Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were all picked ahead of Sturridge at Spurs, where Danny Rose’s equaliser cancelled out a first-half James Milner penalty.
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And Vorm’s man of the match display also wasn’t enough to stop the Tottenham team coach leaving without him after the game.
“Klopp is a manager who improves his players, partly by boosting their self-esteem, and I thought that was what he was doing when he defended and protected Alberto Moreno following criticism last week. It was not only about pressing and things like this”, Klopp told his post-match press conference. We had wonderful moments with passing and all that stuff, the direction in our game. I wish we could have won but we will accept a point. “We showed again that we can be really good and that’s what we have to show in each game and then everything will be good”.
It left the hosts with an unfamiliar configuration on the right flank and Liverpool exploited their uncertainty when Firmino was clipped by Erik Lamela after darting in behind him.
“I think Sturridge would like to [leave]”, Daily Express reporter Matt Dunn said on the Sunday Supplement.
“In the end we were convinced he could play the position and that’s why we didn’t make the transfer. We decided that Milly can play (there), especially with the style of play we think we should play”, said the German. “Both Burton and Burnley were games where we didn’t need offensive wingers in these positions. He has still to adapt and learn the position”, he said. Not every excellent player can thrive under every excellent manager.
He said: “Hugo has played a very important part in our last two seasons. I sign again to do the same”.
“You can see where Klopp is going with his team”. It was no surprise, then, that Liverpool were the better team in the first half.
Walker’s departure forced a major change for Spurs – Vincent Janssen came on to take Kane’s role, Kane went back to No 10, Alli dropped back into holding midfield and Dier was free to take up the right-back position.
Their midfielders and attackers, in particular, are expected to be slick and committed generalists rather than traditional specialists and if Daniel Sturridge insists on a rigid definition of a centre-forward, he will make himself largely redundant.
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It will, though, be up to Klopp to manage his squad and ensure he keeps his players happy, as Sturridge has proved on endless occasions that he is confident in front of goal, and injuries have never seemed to hamper his ability to find the back of the net, upon his return.
