According to spurious made up 'reports' in the media, Daniel Sturridge could be out injured for up to four months, but the man himself has contradicted the ridiculous tabloid scaremongering, and provided a strong hint that he will be back in action sooner rather than later.
Earlier today, Sturridge posted a message on Instagram, which simply stated: 'Be back soon'.
Clearly, Sturridge's injury is not as bad as first feared. This is great news for LFC fans, but I sincerely hope that he is given enough recovery time to heal properly.
Rushing Sturridge back should not be an option, and with Balotelli in the squad, there's no need to take any risks. Like most players, he'll want to get back on the field as soon as possible, but Rodgers should take a cautious approach and ease Sturridge back slowly.
After all, this is a player who's racked up 14 injuries in three years, so there's obviously a problem there, and the effective management of his fitness should be a top priority.
In my view, Sturridge definitely shouldn't start Saturday's game with Aston Villa. It's a home fixture, and the Reds should have more than enough quality up-front to snag the three points. Without Sturridge, I'd go for the following line-up:
------------------ Mignolet
Manquillo --- Skrtel --- Lovren ----- Moreno
------------------ Gerrard
----------- Hendo -------- Lallana
--------------------------------- Markovic
----------- Sterling
------------------ Balotelli
4231 would also work, but it's not one of Rodgers' favoured formations:
------------------ Mignolet
Manquillo --- Skrtel --- Lovren ----- Moreno
------------- Gerrard - Hendo
Sterling --------- Lallana -------- Markovic
----------------- Balotelli
Author: Jaimie K
Earlier today, Sturridge posted a message on Instagram, which simply stated: 'Be back soon'.
Clearly, Sturridge's injury is not as bad as first feared. This is great news for LFC fans, but I sincerely hope that he is given enough recovery time to heal properly.
Rushing Sturridge back should not be an option, and with Balotelli in the squad, there's no need to take any risks. Like most players, he'll want to get back on the field as soon as possible, but Rodgers should take a cautious approach and ease Sturridge back slowly.
After all, this is a player who's racked up 14 injuries in three years, so there's obviously a problem there, and the effective management of his fitness should be a top priority.
In my view, Sturridge definitely shouldn't start Saturday's game with Aston Villa. It's a home fixture, and the Reds should have more than enough quality up-front to snag the three points. Without Sturridge, I'd go for the following line-up:
------------------ Mignolet
Manquillo --- Skrtel --- Lovren ----- Moreno
------------------ Gerrard
----------- Hendo -------- Lallana
--------------------------------- Markovic
----------- Sterling
------------------ Balotelli
4231 would also work, but it's not one of Rodgers' favoured formations:
------------------ Mignolet
Manquillo --- Skrtel --- Lovren ----- Moreno
------------- Gerrard - Hendo
Sterling --------- Lallana -------- Markovic
----------------- Balotelli
Author: Jaimie K
I'm with you on this one Jaimie. I'd like to see Markovic given a start, especially at home.
ReplyDeleteI like the 4231 formation too, but I can't see BR using it... but the 'offset diamond' (i suppose its a 433 in a way) looks pretty good anyway, and I could see him playing exactly that lineup. Forgive my ignorance, but no space for Couti?
ReplyDeleteNo ? Why Skirtel . Everytime he is in the central defense our defense is leaky . I would go with Sakho until he shows a drop in form . Why change a formation that has given us a clean sheet after so many games ?
ReplyDeleteI don't think coutinho deserves to be dropped just yet. Lallana on bench for me
ReplyDeleteHodgson and his medical team are a joke. Their player management in terms of medical is a shambles. How can you play Hendo the full 93 minutes with the injury he was nursing is beyond me
ReplyDelete. Clubs should have a bigger say when a player is injured, if they can or can't play. Players are the clubs biggest asset and should be protected.
Coutinho with Brazil who play tonight ( Wed ) probably best rested on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteNo way Jose.
