Can Daniel Sturridge and Christian Benteke Play in the Same Liverpool Team?
Brendan Rodgers is at a crucial crossroad in his Liverpool career. With pressure mounting on his position as Liverpool manager following a poor start to the Premier League season, he must restore his side's attacking identity to secure his future—so can his two star forwards, Daniel Sturridge and Christian Benteke, present a solution?
Benteke's arrival from Aston Villa this summer, in a deal worth £32.5 million, underlined Rodgers' intent to form his attacking unit around him, with this coming to the detriment of the perennially injured Sturridge.
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"I am not sure [how many strikers I need], but I need one that is going to be playing and at a top level every week," Rodgers told Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo, three months before Benteke's move to Merseyside, with a clear reference to Sturridge's fitness issues.
The 26-year-old missed most of the 2014/15 season before heading to Boston at the end of the campaign for hip surgery.
But having returned and set to readying himself for a first-team comeback, will former star man Sturridge find his starting role usurped by this year's model?
This is a welcome issue for Rodgers, with both Sturridge and Benteke proven as top-level Premier League strikers, and finding a place in his starting lineup for the pair could help him salvage his season.
Benteke's Struggles
Despite scoring two goals in his first five games as a Liverpool player, Benteke has so far struggled to fully impose himself in the Premier League under Rodgers—and the Belgian's woes are through no fault of his own.
The £32.5m Rodgers sanctioned to secure Benteke's arrival from Villa suggested the manager knew exactly what he was getting.
But five games into the season and we are yet to see the Reds harness Benteke's attacking powers.
Chiefly, these are his strength and aerial ability—though the 24-year-old has showcased a surprising finesse following his move to Merseyside—and though these battering-ram qualities do suit a lone-striker role, they demand support from his team-mates.
Benteke has so far won 9.8 aerial duels per 90 minutes in the Premier League, more than all but one player to have played more than 90 minutes this season. Ironically, that player is his Villa replacement: Rudy Gestede (10.5).
But, as his lowly average passing accuracy of 65.8 percent suggests, this aerial prowess is going to waste, with very few attacking options offered in support in Rodgers' 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3 formations.
The deployment of Danny Ings and Roberto Firmino—ostensibly a striker and a No. 10—as winger-cum-wing-backs in the 3-1 loss to Manchester United last weekend is a clear example of Rodgers' failure to utilise Benteke's strengths in the attacking sector:
Tasked with supporting both defence and attack, Ings and Firmino mustered just four touches in the United penalty area between them—despite Benteke winning eight aerial duels on the night.
The Belgian is lacking an attacking beneficiary, and this is where Sturridge may come in.
Sturridge's Strengths
It is easy to forget just how much of an impact Sturridge has made at Liverpool since his £12 million move from Chelsea in 2013.
The 26-year-old has scored 40 goals in 67 games for the Reds in all competitions, with 35 of these coming in just 55 Premier League games—including a remarkable tally of 21 goals in 29 league games during 2013/14's unexpected title challenge.
Since making the move from Stamford Bridge, Sturridge has been the lynchpin within Rodgers' attack, and it is a frustrating reality that he can no longer be relied on as a first-choice centre-forward due to injury.
However, when fit and firing, Sturridge is one of the best strikers in European football, and one whose return Rodgers is undoubtedly anticipating, shown as he detailed his qualities during his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's Anfield clash with Norwich City, relayed by the club's official website:
"For him, it’s just about getting himself back in and playing and getting the goals.
When he can stretch teams – like he can with his pace and he has got wonderful variety in his finishing – and you put Christian [Benteke] alongside him and you’ve got [Philippe] Coutinho in behind that or to the side, whichever way we play, the other players can then support that and it’s a really exciting dynamic.
We’ve probably been waiting for that for quite a period of time. Those types of players like Daniel, with that quality, can give a totally different perspective to your team.
"
Sturridge's key qualities are his pace, intelligent movement and dribbling ability, making him a dynamic forward option for the Reds manager, available to perform in a variety of attacking roles—from an orthodox, central position to the intriguing wide role that he was deployed in during 2013/14's 4-0 home win over Everton, from which he scored two goals:
"I think the wide striker is the way forward for Liverpool," former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher told Sky Sports after the Reds' loss to United.
"I would like to see Sturridge playing in that position but something has got to be worked on to incorporate the other players because the lack of goals is killing Liverpool."
This is something Rodgers continued to discuss in his pre-match press conference, when asked as to the possibility of a move into a two-striker system, with the manager instead hinting at a continuation of the use of a wide striker, as reported by This is Anfield:
"When I play the striker off the side he’s never really and out-and-out winger, he’ll always be off the inside. Danny [Ings] we had in the team against [Manchester] United just off the inside and he worked tirelessly in the game.
"
In theory, Sturridge's qualities make him an ideal candidate for this wide-striker role.
But is this the right system for Liverpool moving forward?
The Right System
In Thursday night's 1-1 draw away to Bordeaux in the Europa League, Rodgers implemented an encouraging switch in his tactical layout—namely, the return of the 3-4-2-1 formation that had proved so successful last season.
A back three of Emre Can, Joe Gomez and Mamadou Sakho patrolled behind midfielders Jordan Rossiter and Pedro Chirivella—introduced early into the game following injury to Kolo Toure—while wing-backs Jordon Ibe and Alberto Moreno supported a three-man attack of Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana and Divock Origi.
Though this system clearly needs work, given the disappointing result at the Nouveaux Stade de Bordeaux, it hinted at a bright future for Liverpool, as Matt Ladson detailed for Bleacher Report:
"The 3-4-3, which sees two No. 10 playmakers behind the centre-forward, also gets the best from Philippe Coutinho and Lallana.
Neither are suited to the wide-forward role within a front three in the 4-3-3. Nor is new signing Roberto Firmino. Playing two of them behind the forward would give greater support to Benteke and allow midfield runners to get beyond the Belgian in attack.
This formation also allows for more attacking width out wide. Moreno provided a balanced display against Bordeaux and is perfectly suited to the wing-back role. Clyne would similarly revel in the role on the right.
Add in the energy and hard work of [James] Milner and Jordan Henderson in central midfield and you have a very balanced side.
"
As Ladson suggests, the dual No. 10 roles are key in supporting Liverpool's centre-forward in this system, and therein lies a possible solution to selecting Sturridge and Benteke in the same starting lineup.
Sturridge's performance against Everton in 2013/14 is an interesting touchstone for potential success in this formation—rather than operating as an out-and-out winger, he cut inside and surged towards goal, intertwining with Luis Suarez in the centre-forward's role. He is clearly at his best facing goal, and in one of these No. 10 positions, he could be supremely effective, latching on to Benteke's knock-ons and benefiting from his strength in holdup play.
Alternatively, both a 3-4-1-2 and a 4-4-2 diamond would allow Rodgers to utilise his best attacking players—Benteke, Sturridge and Coutinho—while shoring up his deficiencies in defence.
A return to a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 following this promising display in the south of France would be a disappointment for Liverpool supporters.
Persevering with an interpretation of this successful 3-4-2-1 is a must for Rodgers at this stage—not least because it would see both Benteke and Sturridge's qualities magnified.
Statistics via LFCHistory.net and WhoScored.com.
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