In a morale-boosting win, Liverpool beat newly promoted Huddersfield decisively to (hopefully) put the Spurs debacle firmly in the rear mirror. It was a tale of two halves: Liverpool were slow to start, nervous in front of an equally nervous Anfield crowd (why can't folks just boisterously support their team no matter what? And it's not as if the team was playing rubbish football either, but just not reaching their usual high standards), before a much more clinical performance in the second half in which they scored all their goals.
To be fair, Liverpool had two instances of good fortune. The first was handily rejected in the first half: in a tight game against a well-organised, highly defensive side in which we are expected to have trouble creating chances, against the odds, referee Kevin “no friend of ours” Friend awards the Reds a penalty (after ignoring similarly blatant shoves and fouls by Huddersfield all half) for the type of foul that almost never called in our favour and which fans have been complaining all season should have been given more often. Salah (who, it must be noted, recently scored a last-minute match-winning penalty for Egypt under far greater pressure), stepped up and hits it straight at the keeper.
Thankfully, the second was gratefully accepted about five minutes into the second half. A defensive header by the Huddersfield captain provided the perfect through ball for Sturridge, who lifted the ball over the keeper emphatically. That forced Huddersfield to open up and try to play the ball, which provided counter-pressing opportunities and gaps for Liverpool. Eventually, Firmino and Wijnaldum joined Sturridge on the scoresheet, with Firmino proving perhaps that there was a third instance of good fortune when he scored a header from a corner kick. That almost never happens.
I admit I was wrong – Sturridge and Firmino in the same side seems to have worked reasonably well in this game, despite numerous instances beforehand when they didn't. Perhaps it was because there was more movement and interchanging between them and with Salah too. That meant that Firmino in particular was not as restricted as he usually is when deployed on the flank, and he could do what he does best, which is to draw defenders out with clever movement.
The great close control that both Sturridge and Firmino have is also a good asset in tight games like these, and both of them are good at finding space in tight situations. That could be why Klopp deploys them (when he's short of his first choice options like Coutinho and Mané).
But the plaudits for Sturridge should nevertheless be tempered. He’s always seemed ill-suited to Klopp’s pressing style, and yesterday was no exception. He appears to lack both the desire and instinct for pressing, which makes his efforts (when he does look like he’s attempting to press) look desultory. That’s why (in addition to his frequent injuries) he lost his starting place to Firmino.
But Klopp must see that Sturridge offers something that offsets his comparative inability to press. (And at this point, I don’t think Klopp would have illusions about turning Sturridge into Firmino, nor should he, because pushing Sturridge too hard physically might redound badly.) After all, he’s started Sturridge a few times, and throws him on as a substitute pretty often as well when chasing goals.
Today’s game offers some glimpses of what that might be. Other than the finish for the goal, Sturridge showed close control and good footwork. He can a magnet for defenders when he is on the ball, opening up gaps for others. Of course, as rightly pointed out, he’s not without his flaws, which were also in evidence during the game: he has a frustrating tendency to dawdle on the ball, allowing the opposition to reset, and he seems more hesitant about trying to beat defenders than in the past.
But my sneaky suspicion is that Klopp thinks that Sturridge can offer something that few in the squad can: an audacious bit of quality that no one can see coming. For example, think about Mané’s goal against Arsenal – cutting in from the left against a defender and then curling to the bottom far side of the goal; or many of Coutinho’s long range specials – cutting in on the edge of the box and curling something to the top end of the far corner. Great goals to be sure, but not exactly like we haven’t seen them doing similar before – the goals follow well-established templates for those players.
Think back to Sturridge’s goal against Sevilla in the Europa League final: curling the ball with the outside of his left boot with little backlift. Who the heck would have attempted that? Or against Everton in December ’16, the mazy run across from one edge of the penalty box to the middle and hitting a deceptively scruffy looking ball from outside the box onto the post, which provided an opening for Mané: again, few who have attempted that run and shot, given that the game had entered stoppage time – it would have been easier to try to work the ball to the flank.
Arguably, it could be harder to defend against Sturridge coz you’re not quite sure what he might do. Not that Mané and Coutinho are easy to defend against, but defenders watching videos of them might have some idea of their favoured moves. In the absence of Coutinho, Mané and Lallana, and without Keïta yet, Klopp might have thought that Sturridge was the one who could offer that bit of game-changing quality.
Moving on, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Solanke both looked good when they came on. The former showed why he's highly regarded: good technical ability and he's good at charging forward along the channels. He's due for a start soon. Similarly for Solanke, who looks like he’s getting used to the demands of the top tier. That's one of the positives from the game: the team was depleted (missing Coutinho, Mané and Lallana, with Can dropped) but still put in a solid Klopp-style performance and had enough quality off the bench in Ox and Solanke.
Before we think that the Huddersfield game is some kind of watershed for us defensively, it should be noted that it conforms to the pattern we've seen this season: our defence tends to be largely untroubled by teams that are set up defensively, which may disguise its inherently fragile nature. In such games, what is more important is whether the offense finishes the chances it gets. Prior to the penalty, Liverpool had done reasonably well in crafting openings, but not necessarily clear-cut ones. But unlike Burnley, Newcastle and United, Huddersfield gifted us several gilt-edge chances (including the penalty and the assist for Sturridge), which meant that we were able to produce an ultimately comfortable win this time. That may not always be the case in upcoming fixtures.
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