Jurgen Klopp puts his faith in Daniel Sturridge

Jürgen Klopp believes Daniel Sturridge has a major role to play in Liverpool’s pursuit of trophies providing the striker stays fit and seizes the opportunity presented by Sadio Mané’s departure to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Klopp is aiming to take a step closer towards a third cup final appearance in only 15 months as Liverpool manager on Wednesday night when his side travel to Southampton in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final.

Liverpool will be without Mané, a former Southampton player, because of his involvement in the Afcon with Senegal and though Philippe Coutinho is back in the squad for the first time in almost seven weeks after injury, the Brazil international is unlikely to start at St Mary’s Stadium.

Sturridge, therefore, has an ideal chance to reclaim a first-team place under Klopp having spent the majority of the campaign on the substitutes’ bench. The England international made his first start under the Liverpool manager in a 6-1 League Cup win at Southampton in December 2015, scoring twice in the opening half-hour, but 13 months on Klopp is still waiting for the striker to find the consistent fitness required to lead his attack.

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“It would be fantastic and sometimes you need to feel lucky with timing,” said Klopp on the prospect of Sturridge forcing his way into the starting line-up on a regular basis. “Sadio is away, Philippe is on the way back and Daniel is already back. That helps and I hope it stays like this for him. Against Plymouth we could give him 20-25 minutes after the Sunderland game and he trained on Monday, so good news.

Right direction

“But it depends. Does he stay fit? If Daniel is fit are there ever any arguments here about his quality? No. We had the time when he was already fit and he didn’t start because there was a difference between being fit and match-fit and all that stuff. But it is a big step in the right direction. If he stays on this fitness level and improving as he always should, that is perfect. It would be cool if we could speak like this for the next few weeks and months.”

The 27-year-old has started six games this season and appeared nine times from the bench, scoring six goals. Klopp insisted before the transfer window opened he had no intention of selling Sturridge, but, not for the first time, a manager is admitting that fitness issues are an obstacle to Sturridge realising his talent.

“How good you can be depends on a lot of things,” Klopp said. “His talent, skill and cleverness, there is absolutely no doubt about. Everything you need on the pitch is absolutely outstanding but he has not been fit often enough. That is how it is. That is another important part. If he stays fit, we have the whole thing and we don’t talk about other clubs or things like this. We don’t have to think about it because we are in the middle of the season.

“So, from my point of view, until now – even when he didn’t score – he made really good performances. Even when he didn’t score he was so important in a lot of games. He fits really well in our style of play. That is good for him, good for us. Nobody in the team, nobody in the squad is in doubt about him being a wonderful player. No doubt.”

Hostile reception

Adam Lallana is in line to face his former club, with Klopp expected to select a stronger side than against Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup on Sunday. The in-form midfielder, one of several former Southampton players in the Anfield ranks, has always received a hostile reception on his return to St Mary’s but Klopp believes Lallana’s improvement stems from stepping out of his “comfort zone”.

“With his quality I can imagine everybody at Southampton thought he could be the player for the next 10-15 years to build a team around. That is how it is. But actually I’m really happy he decided differently and wanted to see something else and wanted another challenge and experience,” Klopp said.

“He has made outstanding, big steps from an already high level, and you cannot be sure he would have done the same at Southampton.

“In the first year here I heard nobody was really happy about his performances and especially himself probably. So it’s clear he needed this kind of step back to make the next step in the right direction.

“He left the comfort zone, if you want. That is a difficult decision for both sides but I would hope that at some point they can be proud again that a boy from their region is rated so highly in English football. Probably one day when they sit at home and think back they will think it’s nice he made this development.”

Guardian Service