Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not concerned about Daniel Sturridge’s recent comments about his position in the team.
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Sturridge did find the net in Liverpool’s 5-0 victory over Burton Albion in the League Cup on Tuesday night as the 18-time English champions progressed to the next round.
Sturridge scored a brace at the Pirelli Stadium but then voiced his unhappiness at not getting the chance to operate in his favoured position, with Divock Origi playing in the central role. “I know him and when we have talks there is no issue”, he said. I am on autopilot there.
“First of all, you have to think a little bit about why you ask things like this”, he told journalists. It’s just a different way.
“Of course each week they couldn’t or didn’t play is not too good for a player but that is how it is in football, you accept this when you start playing the game”.
But the England striker insists that he is better suited to being in a defined centre-forward role rather than on the right-hand side of an attacking triumvirate. That’s saying I have got to do a job for the team.
In an ideal world, I’d say both.
“Well, I have to do a job for the team”.
“The team was good today and we want to keep going for the next game of the season”.
“I can not give all players together the opportunity to play”.
“We don’t have this fixed position”.
A Tom Naylor own goal sealed the result and Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to add two late strikes as Liverpool bounced back from a 2-0 Premier League loss at Burnley on Saturday.
“Like I said, it’s not that you play there and wait for something to happen”. There’s absolutely no problem with that. It is flexible football, passing movements, patterns, and all these things.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Klopp uses Sturridge going forward with him being made fully aware that he isn’t best pleased playing out wide.
“Daniel is still a quick player, there’s no doubt about it”.
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“When he is not involved anymore in defending you need a smart striker who takes the centre-half and moves them into a position where they don’t feel comfortable”.