ReplyDeleteSkrtel is our best defender, not even to mention that he scored 8 goals last season. Against Spurs Sakho was, yet once again, a disaster waiting to happen and gave away the ball several times in dangerous areas. Sakho should be donated to Van Gaal, on a compassionate free transfer, so as to really mess up the scum's defense.
You forgot to mention the OGs he scored, and mistakes he made, which would nullify the goals he scored. But he was our best defender by a mile last season, but he has about 10 years more experience than Sakho, And your way offside with the comments you made about Sakho, IMO Respect.
ReplyDeleteno coutinho?
ReplyDeleteman we need coutinho he is the "brains" of the team
................................................balotelli
markovic.................................coutinho..........................sterling
..........................................henderson ..........allen
gerrard might wanta rest with ludongrets
lallana is not match fit he can come on with 15 minutes left
there is no way skrtel should start ahead of sakho
ReplyDeletesakho kept a cl vs costa and was very reassuring vs spurs
skrtels passing is bad and he has a natural instinct to drop deep this does not coincide well with lovren
you should never change a back 4 that is keeping clean sheets
sakho will be like that
ReplyDeletewhen you consider that was his first game since the wc defeat to germany
skrtel is not good enough
my team jaimie:
ReplyDelete.......................................................mignolet
manquillo...................lovren..............................sakho................moreno
...................................henderson.....................allen/gerrard
markovic......................................sterling ....................................coutinho
....................................................balotelli
bench: lambert,lallana,can,gerrard/allen,skrtel,toure, jones
hahahah, you should stop watching football. Skrtel is utter garbage and Sakho is the best defender we have by a mile. There is a reason he is the number one for France ahead of the likes of Mathieu, Koscielny and Mangala.
ReplyDeletewhy?
ReplyDeletehe will not even start willian and oscar higher then him in pecking order
plus he will have to get used to playing wedensday then satuardays with cl
sakho definitely looks stronger than skrtel and will only get better w more game time, just that experience wise, skrtel has an edge. I wouldn't mind if br rotates sakho w skrtel or lovren for games as, for sure, there would be many midweek games coming up n you want players who r hungry to play...
ReplyDeleteSkrtel out of the line up, we get a clean sheet. Surprise? I think not. Skrtel is utter garbage and should be far far away from the starting line up. I'd prefer him in Russia but the bench would be fine for now.
ReplyDeletetotally agreed, when i read that hendo played the whole match after nursing an ankle injury, my first thot of hodgson is unprintable, wish i could read br's mind now, would be interesting...
ReplyDeleteIf I see it in the Liverpool Echo I believe it!!..............the rest????
ReplyDeleteSakho bullied Costa.
ReplyDeleteMarkovic or Coutinho ... I think it will be Coutinho with Markovic off the bench. Not sure on the formation because we can easily shift back into a 4-3-3. I would also not be 100% sure that Lallana will start given that he's not played proper competitive football for some time. Maybe Allen to start with Lallana off the bench.
ReplyDeleteSo I'd guess it will be:
-----------Gerrard
-----Henderson----Allen
------Sterling----Coutinho
-----------Balotelli
Also not sure if Skrtel is fully fit so predicting another start for Sakho. He played well again for his country and we should expect the partnership to be a bit more comfortable the second time he works with Lovren. They are both very positive pro-active defenders and once they get a better feel for each other's movements I think it will be a powerful defence.
Skrtel didnt play midweek for his country so probably out.
ReplyDeleteThe threat they pose is their lightning counter-attacks,
We have to pick a team to expect and deal with that,
whoever plays.
Surely Brendan will go into this game better prepared than last season
ReplyDeleteI didnt even think about the cursed internationals. And no he won't have to get used to it, why would you have that idea? How many of the XI that play on a Saturday will be in the starting XI for the Wednesday game? You'd be daft to do that often, especially when we take into account the distances that we need to travel to some of those clubs. Players like Henderson, Allen, maybe Sterling MIGHT be able to do it, but Couto isn't cut out for that.
