In January 2013, Liverpool legend Steve Nicol slated Brendan Rodgers' decision to sign Daniel Sturridge, arguing that the striker was 'not the right answer for Liverpool. Forty-three goals and assists later, Nicol has changed his mind, and publicly admitted that he got it wrong about Sturridge.
After Rodgers signed Sturridge, Nicol told scathed:
"I don't think he's the right answer for Liverpool. I don't think he's a good team guy.
"He wants to play centre-forward, but we've already got Suarez, so why are we signing this guy for £12m?"
Sturridge grabbed another goal and a 'sensational' assist on Saturday to help the Reds seal a terrific 6-3 victory against Cardiff, and after watching the game, Nicol conceded:
"Up until [signing for LFC], he [Sturridge] had done nothing to make a anyone think he'd turn out to be what he has been for Liverpool. There was a reason Chelsea didn't want him, and I went along with it. Sometimes you get it right; this time, I was wrong".
To be honest, I also had reservations about Sturridge's transfer to Liverpool. I never bought into the 'selfishness' accusation (in fact, I've specifically argued against the peddling of that myth), but the striker's goal record prior to his Anfield move didn't inspire great confidence.
The comparatively small £12m transfer fee assuaged those minor doubts somewhat, though, and the deal felt like an educated risk, and a sensible use of transfer funds (as opposed to ridiculous gamble of signing Andy Carroll for £35m).
Sturridge is a revelation for Liverpool, it's as simple as that. 43 goals/assists in 42 games says it all, and in my view, the striker is - pound-for-pound - LFC's best value for money signing since Sami Hyypia. Luis Suarez is amazing value for money, but Liverpool paid £23m for the Uruguayan, which is a fairly significant transfer fee.
For £12m, Sturridge is an incredible bargain, and very few players in that price range have delivered goals/assists to such a prolific degree.
Author: Jaimie K
After Rodgers signed Sturridge, Nicol told scathed:
"I don't think he's the right answer for Liverpool. I don't think he's a good team guy.
"He wants to play centre-forward, but we've already got Suarez, so why are we signing this guy for £12m?"
Sturridge grabbed another goal and a 'sensational' assist on Saturday to help the Reds seal a terrific 6-3 victory against Cardiff, and after watching the game, Nicol conceded:
"Up until [signing for LFC], he [Sturridge] had done nothing to make a anyone think he'd turn out to be what he has been for Liverpool. There was a reason Chelsea didn't want him, and I went along with it. Sometimes you get it right; this time, I was wrong".
To be honest, I also had reservations about Sturridge's transfer to Liverpool. I never bought into the 'selfishness' accusation (in fact, I've specifically argued against the peddling of that myth), but the striker's goal record prior to his Anfield move didn't inspire great confidence.
The comparatively small £12m transfer fee assuaged those minor doubts somewhat, though, and the deal felt like an educated risk, and a sensible use of transfer funds (as opposed to ridiculous gamble of signing Andy Carroll for £35m).
Sturridge is a revelation for Liverpool, it's as simple as that. 43 goals/assists in 42 games says it all, and in my view, the striker is - pound-for-pound - LFC's best value for money signing since Sami Hyypia. Luis Suarez is amazing value for money, but Liverpool paid £23m for the Uruguayan, which is a fairly significant transfer fee.
For £12m, Sturridge is an incredible bargain, and very few players in that price range have delivered goals/assists to such a prolific degree.
survey tool
Author: Jaimie K
Nicol talking nonsense there. He had done nothing before coming to Liverpool? So that run of games for Bolton was nothing then? Or even when he first broke through at City? His class was easy to see from an early age. Even if you look at his games per minute ratio for Chelsea there is something there. And he was playing on the wing which just doesn't suit him. I hate people who do this and hate myself as I do it now but I was one of those hoping we would get Sturridge in the Torres deal. At the time I didn't think he was as good as Torres (or the Torres of a season or two previous to him leaving) but I know from what I had seen of him he had talent. I had no idea he would be as good as he is but I know I am not alone in knowing he could be better than how he seemed at Chelsea. Sometimes talent can get lost with circumstance but the talent was certainly there.
ReplyDeleteI didn't vote above as I think that each player is now worth something like three times what we payed.
