I fully appreciate the great form of Liverpool FC’s two main strikers.
Their link up play is arguably the best in the Premiership, yet in my opinion, Daniel Sturridge has been guilty of hogging the ball in the final third to the detriment of the team.
Towards the end of last season I felt Suarez was also lacking basic generosity in the final third. Strikers need to be brave enough to shoot and take opportunities but has Sturridge been guilty of shooting or trying to shoot too often when it would be in the team’s best interest for him to pass?
I get the impression, may be unfairly, that Mr Sturridge is keen to have his name in lights for club, country and sponsors rather then do what’s in the best interests for the team. Am I overly critical? His goal celebration cries out ‘me, me, me’ as he dances, then finally acknowledges his colleagues, am I being harsh?
In all competitions for Liverpool FC, this season Daniel Sturridge he has scored 12 and played in 11. That’s brilliant but would the team have scored more if Sturridge was more inclined to pass in the final third. His 12 goals and 3 assists this season have come with 57 shots on goal. 12 goals from 57 shots works out as 21% of his shots result in goals – that’s approximately one in five shots result in Sturridge scoring. 22 out of the 57 shots where on target, that’s 38.6%. How does that compare to Suarez, Rooney and Sergio Aguero?
Wayne Rooney
4 goals in 9 comparable matches and 30 shots, (including Carling Cup and Premiership but not Champions League), that’s 13.3% of shots leading to a goal, nearly 8% less! Yet 15 of the 30 shots Rooney has had have been on target, 50% of shots are on goal which is almost 12% more then Sturridge. The low shots on target percentage suggests that my observation of Sturidge shooting when he may be better placed to pass, may have some weight.
Luis Suarez
How about Suarez? His 6 goals have come in 5 comparable matches, that’s amazing. He has had 31 shots of which 13 have been on goal, which gives us 41.9% accuracy. And 19.4% of his shots result in a goal. Again Suarez has a better shot accuracy than Sturridge with shots on goal but only by about 4%. Suarez’s shots to goal return is much closer to Sturridge’s as both have around 20%.
Sergio Aguero
Sandwiched between Sturridge and Suarez in second place on the Premier League top scorers table we have Sergio Agüero, aka Kun. Kun has impressively scored 6 goals in 7 games. He has had 18 shots which gives him a 33.3% success rate, noticeable better then Rooney, Suarez and Sturridge. 12 of his 18 shots have been on target – 66.7%! The stats suggest Kun only shoots when he has an excellent chance of being on target and a very good one of scoring.
In my opinion Sturridge, and to some extent Suarez, shoot when they should pass when in the final third which is detrimental to the type of football Liverpool FC want to play. What do you think?
Of the strikers I’ve considered, Sturridge shoots more often and with less accuracy in terms of shots on goal. More than that it’s difficult to say. In the end we can all cry ‘lies, dam lies and statistics!’.
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I wont under-estimate your points because i personally note that Sturridge has been halting the free-flow of the team’s movement in the final-third either by holding on the ball too much or attempting to shoot when there is a better placed player to pass to… Sturridge is somewhat looking to be selfish in my opinion & i hope its not to the long term detriment of the team
Absolute nonesense. The guy is a goal scorer, and he’s doing the business.
Wise up!
SaS are doing the business,there are other areas on the pitch that need improvement,our attack is the least of it.
Sure there’s always room for improvement but if it ain’t broken…
Some people just need something to complain about.
come on guys,read the stats.facts dont lie.i also thought suarez was selfish until we bought sturridge.there are times when he shoots where there is no way he can score.bottom line ,he is selfish.liverpool has a good supply line which is only going to get better with little phil coming back.we should be scoring more goals and not drawing with the likes of newcastle.our defence may be shaky,but for every goal scored against us,we should have 2 for us.ynwa.
Agree with the writer. Against Newcastle, in the last 10 minutes Sturidge could have passed to his team mates on a number of occasions but didn’t, either lost possession or blasted the ball in the defenders legs. That part of his game has to improve. Overly critical? Not at all. He is still young and can fix that side to his game and must do for the sake of the team
Shut up. Games are games hence not exact science. Otherwise every player would have 1000 assists and goals every year. You have to take into consideration many factors. Of course a pass could have been better placed but have you ever heard of physical and mental fatigue??? Or have you ever played top level football, obviously not
Aaron,
You have an opinion. Mental fatigue? Work on it improve!!
Physical ? We play 1 game every 7 days :). Against Newcastle, Except the goal which was served on a plate, his contribution was 0 . Worse only to Moses
And what position are we Erin?
So what’s your point.
Please do tell us cos your ‘ half wit comment ‘ above doesn’t make it clear. Seeing as we are 3rd in the league for the first time in years.
With your reckoning not even first would be good enough! Do you know the meaning behind the song, now anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’?
Well I’ll explain.
Even when Steven Gerrard knew he wasn’t paying with a top team he supported the club, through everything!
That’s why he gave his all!. Would you prefer he care less… you clearly do.
I’d maybe agree with you if we were third from bottom or in Man Utd’s shoes but we’re not (for the first time in years the tables, presently, are turned in our favour) and you’re issue is what? we’re beating the teams we should and not losing as in most years previous???!!!?!!
Wow, you must be so lucky having only first world problems to deal with. Well I really love my team and really love looking at the league right now, better than years gone by (but not for you, non fan)
* off u half-wit Aaron , trying to tell pple how to support.. Get back in ur armchair and try educating yourself
Dan. You’re UN Funny comment above doesn’t even warrent a response, un sure why I bothered.
But seeing as you walk alone I’m going to reach out and help you understand what being part of a team is.
Win together lose together always support.
Simples
Im starting to think, as good as this site is, it is anti Liverpool.
