Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not concerned about Daniel Sturridge’s recent comments about his position in the team.
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With Mamadou Sakho likely leaving on loan, we need the experienced defender this term as a reliable central defensive option.
“Daniel is a very smart player at hiding himself in positions where it’s hard to defend and that’s very often on the wing”. I am on autopilot there. Out wide, it’s different. It’s just a different way. “That’s not saying I am happy to do it”. It’s a team game.
At Melwood ahead of Saturday’s Premier League showdown away to Tottenham, Klopp pointed out that Sturridge’s role is not restrictive, and the manager has no designs on utilising him as a winger. In the decisive moments, he needs to be involved in all the finishing situations.
“Ask him now. He scored two goals [against Burton on Tuesday night] from inside the box”.
However, he stressed that his style of football is flexible, and Sturridge doesn’t need to hug the touchline all the time during the game, even if he starts on the flanks.
“Burnley and Burton weren’t games where I needed an offensive winger”, he added. The players really skilled in finishing situations, you have them in and around the box.
“They need to play against us and that’s the thing, so I’m not too interested in where they develop but, of course, we know they are strong, that’s the only thing we need to know. I’m a centre-forward”, Sturridge said, after the substitute grabbed a brace playing centrally in this week’s League Cup clash against Burton Albion.
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The German also highlighted how Sturridge can unsettle the opposition’s defence from out wide. “It wasn’t a fixed position for him”. When a striker plays in the centre it makes no sense so you have to change positions. It’s flexible football, passing movements, patterns, and all these things. No longer are Europe’s top finishers exclusively responsible for putting the ball into the back of the net; now, they’re expected to play anywhere across the attacking line to link up possession, provide crosses and apply pressure. “The rest [of the team] is very experienced and has played together one-and-a-half or two years almost but they are still young so there’s still space for development”.
