Daniel Sturridge has expressed his displeasure at being played out of position by Jurgen Klopp, but insisted that he is willing to do it for the sake of the team.
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Substitute Daniel Sturridge netted a late double as Klopp’s side blew away the cobwebs of Saturday’s surprise 2-0 defeat to Burnley.
He was taken off after 65 minutes, having failed to make an impact, but came on in a similar role in their 5-0 EFL Cup win against Burton Albion on Tuesday and scored twice.
Boss Klopp prefers attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino as the middle man in his attack, and Sturridge said: “Well, I have to do a job for the team”.
“I’m a centre forward”.
“You can’t [be fully ready] even when you have a lot of pre-season games – pre-season games are different to Premier League games”. I am on autopilot here.
“When you are playing in a position that you are not used to, it is different”.
“That is how football works, it is not a fixed position (where you) stay outside and wait until you get the ball – especially not in Daniel’s case”.
‘I have to do a job for the team, ‘ he said. That’s not saying I am happy to do it.
“We all can improve and I would say the same for Tottenham”. It’s a team game. I don’t want to play Daniel as a wide player, but he can play there. “It’s just a different way”.
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’.
“You need to find rhythm”, Klopp continued. Mauricio Pochettino has completely transformed Spurs into a legitimate title contender, while Jurgen Klopp has thoroughly energized the Anfield faithful.
“It’s the same with Divock (Origi)”.
“And you need players, most of the time these are young players, who are happy to breathe the same air that we do but are strong enough in the important moments”.
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Chelsea and Manchester City are the Premier League’s other unbeaten teams and both are well capable of extending that record at home to Burnley and West Ham United respectively.
