway...

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  20. Nicolas Chamberlain6:26 pm, February 01, 2015

    Well, you cant compare him with Stevie.
    Not even close. Different type, different quality.

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  21. On another note, I'd be interested to know how many points people think we'll get from the last 15 games. From the previous 10 we've managed 21, which isn't bad at all -- it's championship form in fact.

    But with Sturridge returning we can even improve further. So unless we suffer another major injury crisis it's not unrealistic to project between 30 and 35 points from the remaining games. This would leave us on 68-73, which would put us in the running for CL qualification. It would be a hell of a ride if we managed something like that -- but the numbers suggest it's possible.

    What do you lot reckon? Am I being too optimistic? Are we due a reality check?

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  22. Nicolas Chamberlain6:26 pm, February 01, 2015

    Illara is a real CDM. He is not very mobile; a bit static. It seems to be a big gamble. He is probably better than Allen, but Allen can't really play as a CDM.

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  23. nice one Shelvey 4pts behind Saints now

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  24. I miss Flanno.... Johnson out....

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  25. Nicolas Chamberlain7:24 pm, February 01, 2015

    He is our David Silva.

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  26. True, Sterling is not worth £100k/week. He's worth a little bit more than that

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  27. What do you mean, Geoff Hurst was knighted? For scoring a hat trick in a single Game?
    He was just doing his job..

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  28. I reckon the next four games (Everton, Spurs, Saints, Man City) are critical and will give us a fair indication of our top four chances. I'd probably be delighted with 8 points from those games, ideally beating Spurs and Southampton in the process. If current form continues and with the extra fire-power that Sturridge brings (keeping everything crossed that he stays fit) I hope we can get close to 2 points a game on average for the rest of the season and I don't think that's too unrealistic. Say 63-70 points. There's some tough games ahead, but no tougher run than those next four games. I can see Southampton dropping away slightly, but Spurs and Arsenal look like they're in for the long haul. We need to be taking points off the teams above us. That Spurs game will be a real 6 pointer.

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  29. It's gotta be Sterling. Works hard, plays well, and is most importantly there.

    Don't get me wrong, Sturridge is a clinical finisher who adds an extra dimension to the team - but you can't rely on him. He's almost World Class - World Glass.

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  30. Or any sports person for that matter.

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  31. spot on tho I'm going for 74 pts- if Lucas doesn't give Eriksen too many free kicks I think we can have em

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  32. Ryan was keeper of the series not a strong comp so thats the least to expect i really rate Ryan as a good 2nd keeper he has potential and his distribution is very good.
    To be honest Verm the standard is ordinary Australia won and are a long way behind most European countries but there was still some great viewing that Son Heung Min we were looking at impressed me.

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  33. Well Raheem is worth 100k and if it took removing GJ to make them wages up so be it i would rather pay Sterling 100k than GJ 70kp.w.
    Also i think Hendersons efforts are under rated and if he doesn't play there's not much to replace him just like Sturridge really.

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  34. I honestly think by the time Sterling is the same age as Sturridge, he'll be one of the top 5 players in the world

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  35. I was thinking something similar comparing him to Hazard. Once he is Hazard's age I think he will be a better player. At least as good.

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  36. The question was 'When everyone is fully fit...' And with that notion its got be Studge. We would be higher up the table with his finishing and cutting edge. Sterlings finishing and end product leaves a lot be desired at times in my opinion.

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  37. Studge for me at this present time I have to agree. I think we've missed at least ten points from his absence. You can tell Studge has that assurance in the Premier League that he can do the business and you believe that if he gets a chance he's taking it. Sterling is learning and improving all the time but needs to improve on his shooting and final product. Coutinho gets an honourable mention too....

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  38. Son is a good player. Abdulrahman looks a good player as well. You'd hope we'd look in to him in particular.


    Good to hear about Ryan. Don't know how credible the rumours are, but even with Migs' much improved performances, I still think we need another 'keeper. Perin remains my choice.

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  39. He was there when we lost it.

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  40. Why I choose Coutinho simple reason is when everyone is fit you can trackback to most of the Sturridge goals were assisted by our little magician and he's one of the few Liverpool players that the opposition always keep their eye on. Forget about Hendo even though he has improved lots since the day he joined but still a very average player in midfield who missed lots of goal scoring opportunity and with just a few assist and contribution and i hope we would be able to replace him sooner than later.

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  41. wasn't his fault though ;)

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  42. There are a few ways to look at this one. Perhaps most important is to ask the question "what would happen if the player was injured". The team could cover for Lallana, Coutinho and Gerrard. They've been covering for Sturridge all season so far. But if Sterling is out, who covers for him? Perhaps it's a reflection of the lack of depth up front and Sturridge being injured is a part of that. It's not an entirely simple question to answer. If Sturridge was playing all season and scoring goals then we'd probably all consider him the least replaceable and say that Sterling would be just as replaceable as everyone else. On that basis, assuming Sturridge will pick up his good goal scoring form again in a few games, I'd go with Sturridge being the most important. Once he's back and in form the team no longer needs to rely on Sterling.

