Date: 27th May 2011 at 7:00pm
Written by:

It seems everyone is speculating as to where Daniel Sturridge will be playing his football next season. However, I believe one of the first jobs of the new Chelsea manager (whoever it may be) should be to keep hold of Daniel Sturridge. Not only has the 21 year highlighted his quality in his recent loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, scoring 8 goals, but I think he showed enough potential in his time at Chelsea before his loan spell to be given a better chance at Stamford Bridge.

Firstly, he is arguably better than what Chelsea currently showcase up front. Salomon Kalou has shown glimpses of his ability but has debatably not really proved he is better than Sturridge, whose clinical left foot finishing possibly eclipses Kalou’s sporadic finishing.

Nicolas Anelka shows exquisite movement, composure and vision up front. However, Sturridge has shown at Bolton with his build-up play with Johan Elmander, Kevin Davies and co that this part of his game has certainly developed over the last year and whereas Anelka can often look lazy and uninterested, I don’t think this would be an issue with Sturridge (given game time).

Ironically, while Chelsea’s 50 million pound signing Fernando Torres has been struggling to hit a barn door for 4 months, Sturridge, who was sent out on loan as the Blues then too many attacking options has been banging them in for fun at Bolton.

This could be seen as clear evidence that Sturridge should be in the Chelsea team ahead of the Spaniard. However, the second main reason I believe Chelsea should hold on to Sturridge is that I think him and Torres could form a fierce partnership in the premier league. Whereas Torres has this season been used as a lone striker or part of a 3 man attack he has sparingly been paired with another striker who can compliment his abilities.

In partnership with Didier Drogba it was a case of two huge egos not hitting it off, Torres seemed unsure of his role when paired with Drogba even when they started alongside each other. With Nicolas Anelka there wasn’t enough direction as Anelka always looked to peel off wide, a habit picked up from having to do this so often when started with Drogba and Malouda; This often left Torres isolated up front and however much his attacking colleagues tried to give him ball, he was either unsure of his position or isolated up front.

With Daniel Sturridge however, I believe the two could work wonders for Chelsea. The movement, agility and speed the two have to offer could strike fear in the hearts of Premier League defences. Similarly to why Liverpool brought in Luis Suarez, to pair with Torres and offer two attackers with such flair that defences wouldn’t know where to look, the next Chelsea manager should take heed of this and pair Torres with Sturridge.

The left-right combination could also reap the benefits for Chelsea, both Sturridge and Torres have shown to be clinical on their preferred feet and with the help of genuine wide men in a 4-4-2 formation I believe Torres and Sturridge could bang them in for fun next season.

Sturridge has shown that when given game time for Chelsea in the FA Cup or Champions league he can score goals, although he only boasts 1 Premier league goal for the Blues, coming in a 7-0 hammering of Stoke. I believe that if given Premier league game time, as he has been at Bolton, he will score goals at the top level.

By Sam Scott for This Is Futbol


 

4 responses to “Why the Blues need to hang on to Sturridge”

  1. gary says:

    Sturridge is good, but not great. Chelsea should cash in on him. It’s likely that Chelsea will get Neymar. Neymar is a better fit. He is more than a good striker. He attacks from midfield, usually left or right wing. This left and right versatility equips him to alternate between Malouda and Kalou’s positions (think of him as a striker and winger). He turns defenders inside-out, and he provides perfectly weighted through-balls. He would work well with Torres or Drogba. He is always confident, something Chelsea often lacks, and an extremely exciting player to watch.

  2. tom in mombasa kenya says:

    sturridge is going nowhere, he should stay

  3. kaka says:

    Sturridge should stay but i want chelsea should sign neymar now that he has said that he will join chelsea this summer if an offer comes his way.Go CHELSEA Go Get neymar he will definitely become a chelsea legend.Chelsea should sell anelka, malouda And add neymar and sturridge in place of them further drogba will not be able to offer much in two years time so chelsea should sign lukaku to replace him.

  4. theo says:

    at the moment chelsea have 5 strikers in torres, drogba, anelka, sturridge and kalou. according to speculations it seems that we’re going to buy 2 new strikers to refresh the aged front-line. neymar and lukaku seem to be those strikers and there is always aguero in the game. so 2 will go and 2 will come in this summer. anelka and drogs will probably see the exit door, but i would love to see kalou follow them, even he’s still 26. what we don’t know yet is the formation chelsea will play next term so we can’t tell who should partner who. in 4-4-2 aguero would be the perfect match for torres but then we should sign a right winger also to give width to the team. in a 4-3-3 torres could play with neymar and malouda (or kakuta) and keep as replacements lukaku with sturridge and kalou. we’ll have to wait and see if hiddink comes back and then all would be clear.
    KTBFFH