Daniel Sturridge Must Begin to Show He Can Be More Than Just a Goalscorer

Daniel Sturridge is a brilliant finisher. His goal in the Europa League final—shaping a shot into the corner with the outside of his left foot—was stunning, the product of supreme technique and a tremendously inventive mind.

His goal for England against Wales at Euro 2016 was almost as impressive, as he found an unexpected route to goal in a crowded box. It may not have been the most aesthetically pleasing strike given the way it bounced in off the goalkeeper’s shin, but that’s not the point: set a complex problem at a crucial stage of the game, he found an effective solution.

Those are not skills to be written off lightly: that’s the sort of incisiveness that can break a deadlocked game. But increasingly Sturridge is finding that the capacity to score goals isn’t quite enough for a modern centre-forward.

Liverpool’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United perhaps wasn’t the best night on which to judge Sturridge. He got to start in a big game and in his preferred position as a central striker, it’s true, but the Red Devils went to Anfield intent on keeping their shape and denying Liverpool anything.

The two centre-backs remained deep and so too did the two central midfielders. Sturridge was effectively playing constantly in a box of four United players. Even more frustratingly for him, not a single ball was played by David De Gea to either central defender, so concerned was Jose Mourinho by the prospect of Liverpool’s press.

That not only helped stifle any flow of chances for Sturridge, it also meant he couldn’t show that he is capable of leading the press—there simply wasn’t anything in his zone to press.

Still, if Sturridge shouldn’t be written off on the basis of what happened on Monday, he didn’t make much of a case for himself, either. He managed no shots, no key passes, no tackles, no interceptions and won no aerial duels. He touched the ball only 22 times, per WhoScored.com, and there’s little doubt that Liverpool looked more threatening once Roberto Firmino had moved to centre-forward.

Then again, United tired noticeably late on and it may have been that as they dropped deeper, Sturridge would have been able …

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