28 Apr 2013

'It's important' - Frustrated LFC star delivers veiled warning to Rodgers. Fair...?

With eleven goals/assists in thirteen games, Daniel Sturridge is proving to be a top class signing for Liverpool, yet Brendan Rodgers has subbed off and/or started him on the bench in 85% of matches since arriving at Anfield. Given Sturridge's past history of being a bit-part player, this is clearly something that bothers him, and after grabbing two goals and one assist against Newcastle on Saturday, Sturridge delivered a thinly-veiled warning about his status in the team.

In his post-Newcastle interview, Sturridge made it clear that he's unhappy with sitting on the bench. He said:

"It's good for myself that I'm able to get some games as I didn't come to Liverpool to sit on the bench. For me, it's important to be playing and that's what I want to do."

This is the second time in a week that Sturridge has expressed his frustration with bench duty. Speaking to the official LFC site after last week, Sturridge criticised Rodgers for failing to start him against Chelsea. He observed:

"I was disappointed not to start because the manager would have known I was a bit angry with Chelsea and wanted to prove a point against them.

I admit that the idea of Liverpool signing Sturridge didn't excite me much back in January, but I happily stand corrected. He's been superb for Liverpool so far, and some of the criticism he's received is ridiculous and unwarranted. For example:

* Allegedly suspect attitude: Total media myth. Absolutely nothing to suggest this is true, especially at LFC. Rodgers himself admitted recently that the attitude accusation is total nonsense.

* Not trying hard enough in games: 8 goals/3 assists in 13 apps. Goal/assist every 81 minutes. Not bad for someone who doesn't try hard enough.

* Selfishness: This is such a lazy accusation. Look at his creative contribution! Sturridge *should* be selfish. Luis Saurez is much more selfish on the ball than Sturridge, but you don't hear fans giving him grief about it. If Sturridge is so selfish, why did he pass for Henderson to score against Newcastle?

As a comparison: Luis Suarez scores/creates a goal every 105 minutes, so at this point in time, Sturridge is outperforming the Uruguayan, and there's no reason to think he won't continue this next season.

As long as Sturridge is delivering the goods, he should - fitness permitting - start the majority of games (IMO).



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27 comments:

  1. Youre 100% right jamie, sturridge is top class. Not sure why rodgers only used him as a sub against chelsea, but he had an instant impact when comming on. His effort is right and his output speaks for itsself...
    He will be a regular now, as we dont really have another proven goal scorer left in our squad. Borini looks bright for the future + i hope the goal pushed up his lack of confidence. Maybe sturridge could borrow him some of his self awareness ;)

    Sturridge is on fire at Liverpool and i can just hope he can carry forward his form (especially after warming toward the fact suarez is likely to leave this summer)

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  2. Sturridge is one of our most vital players, alongside Lucas, Gerrard and Henderson, with Coutinho getting there too. These are the guys who make our team perform but for how good Suarez is, he does not have the same effect.

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  3. liverpool4life56510:31 pm, April 28, 2013

    Both Sturridge and coutinho have been brilliant signings, this shows that our scouts and transfer team are doing there job correctly, also a mention to borini scored a good goal... He has good movement too.

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  4. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/liverpool-fc-striker-luis-suarez-1857310?

    Not related to the article, but some people have to give this a quick read...

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  5. Sturridge is talented, but he is lazy and selfish in my opinion.

    There has been a few occasions where he shrugged and stood there when a ball was misplaced, only to spark into action when the Kop voiced their displeasure.

    There has also been times when he hasn't celebrated a goal with the same enthusiasm as his team mates, as if he is jealous that he didn't score.

    BR needs to indulge him a little and give him more game time, if he is fit.

    BR did move Suarez to accommodate Sturridge initially.

    Hopefully we sign Remy too.

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  6. still have my doubts on him, he's a great signing, but as the main man up top i dont think hes got it in him to do it consistently enough and he runs into dead ends too often. i don't think you can compare his and suarez' selfishness together either, when suarez goes alone he normally makes something happen but as you could see yesterday there were times were we were 2 on 1 an sturridge wanted to go alone, yes he was on for his hat trick but against other teams it coudld cost us

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  7. I think it's unfair on the team for Sturridge to demand where he plays, if the manager think he provides something different on the wing then Sturridge should have no problem playing there.

    He has been very very good, but sometimes teams need something on the bench to change a game perhaps Rodgers thought Sturridge could provide that? Additionally while Sturridge may be outperforming Suarez in mins per goals/assists Suarez has created the most chances from open play in the league (so perhaps not as selfish as some suggest as he is also 3rd for Key passes per game in the league)

    Sturridge should start as long as he is playing well (which he is at the moment) remember that he was injured for 1-2 games, we don't know whether there was a risk starting him and aggravating the niggling injuries.

    Also may I just add, it was great to see Borini get in the goals hopefully he can put pressure on Luis and Daniel for a starting spot in the future. His movement and workrate are impressive, just a shame as he was bedding in he suffered bad injuries. All three strikers offer something different let's hope thet pressure each other to perform lest they lose their starting spot.

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  8. Maybe Sturridge is a bit frail. He has admitted that he tends to get knocks that slow him down and can't believe Suarez' consitution is so rock hard. I think Sturridge should start every game. He may need to sub out earlier than 80 minutes though if he's to remain healthy.

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  9. Micah Richards would be good for our back line...let's get him.

