Daniel Sturridge sick of playing out wide for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool after scoring twice in dominant win over Burton
Adamant Reds striker said: 'In the modern game, you have to be flexible but everyone knows my best position'
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DANIEL STURRIDGE is sick at no longer being the centre of Jurgen Klopp’s attention.
Yet the Liverpool striker knows he may have to turn into a Merseyside wide boy to nail down a role as a key figure in the Kop boss’ blueprint for Anfield glory.
When he is on song, Sturridge has a serious claim to be England’s most gifted natural attacker.
In fact on his day, there are few hitmen anywhere in Europe who can better the 26-year-old when it comes to finding the net.
Three years as a Red have yielded a magnificent 55 goals in only 75 starts — a return to match any around.
Yet it is that number of appearances, rather than the strikes, which have become the talking point.
And with Klopp wanting his stars to be more fluid with their roles, that has seen Sturridge being pushed into wider roles.
It was the case several times last season, as the Anfield chief had him coming in from the flanks.
It was the case in Saturday’s shock loss at Burnley, when he again started on the right with Roberto Firmino down the centre.
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And it was the case when he came off the bench for the final 25 minutes of Tuesday’s League Cup romp at Burton.
That came with Divock Origi impressively spearheading the strike-force, as the Championship side were blitzed 5-0.
It hardly blurred Sturridge’s assassin’s eye for the target, as he still struck two goals in less than ten minutes.
But the hitman admitted he is unhappy not being a lethal down-the-middle predator.
Sturridge revealed: “Of course it is more difficult for me to play wide. I’m a centre-forward.
“In the modern game, you have to be flexible but everyone knows my best position.
“I’m a player who plays on instinct and in the middle I have clarity on movements on things I have been doing for years. I am on autopilot there.
“But when you are out wide, you have got to worry about different things. The way you move, the way you play — it is all different.”
To be fair to Sturridge, he has hardly had the fairest of portrayals from plenty of would-be psycho-analysts.
He has been dismissed by many as sulky and unwilling to go through the pain barrier.
In truth that is more down to his determination not to let his team down — hence his reluctance to join the battle when less than 100 per cent.
And while he is never going to be jumping for joy at being dragged away from the central zones, he is equally never going to bang his fist on the manager’s table.
He added: “It’s not to say I am happy doing it but I have to do a job for the team.
“If I go over those white lines, it is important to give 100 per cent. I’m not making complaints — that’s football.”