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  43. Good choice im told with Perrin just a bit wary of Italians but he looks ok.

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  44. He's a gem in a double-pivot. Has the tactical nous and discipline of Alonso but needs regular game-time to consolidate it. Would add necessary competition in midfield, especially with Allen's injuries and to allow Can to cover the centre-halves.



    We could still do with another top creative midfielder, too.

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  45. Agree with you that 100K is too much too soon for a 20-year old. But such are the realities of football nowadays that if lfc does not pay, big guns like Real Madrid will offer to double his wages soon. When you consider that Odergaard is on 80K a week already, it puts things into perspective.

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  46. 36 Points me thinks is likely not sure if that will be enough honestly cant see us not dropping any more points.

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  47. 74 points is plenty!

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  48. Yup,, I read comment on one of JK's articles, that offence sells tickets but defence wins titles....so true

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  49. Two words " Box Office'' and when when ever he is sold we will make a handsome return on our investment

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  50. No,,, we still in it! Current form suggests we'll be fighting to the end.

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  51. I don't think we have another in the team with Coutinho's vision, touch and creativeness...(maybe Lallana can be groomed in that way) Has a cool and humble quality about him as well.
    Sterling has bursts of speed but his passing and shooting is not up to par, yet.Great that he runs at defenders tho...That's the one quality up front we rely on him for.
    Hendo is a squad player at best, perhaps a lucas replica in terms of role in the team and Sturridge is like a bonus for us if he is fit and shouldn't be relied upon at all.Impact player for the rest of his career imo.
    Coutinho lives for the club and even has a LFC kitted station wagon for his wife. He's our future. Sterling won't be around too long imo as he's already complaining bout contract/endorsement issues.
    We need quality players that want to play for LFC...Coutinho is our main man.We should look after him from now.
    We not in a position to be paying high wages for gold digger players.

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  52. 4eva LFC, LFC 4eva12:26 pm, February 02, 2015

    I believe it is very difficult to pick the most important because when everyone is fit and on their game then we would have a great team we all know what DS can do great finisher, Sterling has been thrown in the deep end and to his credit has made a the step up, one could even argue that Hendo who has taking over as our engine room would be very important.
    But for me I would have to say I just would love to see Cortinho keep risen cause the boy has a quality not seen for a while in such a young footballer on his day he is a magician pure and simple, I could add the way he conduct himself as well is amazing, he is only concerned about playing for the reds.
    It has to be said though, that they are really all very important players because that is what makes a great side, they need to link with each other.

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  53. Vyshakh Surreal Rv5:27 pm, February 02, 2015

    I agree with orme as well.
    The Team comes first. Now and forever.

    However I do have a question for JK.


    Do you a personal prejudice against Raheem for some reason?


    Yes i agree 100% the Daniel is our Main man when he is fit and on the pitch. BUT, for the past five months, when he was out, who would you rather have playing in our attacking options?
    As in if we are a goal down or going 0-0 at 70 mins, who would you rather NOT see come OFF?
    Lallana? PC? Markovic? Mario? Lambert? Borini? OR RAHEEM STERLING?
    Like it or not, he is the club's leading goal scorer in all competitions and has the second highest assists in the team in the Prem. He is The tip of the spear of our attack and until he starts flapping( shooting 11 yards out from 3 yards from goal) I really think you should rate him for HIS performance.
    But then again, Like i have pointed out in one of your articles earlier, I can't tell anymore if you are writing an article or Just a personal BLOG.


    The audience matters, one of the first things a writer must consider.


    Just an Opinion, JUST LIKE YOURS.

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  54. We didn't lose any title challenge with him. It was still possible even on the last day

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  55. there are 100 reasons to defend one's own perception. I can give you 20 more reasons stating that BR is clueless when it comes to transfer activity.
    Sorry I can't buy your fancy language and your sh*tty opinion. Keep it to yourself !!
    Tell me even one player except Sterling and Sturridge who does actually possess a worth in the market(or any club is willing to buy ).. Just tell me one player ??
    What BR has paid for these average players that I have mentioned, LFC can't sell them even at half the price.
    And that's the bitter pill that irrational beings like you can never swallow... So get out of the dreamland and try to respect your senses if you have any?

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  56. If we lose to Bolton today, does that make Bolton a better squad?
    We drew with Chelsea..Does that mean we are only other contender to the title?
    get your facts straight and then start to make merry...
    You need impact players to win titles and trophies...And we simply have a very few..Finishing in top 4 is still going to be a distant dream(after spending 200 million !!) and I wonder how fans like you start making merry (so soon)

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