ReplyDeleteHow can you be so reasonable and unreasonable in one comment. "you should stop watching football. Skrtel is utter garbage". Why man? Just chill out. Skrtel is a good player, not many people can think in terms of 'good, decent, ok, useful' everything has to be either 'that guy is boss' or 'he is utter garbage'. If he was "utter garbage" do you think he would ever start for Liverpool? Let alone be an undisputed starter for a large number of years? He was easily out best defender last year and is such a warrior. Why not just say "Skrtel, whilst a useful defender and a valuable member of the squad, wouldn't necessarily be in my first eleven for today's Liverpool. The two central defensive places in Brendan Rodgers' preferred 442 Diamond would be Dejan Lovren, for his solidity in defense and driving runs, coupled by Sakho, whose physical strength, height and passing can help us in set piece situations, which have been a major weakness of LFC's since the days of Benitez."
ReplyDeleteThat was off the top of my head and actually adds to the discussion. Don't just say player x is rubbish, player y is better, so there. I do, however agree that our future is with Sakho and he should be given as much gametime, while we should keep Skrtel as an experienced and dependable backup.
is Lallana fit to play ?
ReplyDeleteApparently, thats what I've read, plus he played in that training scratchie (and scored) against Wolves. I hope so, looking forward to seeing what he can do and where he will play. Personally I'd probably put Sterling in the middle behind Balo, even though he is more used to playing either on the right or in the centre behind 2, and probably use Marko on the right. If things arent working, switch Marko to the left so he can cut in, Sterling right so he can bolt up the wing and Lallana in the middle to mix it up and dovetail with Balo. Good times ahead Reds, YNWA
ReplyDeleteConsidering the "four months out" reports came before he had been even assessed by a Liverpool medic made it even more laughable.
ReplyDeleteWith his injury weakness though it would be madness to play or even bench him on Saturday. Our whole shopping spree this summer was for precisely this kind of situation. the players are there to cover his loss .
I would opt for the 4-2-3-1, but I would swap Lallana and Sterling. I love Lallanas ability with both feet on the wing, the option of crossing or cutting in to shoot (both being equally effective) is a nightmare for a full back. IMO it's his most dangerous position.
Sterling has really grown into the central role. At the start of last year I thought he was an out and out winger and was skeptical of his ability to see the play centrally, but he has proved himself there and is getting better with every game.
The team above is good enough to beat anyone, especially at Anfield.
When he's playing Champions League I don't expect he'll be travelling as much as when returning from international duty with Brazil. Say he's back late Thursday, what preparation time might he get for Saturdays game.... just sayin like !
ReplyDeleteSakho owned Costa on International duty this week, not bad for a disaster !
ReplyDeleteWas he really nursing an injury though ?
ReplyDeleteHe was already dropped for the last game.
ReplyDeleteSome players are just unfortunate with injuries, being injury prone is not nice at all. Someone like Suarez was just a beast of a man when it came to injuries.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Studge will need to take his time, and not rush back. Let's just hope Balotelli can take the mantle for a while and hit the ground running.
Its strange how sturridge hurts himself most of times being injured, hes barely touched by someone else, always hurting himself in training, that is very amateurish, how can a world class player do that? Wonder if hed get suarezs kicks, wouldnt play probably for years! The medical team must react, cant afford losing him in training with CL back now, suarez gone!
ReplyDeleteJaimie, you mentioned Sturridge has racked up 14 injuries in 3 years so you have clearly looked at this more than myself. If you have a comparison handy I would be interested to know how many of those injuries occurred whilst on international duty? I didn't realise that Sturridge had had so many injuries in that time frame and in the last 2 years I had the impression that he had suffered more when on international duty than at Liverpool but perhaps that is mistaken.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that Brendan has a specific training regime for Sturridge due to the injury problems he has suffered throughout his career and I would expect (but don't know) that the England coaching staff would respect this when picking Sturridge for international duty.
What are your thoughts Jaimie (or anyone else for that matter)?
Is Lallana fit again? I keep forgetting he signed.
ReplyDeleteNot as simple as that...
ReplyDelete