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Real Risk Over Sturridge

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Real was too soon for Sturridge, although he will be needed if we are to qualify from the groups stage now

Real was too soon for Sturridge, although he will be needed if we are to qualify from the groups stage now

After another disappointing Premier League defeat, this time away to Newcastle, this week actually began on a positive note for Liverpool fans with news over Daniel Sturridge.

The England striker, who has not played for the Reds since August, has travelled with the rest of the squad to face Real Madrid on Tuesday at the Bernabeu. He suffered a thigh problem when training with England in early September, beginning the ‘friction’ between Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and England manager Roy Hodgson in the press, before a calf injury immediately wrecked his return from the sidelines.

After Rodgers stated that Sturridge would not be available for the crunch games against Madrid and Chelsea this week, now he may even make the bench for the Champions League fixture.

That would be a huge mistake.

Sturridge, who has scored an incredible 36 goals in 50 games, may well be fit and raring to go for the Madrid game with an early recovery. However, he needs to be wrapped in cotton wool.

The situation is remarkably similar to when the Reds needed to preserve star striker Fernando Torres and keep him from injury.

The reason why both Torres and Sturridge had to be kept fit was because of the other striking options available. At different times, Torres had Peter Crouch and Robbie Keane for back-up, which was very respectable. Those two could deputise for the Spaniard for a few weeks, if not replicating his blistering form or seamless fit into the team’s style of play.

Yet because of Benitez’s ability to alienate many of his players (including Xabi Alonso, which would help result in Benitez’s downfall), both Keane and Crouch were gone by early 2009. Therefore the only deputy for the injury-prone Torres was David N’Gog.

The young French forward had his moments, notably in the 2-0 win at home to Manchester United with Pepe Reina, but they were few and far between.

It is perhaps testament to the impact, or lack of, that Mario Balotelli has had in his brief time at Anfield that I am already going to compare him to N’Gog. The two both bring Liverpool to a halt with fewer runs made in behind and simply lacking in pace to their incredible superiors, who they are covering for in their absence.

Sturridge and Torres stretch teams, creating time and space for the creative midfielders behind, be it Yossi Benayoun, Steven Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt or Coutinho, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson.

Hopefully Balotelli can turn things around and score some goals. Building a partnership with Sturridge may help with that, with encouraging signs during the 3-0 away win at Tottenham – coincidentally Liverpool’s best performance this season by a mile.

The Italian needs to work hard, as it is the requirement of all footballers, particularly if they are struggling. But on his own, Balotelli does not possess the speed to fit into Liverpool’s system.

He needs a partner or the bench.

Liverpool have already witnessed firsthand what Real Madrid, arguably the best team in the world, can do, and that was at ‘fortress’ Anfield. This time round the action all took place in Spain.

Yet this wasn’t as daunting as we first thought, even with a weakened team. Real Madrid are without doubt the best counter-attacking team in the world, although obviously capable of scoring fantastic team goals as well, evident in the opener at Anfield a fortnight ago. Overall though, sitting back does make it that little bit harder for the Spanish giants to break through given they possess so much pace on the break with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale.

Bayern Munich were fairly successful with this tactic in the semi-finals last season, going down 1-0 at the Bernabeu in the first leg. However, they lost the second leg 4-0 at home, an incredible result that sent shockwaves around Europe but confirmed Real Madrid’s power on the break. Bayern were obliged to come forward as the home team and were subsequently ripped apart.

Of course, Newcastle are not Real Madrid but to take them on with attacking football would have been the equivalent of suicide and a very, very heavy defeat.

Therefore having only just recovered from his thigh injury it was right to wait and prepare him for Chelsea. The game on Saturday is of greater significance and Liverpool have a slightly higher probability of getting a result at home and against a team not called Real Madrid.

Starting Balotelli against Madrid would have made it harder for the Reds to defend as he is rarely able to hold the ball up for long and Madrid would have ended up laying siege to the Liverpool goal. But with a player similar to Sturridge (in work-rate and running), a certain Fabio Borini, Madrid were never able to dominate for too long with his harrying and constantly pushing.

It was too soon to risk Sturridge against Real – a game where even if he was fit the Reds would probably have dropped all points.

Retaining a top four place is the priority this season for Liverpool to consolidate their status as a Champions League side. With a fit and firing Sturridge, Liverpool have half a chance against Chelsea and it’s a chance they really have to take.

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