Liverpool need a new striker in January, and this week, the club has again been linked with a £15m move for Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge. Brendan Rodgers seems to really rate Sturridge, but Reds legend Steve Nicol is not convinced that the striker is good enough.
Discussing Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at West Brom on ESPN last night, Nicol slammed Fernando Torres' 'invisible' performance, poured scorn on Sturridge's finishing ability, and expressed doubts that the 23-year old has the ability to make it at the highest level. He said:
"For a player who wants to play through the middle, you've got to be able to finish chances.
"You see him [Sturridge] get his feet together, and then he hits it straight at the goalkeeper.
"That is not the mark of a top striker. He had a chance laid on by Oscar and there was no composure; just a wild slash, and his body was all over the place".
Rodgers is definitely interested in Sturridge - in a press conference in August, the Reds boss admitted that he 'admired' the striker, and the club was all set to aign him on loan until the deal fell through.
I just can't see how Sturridge is worth £15m, and if Rodgers spends that amount of money on him in January it will, IMO, be a massive mistake.
If Sturridge was good enough, he'd be a regular for Chelsea, and he isn't, and that's despite the fact his only competition is a badly misfiring Fernando Torres (!)
There are plenty of better options out there for the money. Hell, I'd rather LFC bought Charlie Austin for £3m than spend £15m on another overrated, overpriced English flop.
Sturridge's creative stats are nothing to write home about:
* Last season: 13 goals in 43 apps.
* Goal ever 206 minutes (League only)
* This season: 2 goals in 14 apps.
Like Fabio Borini, Rodgers has worked with Sturridge before, so he possibly thinks he can get the best out of him. That hasn't worked with Borini yet though, has it?
If Sturridge is the striker LFC sign in January, I will be massively disappointed, and I doubt I'll be the only one.
Jaimie Kanwar
Discussing Chelsea's 2-1 defeat at West Brom on ESPN last night, Nicol slammed Fernando Torres' 'invisible' performance, poured scorn on Sturridge's finishing ability, and expressed doubts that the 23-year old has the ability to make it at the highest level. He said:
"For a player who wants to play through the middle, you've got to be able to finish chances.
"You see him [Sturridge] get his feet together, and then he hits it straight at the goalkeeper.
"That is not the mark of a top striker. He had a chance laid on by Oscar and there was no composure; just a wild slash, and his body was all over the place".
Rodgers is definitely interested in Sturridge - in a press conference in August, the Reds boss admitted that he 'admired' the striker, and the club was all set to aign him on loan until the deal fell through.
I just can't see how Sturridge is worth £15m, and if Rodgers spends that amount of money on him in January it will, IMO, be a massive mistake.
If Sturridge was good enough, he'd be a regular for Chelsea, and he isn't, and that's despite the fact his only competition is a badly misfiring Fernando Torres (!)
There are plenty of better options out there for the money. Hell, I'd rather LFC bought Charlie Austin for £3m than spend £15m on another overrated, overpriced English flop.
Sturridge's creative stats are nothing to write home about:
* Last season: 13 goals in 43 apps.
* Goal ever 206 minutes (League only)
* This season: 2 goals in 14 apps.
Like Fabio Borini, Rodgers has worked with Sturridge before, so he possibly thinks he can get the best out of him. That hasn't worked with Borini yet though, has it?
If Sturridge is the striker LFC sign in January, I will be massively disappointed, and I doubt I'll be the only one.
Jaimie Kanwar
I agree. Buying Sturridge for that money sounds very much like the Andy Carrol deal all over again. For fifteen million there are better strikers out there just like there was a better winger out there for twenty million when we bought Downing. Sadly he is now at Chelsea too. I like the fact that Rodgers puts trust in younsters but I wouldn't be too happy if he adopts too much of a buy British policy as well. It was a disaster for Leeds, it left us without transfer funds for a year after Dalglish so I can only hope Rodgers is smarter than that. What's up with Borini anyway? He's been out for quite a few weeks now.
ReplyDeleteWe have to keep in mind though that it is the media linking these players to us based on the fact that Rodgers has worked with them before combined with the fact that he signed Allen and Borini in the summer. It's not Rodgers who's expressed an interest in them. Sturridge, if we sign him, should not cost us more than the five million he cost Chelski to begin with.
IMO I think the' yes' votes r from Chelsea supports...lol
ReplyDeleteGiven his stats, I wouldn't offer more than 6ml for him.
ReplyDeleteAgree totally , as i nearly always do with your articles.
ReplyDeleteBorini will remain out injured for a while as he has broken his foot.