Like Nicol could say anything else. Gets it wrong time and time again.
ReplyDeleteHe's talking rubbish saying Studge had done nothing prior to joining us.
Only one of Sturridge and Nicol is selfish and self important...
i wouldn't sell Sturridge for £36m.
ReplyDeleteI always thought Sturridge was class. He had shown glimpse of his ability multiple times. He just didn't really seem to get the right run of games. He got played quite a bit as a winger, and we know that's not his favourite position.
ReplyDeleteSturrige is the best finisher in the league without doubt ,he's feet are as quick as anyone, he's as skilful as anyone and as fast as anyone too. Make ur own mind up about him his record speaks for himself if he played for barca or real then people would respect him more . Love this fella think he is unreal and will be one if the players up for player of the season along with Suarez and hazard .
ReplyDeleteHis strength on the ball is overlooked too. He holds the ball up as good as anyone.
ReplyDeleteBoth (Suarez and Sturridge) are great value for money. If you are talking value for money and not the skill you get for what you paid for then you might have to argue Suarez was the best value for money (or investment). Suarez's market value now must be about £80m and I'd say Sturridge's market value must be something like £30m perhaps? In that sense you could argue that Suarez is better value for money - don't forget his goals/assist ratio and the type of individual goals he's been scoring - he's been talked about in the same light as Messi and Ronaldo and to get him for £23m has to be great value. Having said that, I'm just playing devil's advocate - I love them both, they are both not for sale and they are both unbelievable players - we're very luck to have them. I can't wait for the next value for money signing who could deliver like this - maybe Xakiri is the one??? ... or maybe Tello?? There is good talent out there for the likes of 10 - 20mil that's currently being wasted by teams that don't see what they have. I'd be tempted to get Torres back if it was for £10mil - I think he'll perform for the reds (Don't know why, just a gut feeling)
ReplyDeleteAgree - see my point below about talent being wasted at other clubs. Certain managers haven't got a clue and waste talent by forcing them to fit into a system or not playing them! Chelsea classic example with Sturridge. He actually bagged loads of points for me in fantasy footbal when he was a starter for chelsea but they had to accomodate Drogba and Torres - Sturridge went through a stage when he was playing better than both of them - but for whatever reason the press made out that he was flopping, not that Chelsea are not managing him properly - that really winds me up - we don't give young talent enough of a chance - eitehr in the media or in premiership teams. We have the best manager in this respect - so proud to be a Liverpool fan.
ReplyDeleteHe has an elegance about him too. Not particulartly important for someone who is rightly measured in terms of goals and assists but still a nice bonus
ReplyDeleteVery good player though......
ReplyDeleteAlso to be fair at least he gives an opinion (for which he is paid) and is prepared to admit his errors (at least in part) even if he could do little else in the face of all the evidence
I find it difficult to make a comparison on individual value cos I think Suarez has got the best out of Sturridge ...... after all they are the SAS and motivate each other . Both have proved to be masterstroke signings.
ReplyDeleteWell if Bale went for £85m, as reported , Luis must be worth a hell of a lot more
ReplyDeleteTrue - I would have liked to have said £100m but went for £80m to avoid a torrent of abuse
ReplyDeleteAs of now, I'd still vote Suarez the better signing, but that is largely because he has had more time to impress. He has been the best player in the league for 2 consecutive seasons and for the money we paid that is great value. I think the biggest argument in favour of Suarez as our major bargain of the last few years is that when you are out of the CL, you tend to either have to get a lower quality of player or overpay for top quality players whereas with Suarez we managed to do neither.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure given time, that last sentiment will be true of Sturridge as well. I think the huge effect these two signings have had amidst all our wasted money over the last few years proves that you only have to get a handful of your transfers right to progress.
Sturridge was tremendous value for money as was Suarez - who could have dreamed they would be such a success. Sturridge first came to my notice when he played, on loan, at Bolton and was regularly amongst the goals. When Liverpool sold Torres to Chelsea I requested (on these sites) that Sturridge and "old Drogba" be part of the deal - but Chelsea wisely would not include either.
