Daniel Sturridge's Latest Injury Shows Need for Liverpool's Attacking Overhaul

The news of Daniel Sturridge's latest injury setback would have been of little surprise to Liverpool supporters on Friday, with the 25-year-old suffering his 14th injury since joining the club a little over two years ago (via PhysioRoom).

At the time of writing, news of Sturridge's expected time on the sidelines has only arrived via the Mirror's John Cross, who claims he'll face a month out with a torn hip muscle.

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Matt Law of The Telegraph relays the words of England boss Roy Hodgson on Thursday afternoon, who told reporters: "When we did the scan [on Sturridge] and it turned out that there was a problem, he was absolutely devastated because he didn’t want to leave us. There was no option because he has a slight tear and you can’t play through that."

Firstly, the fact Hodgson says "you can't play through that" will surely set alarm bells ringing on Merseyside, following his December 2013 admission he played an injured Sturridge for England in order to "test his resolve" (per The Independent).

Hodgson indicates had it not been a tear, he'd have played Sturridge with the injury. How is he England manager?

Away from the bizarre world of Hodgson, Sturridge's injury—should it be confirmed he faces a month out—has consequences for Liverpool.

Brendan Rodgers' side have two games that will ultimately decide their season following the international break. Failure to win on trips to Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers would all but end their 2014/15 campaign.

Defeat at Arsenal would make their top-four hopes even slimmer, while defeat in the FA Cup quarter-final replay would end their hopes of a domestic trophy and the fairytale Steven Gerrard send-off in the final.

The irony is that, arguably, Sturridge's injury will be the cliched blessing in disguise for Liverpool.

The player himself has struggled for form since his return from five months on the sidelines in January. Four goals in 13 appearances isn't a terrible ratio, but in terms of actual performances, he hasn't looked like the same player who scored 24 times last season.

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Indeed, Liverpool's attacking output has looked more blunted with Sturridge, rather than Raheem Sterling—who himself has been shunned, somewhat bizarrely, to right wing-back in recent weeks.

Sturridge's injury will see Sterling return to the centre-forward role he'd occupied since the change in formation in mid-December. Sterling has proven better at pressing opponents, a crucial part of Rodgers' masterplan.

Rodgers will be hoping Jordon Ibe can return from injury to occupy the role on the right, which would give power and pace down that side. Otherwise, it will be the on-off form of Lazar Markovic who returns to the side.

Overhaul

What Sturridge's latest injury does highlight is the overall need for an overhaul of Liverpool's attacking options this summer.

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The problem being, that when the injury-prone Englishman is sidelined, none of Liverpool's out-and-out centre-forwards suit their system. Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini are all behind auxiliary forward Sterling and should be deemed surplus to requirements this summer.

Lambert may have been a plan B option, but when that plan B option isn't even used for domestic cup games, it's hard to see why the manager actually signed him.

Balotelli's problems are, of course, widely documented, and it's a gamble that hasn't paid off.

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Borini's last start was against Aston Villa back in January, and he hasn't featured on the bench in the last four games.

Liverpool will have Belgium youngster Divock Origi back from loan at Lille, but he can't be relied upon to make an instant impact.

Danny Ings is a player widely expected (per the Mirror) to arrive on Merseyside this summer, but is he of the quality required?

Adding one more forward would be the desired scenario, a quality (and ideally experienced) centre-forward who can play either alongside Sturridge or replace him when he's inevitably sidelined.

That would leave Rodgers with Sturridge, a new signing, Origi and Ings, plus Sterling as backup (but ideally keeping him for an attacking midfield role primarily).

That's three players in and three players out, giving Liverpool's attack an overhaul—one that's needed given they've scored less than half the amount of goals they scored last season, with just eight games to go. This season has been one huge drop-off in goals and that needs fixing this summer.