ReplyDeleteAgree about about Sturridge. Can't see 15m worth of football player there.
damn mistake...but IMO rodgers would go for him since he knows sturrige his time @ chelsea..ugly business !!!
ReplyDeleteAgree 100%. He ain't worth 15 pound let alone 15 mill.
ReplyDeleteFrom the look of things we are not going to buy any top players in January. FSG cheapskates are looking for loan deals and injured players on the cheap. If no reinforcements come jan we are all going to be disappointed.
ReplyDeleteSturridge is defo not on the list
Got to agree here Jaimie. Sturridge is not good enough and to spend 15m on him is ridiculous. I will be very disappointed if he is our striker target. There are a lot better options out there for roughly the same money.
ReplyDeletenegative nicol strikes again. just once i want to hear him say something positive, other striker options maybe. but no, just moan, moan ect
ReplyDeleteBR has already overpaid for Borini, hopefully he doesn't do it again with Sturridge. When players like Llorente, Huntelaar, Damaio, Ba, etc could be available for cheap and we are looking to spend 15m on Sturridge then something is really wrong.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why BR thinks he should sign only those players who have played under him? Maybe coz most of other good players don't rate BR as much as lads who worked under him.
ReplyDeleteI agree find him very average much better players out there for alot less money
ReplyDeleteWould be good having him on the bench, but not for more than 3 mill. Maybe Rafa can help...
ReplyDeleteWell, this one is apparently close to Liverpool so it's a good thing to have someone to say something against it...
ReplyDeleteThough he does need some joga class, positive thoughts lessons or something...
Bony, huntelaar, Walcott, Damiao?, Cavanni, Ibrahimovic, Jackson Martinez, Jurgen Locadia, Heung min son?, BOJAN KRKIC?, Adebayor...
ReplyDeleteand the ultimate: Falcao
Please do not mention Bojan again- he is not a player...
ReplyDeleteSturridge definitely has the potential but he is a very selfish player. Plus I know he has attitude problems at City so don't know if that has improved.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time a front 3 consisting of Sterling, Suarez and Sturridge (all beginning with S may I add) sounds good on paper.
I agree though that £15M is too much for him since he is not a proven goal scorer or a great chance converter. Saying that I would not mind having him providing the price is lower.
Also he is earning a reported 60K a week, there is no way Liverpool should offer him better term than that.
Lessons have to be learnt.
Haha Bojan was so promising at Barca but I knew this would happen to him eventually.
ReplyDeleteThey all look good. Realistically, Bony, Hunterlaar and Son are the only ones with a chance to come her.
ReplyDeleteDamiao is a good player but way to overpriced,
Suso gave an interview to lfc site saying he feels like he is dreaming and that BR talked to him on in the half time vs Wigan and he understands why he was subbed...
ReplyDeleteNote I put a question mark by his name...
ReplyDeleteBuut... just want to prove that he MIGHT (big maybe) be a decent buy for the right price at 22 years of age:
Spain Total - games 185 goals 51 (ok - but prob lots of sub appearances)
Italy Total - Games 51 Goals 8 (not good)
Career Total 236 59
All I'm saying is he used to play at Barca, maybe Rogers might be the man to resurrect his career... lots of experience - lots of pace.
one more thing... don't #$*@ing tell me what to do!
Five is alright but only if we buy a better one as well.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are not really insulted by me "telling you what to do", only wanted to highlight your question mark on him. Really, it was no disrespect.
ReplyDeleteWhat is his price, by the way?
ReplyDeleteok no worries mate... But Bojan is rated at 11Million pounds http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/krkic/profil/spieler_44675.html
ReplyDeletesooo, if we could get him for half that?
Leandro Damiao please!
ReplyDeleteWe should have a liverpool kop fantasy premier league of our own...
ReplyDeleteWell I would like to see Sterling on the bench with less pressure on him, but only if on the pitch is someone who is proven- and this one might and might not do well.
ReplyDeleteAnd my best friend is Milan fan so I watched most of his games this year- awful, even my friend says so, and he is not an objective lad, at all. But Allegri seems to rate him highly for some reason...
Sturridge in the league last season 28 starts 2 subs 11 goals and 5 assists.
ReplyDeleteBolton the season before 12 games 8 goals.
Last 2 seasons 40 games 19 goals. Age of 20/23
Was progressing well under AVB until RDM took over.
Only 2 starts this season even so 168 mins 1 goal still keeping his record up in the league:)
Not to bad saying he has been in competition with Anelka,Drogba,Torres,Mata,Kalou and Lukaku over the last few seasons!
