Over the weekend, Man Utd legend Andy Cole insisted Daniel Sturridge is England's best striker, but his ex-team mate Ryan Giggs appears to have a different view on the 'brilliant' Liverpool striker.
Reacting to £30m-rated Sturridge's goal against Malta over the weekend, Cole enthused:
"I've been saying it for awhile now: Daniel Sturridge needs to be England's main Number nine. He's the best we've got!"
After watching Sturridge (and England) struggle against Slovenia last night, Giggs observed:
"Sturridge has good touch, good finisher, quick, but to be a top, top player [he needs to make] more good decisions than bad ones. Today there were too many bad decisions".
Giggs is arguably right here. I'm a big fan of £30m-rated Sturridge, but watching the game last night (I like to marvel at England's ineptitude), I lost count of how many of his passes went straight to a Slovenia player.
In my view, the problem is simple: Sturridge has an increasing tendency to drop deep to pick up the ball, and that leads to him having too many decisions to make on the ball. Sturridge's decision-making (and focus) should mainly be limited to one thing: can I score in this position?
That means keeping him - as much as possible - in a central role high up the field, which is his best (and most deadly) position. If Southgate is instructing him to drop deep then that's fair enough, but if not, he needs to reign Sturridge in, and ensure he plays with positional discipline.
Someone should tell Sturridge that he's not a number-10; he's a central striker, and if he can't stick to that role, then he'll quickly lose his place to Harry Kane (or Marcus Rashford).
Reacting to £30m-rated Sturridge's goal against Malta over the weekend, Cole enthused:
"I've been saying it for awhile now: Daniel Sturridge needs to be England's main Number nine. He's the best we've got!"
After watching Sturridge (and England) struggle against Slovenia last night, Giggs observed:
"Sturridge has good touch, good finisher, quick, but to be a top, top player [he needs to make] more good decisions than bad ones. Today there were too many bad decisions".
Giggs is arguably right here. I'm a big fan of £30m-rated Sturridge, but watching the game last night (I like to marvel at England's ineptitude), I lost count of how many of his passes went straight to a Slovenia player.
In my view, the problem is simple: Sturridge has an increasing tendency to drop deep to pick up the ball, and that leads to him having too many decisions to make on the ball. Sturridge's decision-making (and focus) should mainly be limited to one thing: can I score in this position?
That means keeping him - as much as possible - in a central role high up the field, which is his best (and most deadly) position. If Southgate is instructing him to drop deep then that's fair enough, but if not, he needs to reign Sturridge in, and ensure he plays with positional discipline.
Someone should tell Sturridge that he's not a number-10; he's a central striker, and if he can't stick to that role, then he'll quickly lose his place to Harry Kane (or Marcus Rashford).
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