Daniel Sturridge Can Fit into Liverpool's 3-4-3 Alongside Other Key Attackers

Daniel Sturridge is back from his rehab work in America and, now in the final stages of recovering from his long injury lay-off, is expected to make an appearance for Liverpool some time in January.

The striker, who netted 25 times last season and has a strike-rate of 0.7 goals-per-game over his entire time at the club, has not played since the end of August, with the Reds struggling badly in attack in his absence until late in 2014.

A tactical switch since December has seen improved performance and results, with Raheem Sterling leading the line well for most of the ensuing period.

Questions have thus been asked whether the Reds will need to change formation again to fit in Sturridge and Sterling together, or else whether manager Brendan Rodgers will have to make big decisions about who to leave out—but the tactical versatility in the squad means it's not an issue. Indeed, all of the top talents in the team could feasibly play in the same side.

Style, not System

"The system is working very well for us. The most important thing is the style. The system can be whatever - in my time here, we've played a lot of different systems."

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So spoke Brendan Rodgers, on the official club website, after the weekend win over Aston Villa. He's not wrong—the Reds have switched from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2, have seen a diamond midfield and now a 3-4-2-1 utilised as their base systems over Rodgers' two-and-a-half years at the club.

The emphasis is always on trying to play good football, attacking football and to score goals. It hasn't always happened, such as earlier this season, but by and large the manager is happy to switch systems to produce performances and results.

Inevitably, it means that the club won't always be pitching up in the present iteration of the 3-4-3, but he also mentioned that it is working. The tactical tinkerings have most frequently come when results are going against the team, so for now, when fit, Sturridge will slot in up front as the main striker. 

Sturridge the No. 9

Fabio Borini has improved his game time and netted a good goal at the weekend, but while his industry and running behind the defence has been vital for the Reds, he doesn't do it any better than Sturridge does. He also has less vision and technical execution than the English striker...and scores far more infrequently.

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Key attacking players Liverpool will want to fit in around Sturridge include Sterling, the excellent Philippe Coutinho, the revitalised Lazar Markovic and, of course, at some point, captain Steven Gerrard.

Fielding two players behind the main striker means Rodgers can always pair creative talents together: Sterling and Coutinho are the most exciting, naturally dovetailing pair, bringing pace, dribbling quality, incisive passing and the ability to get into the box, but Gerrard still has lots to offer too with his timing of runs, scoring ability and experience.

Not playing the No. 8 in every minute will be key to getting maximum impact from him in his time left. He can be explosive and end with a big impact, rather than a pedestrian one; saving himself for 90 minutes after 90 minutes.

Markovic has shone from wide areas in a wing-back role, while Sterling can also feature there.

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If Rodgers really wants to shoe-horn everybody into the team, the Reds could technically get away with a midfield four of Markovic-Coutinho-Jordan Henderson-Sterling, with a duo of Gerrard and Adam Lallana behind Sturridge—and everybody would be in a position they have already played in under Rodgers.

It seems hugely unlikely, of course, that all would be needed on the pitch at once, not to mention the defensive imbalance it would bring against any semi-decent attack, but at least the option is there and it shows the positional rotations within the squad.

End Game

Sturridge has, of course, excelled up front on his own but also as part of a two. His success alongside Luis Suarez last season was a highlight of the campaign, and Liverpool do have another forward, of course—Mario Balotelli, whose own best game so far for the Reds came when paired with Sturridge in a two-up-top lineup at Tottenham.

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The one real issue with Liverpool continually changing systems is that it makes recruitment difficult; versatile players have to be considered as well as their mental and technical attributes. Buying an offensive, left-sided attacker who stays out wide is no good when Liverpool don't play with wingers or wide forwards, if he can't also play as a No. 10, a striker or a wing-back.

With no real transfer activity expected by Liverpool, at least in outfield players, during January, the performance of Sturridge and Balotelli together over the remainder of the season might well dictate whether the 3-4-3 is here to stay or is just the latest in a line of switches.

It might be a few more weeks before Sturridge finds his sharpness and goalscoring level, but when he does, there will be no hesitation about including Coutinho, Sterling et al around and behind him, and hoping that all together, they can fire Liverpool back toward the top four.

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