Not sure about his composure, selfishness etc but maybe those could be coached out.
ReplyDelete£15m though? Give me a break...
A player that scored 11 goals and 5 assists in 30 league games last season from the right wing isn't worth anything? At the age of 21/22?
ReplyDelete£3 million for a player that scored 11 goals and 5 assists 30 games from the right wing?
ReplyDeleteWe just spent £10 million on Borini!
Good idea! I have to confess, I've never done the FF thing. Is it easy to setup?
ReplyDeleteWell it was 15 on borini I think, and it was a mistake. And it was irony(could've guessed from the Rafa part). My opinion is 6-8 actually...
ReplyDeleteAt what club did Brenden work with Sturridge?
ReplyDeleteAnnoyingly greedy, that is Sturridge.
ReplyDeleteUmm, not exactly sure what you're asking, but you can set up your fantasy league profile, then you can create your own league for your friends...
ReplyDeleteJust go under the "leagues" tab and create a league... could be fun and nice bonding between us LFC fans and Liverpool Kop readers...
I rate Sturridge... He's a good signing for now and a great signing for the future... I think he'll also be at home within the BR system...
ReplyDeleteIt feels like lazy scouting to me. It's like saying "let's just go with what the coach knows". There's a whole group of people that should be doing nothing but scouting for possible signings, so why are we mostly signing players Rodgers already knows.
ReplyDeletelol you keep taking the tablets 15 million my a$$
ReplyDeleteAs soon as i seen BLASTS in the headline i knew it was Nicol. Its all the guy seems to do. Saying that i think hes right. Id take Walcott over him any day.
ReplyDeletemoan maybe right about sturridge defo
ReplyDeleteWhy not Llorente? We already have Walcott...his name is Raheem...and I think Sterling will be a better finisher. Huntelaar for sure. I have never heard of Heung until today...and since we need a PROVEN goal scorer then, by definition, Heung is out.
ReplyDeleteWhen I watched Sturridge last year he seemed like an inventive, opportunistic attacker...which is a great combination. So I began to watch him whenever I could and his stock has come back to earth in my opinion. I don't think he's as good as I first believed. I think Welbeck is better and if he's available that would be good.
ReplyDeleteSorry... yes it's easy, buut, you're a bit late in the year to start, you'll always be behind on points but always good to see how well you can catch up with others...
ReplyDeleteWould way rather go for someone like Demba Ba for 7mil. How way? WAY way.
ReplyDeletehmmm... price is still the issue. I'd go for Wilfred Bony to be honest... him or Walcott (imagine 2 "Sterlings" supplying Suarez!!)
ReplyDeleteHow many of our current players would actually fit in our fantasy team if we're honest? I'd take Suarez, Allen, Agger and Gerrard (on merit, not form).
ReplyDelete2 Sterlings with Wilfred Bony it is!
ReplyDeleteI just wild carded, so I had Skrtel, Suarez and Gerrard...
ReplyDeleteNow I Have Sterling, Enrique and Suarez...
I'd also take Shelvey (bench), Johnson, Reina (risky, but I think he's about to return to form), Agger yes... Allen no - he doesn't look like scoring which means you'll only get full 90's, maybe the odd assist and clean sheets for him...
Gerrard is actually one of the highest scoring midfielders in FF, Sterling as well...
So far it's all speculation and so is the £15 million price tag.
ReplyDeleteIf we base everything on recent stats then Torres is the worst striker ever, we know that isn't true, it's just some players don't suit the team or club they are playing for. When on loan at Bolton last season wasn't Sturridge a success?
£5m would seem a fair price if BR really really wants him. I think we'd still need another better quality striker to come in along with him though. If Sturridge ends up as our only striking purchase this Jan I'd be disappointed, not just because he's not good enough to be what we need for the now, but it would show nievety from BR and FSG (and I hope we rarely see that)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great idea, I'd play
ReplyDeleteAnd right you are on this one Jamie
ReplyDeletenot if we made it so everyone needs to make a new team as of next weekends games. then we would all be starting a fresh. can still have ur existing team else wear, but in terms of liverpool kop league it would only be us against each other so wouldnt matter that we started late.
ReplyDeleteAlso to the guy above you, you can only have three players from each team.
I say lets do it.
ReplyDeleteDemba Ba
a kenny/souness buy if ever there was one. No thanks. for 5m maybe but 15 hahahahhahahahahahahah
ReplyDeleteHe would be better than the Strikers FSG signed in the last transfer window, oh thats right we didnt.
ReplyDelete