Sturridge Provides the Reds with a Wealth of Options

Liverpool finally confirmed an early contender for worst kept secret of 2013 when they announced the signing of Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea for a reported £12mil on January 2. Ever since manager Brendan Rodgers was shortchanged by owners Fenway Sports Group on transfer deadline day back in August, the squad has had little to no support in the attacking department for Luis Suarez, especially with Fabio Borini sidelined for the past three months. The signing of Sturridge has gone some way to correcting that.

Sturridge comes to the club with mixed reviews. While there is little doubt surrounding his talent and potential, many concerns are raised over his attitude and his ability to cut it at the top level. He made defenders look like fools on a regular basis throughout his youth career at Manchester City, and there were a number of clubs waiting to snap him up when he ran down his contract with the Citizens.

Liverpool were among those linked, but Chelsea were the ones who snatched up the extremely promising youngster.

After nine goals in 41 appearances for Chelsea, he was loaned out to Bolton in 2011 where he became an instant hit, scoring eight goals in 12 games. Sturridge returned to Chelsea at the end of the season and went on to have his most productive season to date in 2011-2012, scoring 13 goals in 43 appearances.

However after struggling with a few injuries and struggling to find form this season, netting only twice in 12 appearances, Rodgers took a leap of faith to sign the England international.

Sturridge has already been making the right noises since signing for the Reds, with his most recent comments causing a stir after he claimed Liverpool are the biggest club in England.

As well as making a positive impression off the pitch, he also wasted no time in showcasing his abilities in the FA Cup on January 6, albeit against Conference opponents Mansfield Town. Sturridge opened his Liverpool account after just seven minutes as he slotted a Jonjo Shelvey through ball passed the onrushing keeper with his weaker right foot. He was only prevented from adding to his tally by a string of impressive saves from the Mansfield stopper.

While no definitive judgments surrounding the striker can be made at such an early stage, it is clear to see that the signing was extremely necessary in improving the quality and depth of the Liverpool squad. Suarez has done an absolutely incredible job this season by almost single-handedly carrying the goal-scoring burden of the team with his 19 goals in all competitions, but concerns were raised on several occasions regarding how the club would cope should the influential Uruguayan get injured or suspended.

Thankfully for the Reds, Suarez has only missed one game this season due to suspension after receiving five yellow cards. He missed the trip to West Ham where Shelvey deputized as an emergency striker and while Liverpool came away from the capital with an impressive three points after battling to a 3-2 victory, it was clear for all to see that Shelvey could not fill that role for any extended period of time.

That was one of the main reasons the signing of Sturridge was so important, it gave Liverpool strength in depth in the forward area. Borini has yet to be properly tested in the Premier League and got injured too early in the season for anyone to really have an accurate gauge on how much of an impact he can have as a main striker, so bringing in a striker like Sturridge was always going to be a priority.

The other main reason the signing was significant is that Rodgers now has options within his forward line. Suarez has been played as the central striker throughout the season aside from some early experimentation when Borini played centrally and Suarez shifted to the left hand side of the attack. With Sturridge signed and Borini back in training, Rodgers has the option to fill any of his three attacking slots with any of these three players, as all are interchangeable and all are adept to playing in both central and wide roles. Waiting in the wings would then be the likes of Raheem Sterling, who has been overplayed extensively for his age this season and his form has taken a hit because of it, Suso, who is much more comfortable playing as an attacking midfielder anyway, a revitalized Stewart Downing, and the invisible Oussama Assaidi.

Rodgers could decide to play with two pure wingers in Sterling and Downing with one of the three strikers through the middle. Rodgers could decide to go for the jugular and start with all three strikers. Rodgers could decide to play a more narrow system with Suarez in behind Sturridge and a winger creating space on the right wing. The possibilities are seemingly endless after just one signing. How any of these formations or ideas are executed still remains to be seen, but it is a vast improvement from having just the sole option of the rigid one striker, two wingers approach that Rodgers has been forced to play with for the first half of the season.

Reports continue to link Liverpool with a move for Tom Ince which seems like it is more a matter of when rather than if, and it is another move that will give Rodgers further options and depth going into the second half of the season. Especially with further Europa League games on the horizon, strength in depth is extremely important if Liverpool hope to compete on several fronts for the rest of the campaign.