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  10. Great post JK because you back it up with objective evidence. IMO Sturridge gets banded with quite a few lazy unsubstantiated accusations-laziness, attitude etc etc.
    Some more nonsense I've heard from so called fans on this site is ridiculous, like he doesn't celebrate when others score or the reason why he was sub vs Chelski because he could have seen red. Personally Sturridge was the key in our 2nd half siege against Chelski yet was given little credit. When we play bad as a team, he's the first to receive criticism mainly due to being "selfish & lazy" (against Reading & W.Ham). stats don't lie plus he's had niggling injuries which haven't helped. Yet some say he's not LFC standard & at the same token they're still pining for Carroll??!!! If Carroll was half as effective he'd still be playing for us
    If BR can get over his inferiority complex against the top teams he will realise that there's room for both Saurez & Sturridge. Instead he's wimped out, ala Man Utd game. Sturridge is a 20 goal a season striker if we back him & BR gives him a chance!

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  11. *Sturridge=goal/assist every 106 minutes

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  12. I don't understand why BR plays Suarez and benches Sturridge. Both should be playing together. In fact, I prefer Sturridge as central striker and Suarez on the wings. Not sure if its because BR wants to use Coutinho and Downing along with Suarez or if its because Sturridge has been suffering with some niggling injuries early on that he was benched.

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  13. The number of goals he scores has no bearing on whether he's lazy or not. To suggest it is ridiculous. Sturridge put in a few poor performances, one of them was against Southampton, which is why he was dropped. His effort has been lacking which has effected the team's ability to defend properly from the front. At least the same can't be said of Suarez.

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  14. Key phrase you have used is "Majority of games".
    i agree he should be on the pitch a majority of games but it gets on my nerves when i see players complain after sitting on the bench after not performing well for 2-3 games. (which happened before the chelsea game).
    It annoyed me when i saw Suarez kick a bottle last year when he was subbed off and looking peeved this year when getting subbed off also.
    I get players want to play and its great to see passion but you are part of a team and in the modern era of football you need more than 11 players.
    Hope he keeps playing as he did on the weekend and we should look pretty good next season with some moves in the market.

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  15. I think people fail to appreciate that before Sturridge we had NOBODY willing to make runs into the box or get on the end of crosses. For 12mill, we have in Sturridge a fox in the box (goal poacher), winger (perfect cross for Saurez against Chelski) with great ball control & dribbling skills, a target man I.e can play as lone striker with good distribution. I agree far from being the finished article, but believe me in terms of what England have, he's one of the bright ones!
    If BR has the fortitude to play him up front simply because of his willingness to get in the box, with Saurez having a free role we could be far more devastating.

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  16. I think BR was right to take him out the team. after the southampton game, it was clear that one of suarez downing sturridge and coutinho have to miss out, and sturridge was in the worst form, he barely touched the ball in that game or the spurs game.
    Having downing gives width and experience and an altogether more balanced line up, so im not complaining about sturridge coming out.
    its clear he plays best with something to prove (city & chelsea were his best games).

    But im backing sturridge to get 2 or 3 more goals and borini one to stake a claim for next year.

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  17. Porciestreet; We would have him off you 2morrow. Tried to get him a while back. God knows we need something. We got to get shot of this trash-bin manager first and see what happens. Just hope we can stop up . Howaaaaaaaaaaay the Lads.

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  18. When he has a poor-ish (by his own standards) game, he is dropped for the next one only to come on as an impact sub and runs riot. I don't see a problem with this.

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  19. Don't get too carried away yet lads. We were absolutely shite against you lot but you took all your chances and thats what counts Christ we are in the shit .Been following the Toon for over 50 years and never seen such crap in my life . Good luck to you guy's.

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  20. I think some were just justified in calling him selfish at times during his time at Chelsea as he was. He would do all the hard work and then just want to home in on goal almost all the time, regardless of better options. Many Chelsea fans felt like this and I felt like this when I saw him play for them. Even Di Matteo made a PC comment about his selfishness when asked about it. There clearly was enough out there in his game at Chelsea to accuse him of being selfish at times. After all, he was a young player (still is) and its par for the course, the incomplete nature of a young player's game, whether it be decision making, trying to take players on too much, etc. Now he is getting older, learning more as he goes on and has to adapt to this new system in a transitional club, if he wants to carve out a very good career. Half a season of form at LFC doesn't wipe out his history at Chelsea. Just because he has been relatively unselfish now, doesn't mean he wasn't back then. He is simply getting older, using what he has learnt better, etc. He was selfish at Chelsea, just less now, as time is doing its thing of making things better.


    I don't think Luis is selfish, in terms of attacking play, as he clearly has been given a important role to lead and carry the attack in the last third, i.e., given the license the roam and take risks at will. Like it or not, he is the go-to man in our attack as he is simply that important. That is the nature of his role and importance, that he is allowed to be selfish and rightly so. Messi isn't naturally selfish, he simply is that good, that he is given that license to be the go-to man in the last third.

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  21. Did you think Pardew was "trash-bin" last year?

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  22. Who would you drop to fit him in?

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  23. He does blow a bit hot and cold. If he can keep his standards up maybe he wont get dropped, its up to him. I would think getting in the England side ahead of Wellbeck would be motivation for him as well.

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  24. Remember he hasn't played the full 90 minutes in a lot of games

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  25. How about he's on the bench because he gets injured quite often when he plays a full match. Maybe Rodgers is doing the right thing by letting him recover before throwing him back in. Players want to play which is good and it shows a hunger but it's not because they want to play that they're also right to want to do so.

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