Away with the England squad, Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is being increasingly linked with a move away from Merseyside with Arsenal reportedly renewing the interest they showed in him during the summer and Italian giants Juventus supposedly sniffing around the the 27-year old. Increasingly finding himself on the sidelines for the Reds despite finally being back to full fitness, the Birmingham born attacker has continually insisted that he’s happy to play his part at Anfield, but his tune could soon change if he doesn’t find himself playing on a regular basis in the very near future.
“At this moment Jurgen Klopp fancies Roberto Firmino in that central striker position,” explained former Liverpool defender turned Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher. “He is only playing one striker at the moment, which is a problem for Daniel. Last season he was playing with two, so that’s something he has to think about,” added the Reds legend, expanding on the tactical shift employed by the German boss. “How can he improve? What is Firmino doing that he is not doing?”
Firmino, of course, isn’t exactly a traditional striker so there’s a vast difference between his game and the one regularly played by Sturridge. Although he’s deadly in front of the net and knows how to make the kind of penetrative runs that Klopp’s brand of football calls for, he’s not exactly great at pressing from the front or closing down players — a key component of the German’s style of play.
“Daniel Sturridge’s strike rate for Liverpool (55 goals in 99 games) is outstanding,” enthused Carragher. “Up there with the greatest strikers Liverpool have had. We know he can do that, but perhaps Jurgen Klopp wants different things from him that Firmino can add,” mused the Sky Sports pundit. “So maybe Daniel has to look at that and think where he can improve to get back into the team.”