You go to another site and you get good honest debating with nice conversations, on here it’s the defeatist and those defending c r a p comments.
Glad I’m part of the defense instead of rubbishing the team ‘we’ all support.
Check out Paisley Gates if you want not much negativity!!!
I do like this site tho and am not having a go at the authors.
Shut up u Moron . Take your 2 brain cells to another site instead of moaning bout others opinions
If you take your * negative comments and place a mirror in front, you’ll see a happy positive fan.
Leave as is and you’ll find a miserable lonely old bat, unhappy that we are third in the league…. Which one would you rather? be?
Every one else?
I can assure you that is not the case, Aaron. As you can see by many of the comments given, many fans have differing opinions which is good to be able to discuss and debate, without the need for name calling and childish accusations.
we are simply saying there is room for improvement.we once had a problem of creating chances but not scoring.now we are scoring,but in my opinion,not enough.we have only had a real test in man u.with arsenal on sat and chel and city in december,we might not get as many chances.we need to make hay,and ultimately take the chances in the big games.sturridge is good,but it could be even better.
His a striker not defender…otherwise no shoots attempts wil make him have stats like borini,asaps or torres
There is always room for improvement, nice reply.
Nonsense,i cant believe dat i wasted my mb reading dis rubbish,,,d writer i dnt knw wat 2 call hm,if he doesnt shoot anytym he gets d chance hw would he top d chat up till naw??i cnt believe dis…
Total *.. A striker has to shoot to score.. A striker cant be expected to score with every shot.. yes sturridge has had a few rough games, but the truth is he’s still bagging the goals… U know what they say about good teams playin bad and winning, is say the same for strikers..
vikas i appreciate your concern about liverpool and sturridge,but i think this article is needless considering that liverpool is still improving,even BR affirm this fact in every press conference.Be reminded that 90percent of liverpool supporters never approve his signing,But BR signed sturridge to improve him so i will appreciate if you allow rodgers be the judge.
selfish at times evn at points where he wud get a 1-2 n score buh that hunger to shine atleast gets him a goal n wil get beta jus lyk suarez when he arivd at anfield,suarez wil make sturridge better
if you have a striker that wants to pass all the time they often bottle it in front of goal as they dont take responsibility when they should shoot.
nothing wrong with having a greedy striker who wants to score all the goals – as long as he puts the ball in the net that is. sturridge the man.
non-issue
Thank you to the intelligent many who have openly discussed the points raised. Some say “that’s what strikers do”, others “he could pass more” and some say “work in progress”. All valid, respected view points.
To those who say “troll ” or worse still “Man U” fan I would like to quote Robert Frost:
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
Well said . I actually agree with this article. Sturridge has ability …but there are areas where improvement is needed
He’s always been a selfish striker. Arguably what LFC needed was a man up front who was looking to score more often. His scoring record is testament to that fact. Its a non issue. He passes it around more now than ever before, and I am more than happy with him…
Migwar you should comment more, we need more adults
Lads even if I don’t completely agree with this article, there are a few fair points and I have to say just because a Liverpool player appears to be criticised here, doesn’t make the writer anti-Liverpool and certainly not a Manchester United supporter in disguise.
Sturridge is brilliant but he has that selfish striker streak in him. Perhaps analysing his goal celebration dance as a sign of self involvement may be a step too far, but it’s very clear to see that the selfish streak exists.
At the same time, both Suarez and Sturridge have set each other on a number of occasions this season so there’s not a complete lack of team play here. We have, in the past, wasted a number of opportunities by not having a go so having a slightly selfish striker isn’t always a bad thing.
For the writer, I will point out that Sturridge usually does the dance when Liverpool are ahead, while against Newcastle he ran straight back to the halfway line, which would show an intent of getting all 3 points for the team. Plus when we signed him last year, a colleague of mine who’s a Bolton fan told me one thing and one thing alone about Sturridge – “He’s a good talented striker but he does have a bit of a selfish streak.”
My response back then, without having seen much of him at all, and certainly not in a Liverpool shirt – “That might do us good, having someone who tries to score more often.”
The point of this example is that it was no secret that Daniel Sturridge has a tendency to try for a goal more often than a pass. That gives us more chance of scoring just on face value, while he also seems to be balancing that with creating chances for Suarez or someone else on the other side. It’s probably not an even balance but it may not be a completely bad thing.
I wish I was you, my remarks seem churlish in comparison. Nicely written.
Well done Barua, your comment is fair,and measured,you should write an article on Sturr.@Aaron Fair appraisal rarely causes a stink.
Well done Barua, your comment is fair and measured,you should write an article’s on this site.@Aaron fair unbiased appraisal rarely causes a stink.There’s a tendency amongst some quarters to try and use stereo-types to try and tar a players reputation(they tried this strategy on Henry/the most aestheticaly pleasing striker to grace the premier league).You can mobilise statistics to justify anything,watch Sturridges interviews,see he’s a balanced lad.Vikash lost me when he started talking about the celebration,and how that proves the player is selfish,utter dros in my view,why not focus on the football.Last year the london media rallied to try and deny Suarez Player of the year through mobilising other aspects of his nature to stear the focus away from his football.Sturridge has become a team player under Rodgers and God Willin is on course for 30 Goals, give fair appraisal dont be rectionary.
My question “am I being harsh?” Is a genuine one. The sound from the kop seems to be I am being harsh.
Yet there seem to be a number of fellow fans who think back to actual games and feel a period of play would be better had our strikers passed rather then been intent on shooting themselves. Sturridge has improved and will continue to. When his stots on target (38%) are closer to Kun’s 66.7% or Rooney’s 50% then I doubt anyone will wonder does this player shoot a little to often.
Excellent comments from a number if intelligent fans. Thank you for joining the debate. I’ve learnt from many if you. Thanks.