As I've argued repeatedly over the last year, if Daniel Sturridge is played regularly in his preferred role (Centre-Forward), he will deliver the goods, and he once again proved that emphatically during Liverpool's 4-1 humbling of Premier League champions Leicester.
Sturridge may not have scored, but he was directly involved in two of team's goals, and his superb assist for Mane's goal appeared to impress one of Europe's best attacking players.
Thirty minutes into the game, Sturridge delivered a sublime backheel assist for Sadio Mane, which prompted praise from France international Antoine Griezmann^, who tweeted:
Indeed. It was a superb piece of skill, and that's the kind of skill of which Sturridge is capable.
It was pleasing to see Klopp start Sturridge, and play him in his natural position, but it needs to be maintained.
In my view, it's simple: start Sturridge once a week in every league game, and keep him on the bench for cup games. This will give him 6-7 days recovery time after every match, which is a responsible way to manage his fitness.
As illustrated previously, Sturridge's injury shows that he mostly gets injured when being overused, which happened regularly under Brendan Rodgers, who often played him every 4-5 days (a mistake).
Liverpool's only goal this season is to qualify for the Champions League, and with one league game per week, there's arguably no excuse to ignore Sturridge for the striker role (if he's fit). Like all players, he'll have off games, but that's when Klopp needs to show that he has faith in Sturridge.
Do that, and Liverpool will reap the rewards.
^ Griezmann: Has an €80m release clause in his contract
Sturridge may not have scored, but he was directly involved in two of team's goals, and his superb assist for Mane's goal appeared to impress one of Europe's best attacking players.
Thirty minutes into the game, Sturridge delivered a sublime backheel assist for Sadio Mane, which prompted praise from France international Antoine Griezmann^, who tweeted:
Indeed. It was a superb piece of skill, and that's the kind of skill of which Sturridge is capable.
It was pleasing to see Klopp start Sturridge, and play him in his natural position, but it needs to be maintained.
In my view, it's simple: start Sturridge once a week in every league game, and keep him on the bench for cup games. This will give him 6-7 days recovery time after every match, which is a responsible way to manage his fitness.
As illustrated previously, Sturridge's injury shows that he mostly gets injured when being overused, which happened regularly under Brendan Rodgers, who often played him every 4-5 days (a mistake).
Liverpool's only goal this season is to qualify for the Champions League, and with one league game per week, there's arguably no excuse to ignore Sturridge for the striker role (if he's fit). Like all players, he'll have off games, but that's when Klopp needs to show that he has faith in Sturridge.
Do that, and Liverpool will reap the rewards.
^ Griezmann: Has an €80m release clause in his contract
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