ReplyDeleteSturridge in my opinion was released by Chelsea because they saw him as selfish - as indeed he was. However, I credit BR and the Liverpool coaching staff as the people who largely ironed it out of him to the great advantage of the Reds.But it still shows itself from time to time (as it did with Suarez on Saturday). But, could we have them any other way?
Exactly my sentiments, I thought he would be part of the Torres deal too! I personally voted for Sturridge- he's cheaper, maybe not as great as Saurez but more likely to stay loyal!
ReplyDeleteI recognized Sturridge's talent in the 2012 Olympics, when he scored 2 against Uruguay, effectively ending our run.
ReplyDeleteWhat's great is that he came cheap, with a point to prove - his point is proven! Not only is he banging them in, he's improving all the time. If he stays fit, he'll be force to recon with over the next few years. Not only is he scoring goals, but also providing some class assists to go with it, and is becoming less predictable in his play - more like Suarez.
Suarez - what needs to be said? What is amazing is that not only does it look like there will be a 30+ goal scorer and a 20+ goal scorer, both should have double digit assists - very impressive, and no penalty goals either (I'm looking at you Roni - 6 this season, and Messi 4). Exciting stuff. Think if both had been available all season, a 40+ and 30+ scorer on one team? Sounds crazy, but could have very well have been the case!
As for value buys, return on investment % wise pretty similar - they've each increased their value anywhere from 300% - 400%(anyone know where I can buy Suarez or Sturridge stock???), absolutes, well Suarez has gained a little more in absolutes, but still, both amazing bargains - hard to think how they could get overlooked.
Wednesday can't wait - Suarez always scores against Sunderland, Sturridge is due a couple too.
I just think this way that had torres not gone to chelsea at that time, we wud have got into CL last year easily.. With suarez and torres upfront, it wud hav been a deadly combo + sturridge coming in jan 2013
ReplyDeleteSuarez on saturday ? It was sterling who was being selfish.. what do u expect from a striker with having a chance for hat trick and team in total control ?
ReplyDeleteIt was his right to do so.. it was sterling who over reacted instead of celebrating the goal
Remember sterling 1st goal of the season (i think against norwich at home) when suarez could have easily got the goal but he passed to sterling ?? because he had got his hat trick
ReplyDeleteI remember when Sturridge was a youngster at Man City thinking "I wish we had him" - he had so much skill and the rare ability to beat people with ease. I thought City were stupid to let him go. I just think he has so much talent that Chelsea and City should have been prepared to nurture him a lot better (I don't subscribe the the idea that he must have had an attitude problem). Teams like Liverpool, United and Arsenal would have tried to nurture Sturridge and would have tried to keep that sort of talent and make it work.
ReplyDeleteAs for Suarez, I remember him for Uruguay in the 2010 world cup and even before that. I thought he had something special then - had the ability to beat players and find himself in front of goal really often. I was made up when we were linked with him and eventually signed him.
Voted Suarez but not because I'm in love with him and want to have his babies...I took the FSG approach and considered sell on value. Sturridge, by all means, is a top top top finisher and striker but one could argue he may wear off as he gets older because he'll lose his speed. Never the less, I think we should easily fetch 35 million quid for him in today's market. Probably twice that if he went to Manyoo but they're desperate so that doesn't count. Anyway, that is ROI of 291.7%. Suarez however, then you're talking Gareth Bale and Chris Ronaldo money. So let's conservatively sell him at 85 million. That's a ROI of 369.6%.
ReplyDeletequite easily suarez is the best value for money buy in our history. Purely because of what we could demand for him. Imagine him setting the champions league alight next season? Probably 100 million pounds would be undervaluing him!
ReplyDeleteBut I have to say one of the best things about our great season is that you never seem to hear from Nicol anymore....
ReplyDeleteI don't think he's trying to justify himself, he has admitted he was wrong. He just explains why he said what he said at the time. Which by all means is a motivation for his opinion, not a justification. Of course I'm saying this because I also raised question marks when we signed Sturridge :-)
ReplyDeleteMind you Crouchie is pretty quick on his feet too for such a tall fella
ReplyDeleteI was pissing myself with the other press pass members like Hislop when they showed him up for this on the Sunday segment. I like hearing from Nicol because he likes to keep things grounded and realistic. So when he finally admitted that Liverpool can win the title, I felt happy.
