Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is trying to keep the peace with Daniel Sturridge after the frustrated striker complained about being played out of position.
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The 26-year-old scored twice in the 5-0 EFL Cup win at Burton on Tuesday but afterwards admitted he was not happy playing out on the flank.
When Daniel Sturridge played a wider role against Burnley, many criticised him for dropping too deep and not being as involved in our attacks.
I met Jurgen in his office at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground and it was good to get to know him and get an insight into his thinking football-wise, and away from the game too. I am on autopilot there. The players gelled well and this is just a precursor of the things to come in the season. “It’s just a different way”.
Indeed, his desire to play in his natural central position was one of the driving factors behind his move to Liverpool in the first place, as he would often be relegated to a wide position at Chelsea.
“I would say they can all improve, they can all do better in the next few weeks and months”. He replied: “Well, I have to do a job for the team”.
“I don’t want to play Daniel on the wing, why should I?”
It was clear Sturridge was irritated about the situation and when asked whether the new role had been explained to him, he said: ‘No, no’. The England global gave the impression that he never feels comfortable in that sort of position, whereas he said that as a No9 everything comes so naturally to him that it feels as though he is “on autopilot”. They are a pressing team, a high-pressure team, so we need to know about this.
“Both goals [against Burton] he scored from inside the box, so he was not on the wing in this moment. It’s no problem to talk about it, but it’s not an issue when a player says “It’s not my favourite position”.
“We have still to work on a lot of things”.
Two players who look to be on their way out of Anfield meanwhile are Mamadou Sakho and Mario Balotelli, as reported by Chris Bascombe and John Percy in The Telegraph yesterday.
It will be interesting to see how the Liverpool manager sets his team up at Tottenham on Saturday and whether Sturridge’s comments colour his thinking.
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Much was made of their 2-0 loss to Burnley in the Premier League last week, and their inability to break down the promoted side despite having 80% possession.
