ANFIELD UPDATES

 'You can't deny Daniel Sturridge's quality' - but I fear we'll never see his 2013/14 form again - John Aldridge

Publish By Yayo

We were given a timely reminder of the quality Daniel Sturridge possesses in front of goal as Liverpool beat Huddersfield on Saturday - but I fear we may never again see the striker who once struck fear into Premier League defences.

 Sturridge was on his way to becoming a world class performer as he was picked ahead of Luis Suarez in the central striking role as Liverpool came so close to winning the Premier League title in the 2013/14 season.

Suarez and Sturridge were a deadly duo, with the latter scoring 21 Premier League goals from just 26 starts over the course of a campaign that so nearly ended Liverpool’s wait to land the biggest prize in English football.

It was no surprise that Sturridge was handed a huge contract by Liverpool after those magnificent performances as the biggest clubs in the game would have wanted him, but the three years since have been an uncomfortable story in many ways.

Amazingly, Sturridge has started just 29 Premier League games since May 2014, as injuries have taken their toll on him in more ways than one.

His goal in the 3-0 win against an outclassed Huddersfield was a blast from the past in many ways. It was a cool and clever finish and when he gets himself into those positions, the quality he shows in front of goal can never be questioned.

The problem since Jurgen Klopp took over as Liverpool manager has been that Sturridge has not been fit often enough to make his mark on the pitch and, significantly, the way the team plays now does not suit him in his current ‘condition’.

The Sturridge we saw back in 2014 would have been a perfect player to give Klopp’s team a cutting edge, with the pace and power he had back then a real threat to any defence.

Yet the player I see now lacks that extra burst of pace and the numerous fitness issues he has had in the last few years can be blamed for that.

Injuries affect a player physically and they also have an effect mentally, with Klopp among those suggesting Sturridge has struggled to push himself physically in the last couple of years as he fears getting injured again.

I said all summer that Liverpool should have gone all out to sign a proven striker and yet Klopp did not seem to prioritise that area, which has come back to haunt him in a big way in recent weeks.

Sturridge looked good in pre-season and Klopp might have hoped he could get enough out of him if he managed him correctly, yet that has proved to be a misguided belief as we have seen a lack of firepower in the central striking role for Liverpool.

Maybe Sturridge can now start to rebuild his confidence after his fine goal at the weekend and clearly Klopp has decided to be careful in the way he manages him after all the fitness problems in recent years.

Sturridge is still a very good striker, but I would be worried that he will not be fit enough for long enough to be relied upon this season and that loss of attacking pace would also be a concern for me.

The Sturridge of 2014 would have had already scored 10 goals in this Liverpool side that creates so many chances, but the sad reality must be that the player Klopp has on his hands now has lost the little bit of spark that made him special.

I would expect Sturridge to start against Maribor in the Champions League tomorrow night in a game that I would expect to be a lot tighter than the contest we saw between these two sides a fortnight ago.Liverpool’s 7-0 win in Slovenia was an embarrassment to a Maribor side that tried and failed to take Klopp’s team on and came up horribly short.

You would expect them to have learned some lessons from that chastening experience and come to Anfield with a little more of a credible game plan that will at least make life difficult for Liverpool.

It goes without saying that this is a must-win game as Liverpool have to try and top their Champions League group, avoid the big hitters in the first round of knock-out matches and see if they can have a decent run in the competition.

The reality is they are already out of the Premier League title race and Klopp needs a good run in Europe and a top four finish to revive a season that has gone pretty badly wrong up to this point.





.STURRIDGE NOW OR NEVER