Daniel Sturridge

[Harv]

Really noticed his loss of pace last night. He used to be seriously quick.

Its reminding me of Torres more and more each game.

His legs just look completely gone. That run where he had a good few yards on the defender (Rami i think? Not exactly a quick CB!) who then comfortably closed him down, was just painful. Two years ago he's through on goal and sliding that past the keeper.

[gratziani]

I don't see Sturridge as the problem, for me the 3 in behind need sorting out, on their day they can be great but none of them are able to do it week in week out, most of the time one of the 3 will play well and the others will just show flashes. For me the dynamic of that 3 is wrong, add some pace or width or something to stretch the game and give us a different dimension, at the moment they all want to play in more or less the same space.

that is the crux for me as well

all of the three behind are so inconsistent, I dream of the day when all three play brilliantly together but never gonna happen.

Our best performances have been with Origi and Sturridge on the pitch.

[Phoenix07]

Its reminding me of Torres more and more each game.

His legs just look completely gone. That run where he had a good few yards on the defender (Rami i think? Not exactly a quick CB!) who then comfortably closed him down, was just painful. Two years ago he's through on goal and sliding that past the keeper.

He looks like he's had a ****e in his pants, and is struggling to prevent it from falling out. In our squad, we are seriously lacking the ability to get behind teams. Origi can do it, but who else? Klopp builds his teams around counter-attacking football, sitting a little deep, and hitting them on the break with pace and penetration.

His finishing ability is world class, but he doesn't look suited for the lone striker role.

[danperkins]

Sturridge did what he could do last night. Was a world class goal, if the service was there he would have scored more but he got hardly anything the whole game... so much so that he was dropping deep to try to get into the game. Coutinho, Firmino & Lallana really let the team down going forward.

As regards Sturridge not working as a lone striker, maybe so. He's so good though that a work horse role takes away from his natural game around the box, chap is lethal. Definitely suited to playing with someone up top. We are really lucky to have a striker as good as Sturridge, fabulous goal and wish he got more opportunities in front of goal last night... but wasn't to be.

[Phoenix07]

As regards Sturridge not working as a lone striker, maybe so. He's so good though that a work horse role takes away from his natural game around the box, chap is lethal. Definitely suited to playing with someone up top. We are really lucky to have a striker as good as Sturridge, fabulous goal and wish he got more opportunities in front of goal last night... but wasn't to be.

Lewandowski wasn't exactly a workhorse, but he knew that he had to lead the line, stay as the focal point, and make his movements within certain areas of the pitch, not drift wide left, wide right, and central midfield.

Origi's recent performances indicate that he knows what is required. It will be interesting to see how Ings does too.

I'm not calling for Sturridge to be a Tevez, Suarez, or Vardy in terms of pressing, but his natural game is to drop deep and drift wide, which is great in a two striker formation, but as a lone man, not so much. That's why Villas Boas played him on the wide right for Chelsea, and why he worked so well alongside Suarez under Rodgers.

[Corndog]

He does look slower than before, but at least he was never solely about pace, so imo he's still a great striker. His intelligent runs, skill and awesome shooting ability are still there.

Who knows, maybe now he is slower, he will pick up fewer muscle related injuries- if this is the case id rather he played full seasons like he is than 15 games breaking down with thigh strains in between.

[Fosterbloke]

He needs a strike partner and a team that can compress the game in the final third, then he won't need his pace and can rely on his world class control and finishing ability.

[Tee]

The front 3 or 4 are fine, we just need better midfielders around Emre to support them. Milner and co are not up to the level we aspire to.

[Rich]

He'd still be my first choice striker going into next season - keep him fit all year and he'd be good for 30 goals.

I don't think we can buy in that kind of return.

[powerpack]

He'd still be my first choice striker going into next season - keep him fit all year and he'd be good for 30 goals.

I don't think we can buy in that kind of return.

Exactly. All this talk of getting rid of Sturridge. Who are you going to replace him with? Prolific goal scorers are incredibly hard to find and are not cheap.

His goal record speaks for itself. Yes he's been injury prone but since Klopp came in and brought him back gradually it's been a case of so far so good (although Bodgeson will probably wreck him again). Let give the lad a break, his job is to score goals which he does.

[BigChief]

He needs a strike partner and a team that can compress the game in the final third, then he won't need his pace and can rely on his world class control and finishing ability.

He'd still be my first choice striker going into next season - keep him fit all year and he'd be good for 30 goals.

I don't think we can buy in that kind of return.

Though I agree with the above points, this is the sort of thing that screws up any strategies or tactics a new manager wants to bring in. Of course we'd all like to see Sturridge stay despite his lack of pace. But in doing so we (have to) build the team around him thus doing away with formations such as 4231 which Klopp favours.

Nothing wrong with doing that, but then what happens when your 30 goal a season star man breaks down again? Players are now conditioned to working around Sturridge.....who's no longer there for maybe months. And they're now unsure of the 'other' tactics the manager was supposed to bring in.

The old Sturridge would have fitted in to any formation and style Klopp wanted to play. This new Sturridge can't. If Rodgers was still here he would have sacrificed all our futures in trying to fit him in just like he did with Gerrard (and LvG is doing with Rooney). I'm glad we have Klopp.

[gratziani]

Formations are not all about keeping a tight 4-2-3-1 thought

Sturridge Is a natural at finding space in the box or around it , that cant be taught or pace really comes into it for me.

[Phoenix07]

Formations are not all about keeping a tight 4-2-3-1 thought

Sturridge Is a natural at finding space in the box or around it , that cant be taught or pace really comes into it for me.

He is a natural at finding the space when he's in the box, but a lot of the time, he's deep, or drifting out wide when we need that focal point. Our counter-attacking style requires a striker to make those movements along the length of the penalty box. Sturridge goes wider, and then deeper. When you have two strikers on the pitch, or you have attacking players who will take up the vacated striker's position, then that's fine. We don't, and I don't think Klopp plays like that either, going off the way his Dortmund team played.

[gratziani]

Surely we have to be a bit flexible about this going forward, if he goes wider or deeper someone else takes that space , Origi and Sturridge look like the way forward for me and would love us to play them two

Goals win the league nowadays and getting more goalscorers in the team we have a better chance of competing.

Sturridge has now had a couple of months of playing after a couple of years of injuries.

Next year if he has an injury free run we surely will reap the benefit

[Phoenix07]

Klopp doesn't play that way. That's why he's stuck with 4-2-3-1 for most of the season. It's to see who can fit in, and who cannot. Whether we like it or not, that's his preferred way, with in-game switches to the diamond and 4-3-3.

Origi's form in the few games prior to his injury was one of a striker who can play advanced, and stay in those forward positions, without drifting wide too much. When he did, he was able to rush quickly into the main striking area. That's what we need longer term.