ReplyDeleteWhat Torres have you been watching. Stop watching old games and realise Torres is over.
ReplyDeleteWhen is he going to get a song? KC and the Sunshine Band "Get Down Tonight."
ReplyDeleteA defender for £30M what a joke it would be the height of stupidity
ReplyDeleteWe could set aside 30M for Shaw and still not sign him because of Chelsea. IMO City should sign him, they need some domestic talent. United need a new left back too. Money talks and he will pick the best offer on the table.
ReplyDeleteI like Enrique and I think he's a good fullback. Cissokho's loan won't be renewed, so I suggested Bertrand as an initial cover option for Enrique with a view of surpassing him in time. I think just like Sturridge, Bertrand would have something to prove and I think he would take his Liverpool chance if it came. And, for maybe 5M or so, no one will be complaining.
LFC have had good players in these positions but sold them over the years. I don't know why Arbeloa was let go and Emiliano Insua has proved himself as a good fullback too. If Enrique wasn't injured we would have Flanagan as cover, Robinson is still owned by Liverpool and there's also young talents like Brad Smith and Marc Pelosi - The position wouldn't be that much of a problem.
Arbeloa is a RB and Insua IMO was never good enough. Never even knew Insua is playing for Atlético Madrid now but see he is hardly getting any playing time there. Our chances of signing Shaw when City and Chelsea will be outbidding us are slim but if we are looking for a long term solution then Shaw is a player that we should at least try to sign.
ReplyDeleteI prefer Jordan Rossiter.
ReplyDeleteIf you read his article the criticism was directed to Sterling not Suarez.
ReplyDeleteArbeloa, like Johnson, has covered left back many times in the past. Insua had one full season at the club because there was no other option and the next season he was sold when there was still no other left back present and available. He was thrown under the bus big time. What you're saying about Shaw is correct but realistically we don't have much of a chance.
ReplyDeleteHard call. Sturridge is easily the best English striker currently, and after getting ripped off by the Carroll deal, Sturridge was a real steal. Sturridge is everything Fernando Torres was for us, and he went the other way for a cool 50m.
ReplyDeleteSuarez, on the other hand, is in the same class as Messi and Ronaldo, and in todays terms, that would translate to 70-80m. This suggests that our apparent discount on Sturridge would still amount to less than 40m, which is lesser than that discount we received for Suarez.
However, in all honesty, I reckon our best value for money signing has to be Brendan Rodgers, who contributed in no small part to the players these 2 are for us today.
The poll is like comparing two premium products different prices but both have proved to be equally valuable for the money put in. Lets not use recent inflated prices. I think Suarez is worth around 55mil and DS is worth around 30mil.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I still think DS is more value for money because we got him on the cheap. 12million for a potentially world class player who is on course for a 25 goal haul, is incredible.
Dirk Kuyt came in for 10 million in 06 and Arsenal 10 mil for Giroud and both of them weren't close.
Both are worth about 2.5 times more than when they first came in. Equally valuable I'd say. That said I think one of the best buys in Liverpool History, is Raheem Sterling.
If Bale is 100 then Suarez is at least 80...and Suarez is better
ReplyDeleteThat's a great song for Sturridge, given his character and groove, but I'm torn between the ideas of 'get down tonight', and 'let's groove' by Earth Wind and Fire.
ReplyDeletebale isn't worth 100, Real keeps overpaying severely. I think they paid spurs twice the amount he's actually worth. A 100 million player wouldn't flop in a Clasico.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I implied when I said Suarez is better. Definitely not WORTH 100 m, but according to current transfer market logic/inflation, Suarez is maybe at least 80
ReplyDeleteand if we take Andy Carroll as a marker then LS is worth 350million. If we don't, then given Suarez previous transfer fee + buyout contract worth I think we're looking at close 60 mil at the most.
ReplyDeleteScore another goal
ReplyDeleteDo a little dance
That's Dan tonight
That's Dan alright
or some such
We need lyrics that mention his last name, because recognising the word 'dan' in a loud but muffled chant will be hard for him! Kinda hard in our suggested songs though
ReplyDeleteOn second thought though, your suggestion is more bouncy and fast, which is what we need.
ReplyDelete