Jurgen Klopp Discusses Christian Benteke, Daniel Sturridge Roles at Liverpool

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has challenged his striker Christian Benteke to become more than just a goalscorer for the Reds following his match-winning goal against Leicester City on Boxing Day.

The Belgium international was on the bench for the game against the high-flying Foxes, but after being called upon following an injury to Divock Origi, Benteke was the toast of Anfield as his second-half strike saw Liverpool secure a vital 1-0 win.

But Klopp wants to see the forward have much more of an influence in general play, per David Maddock of the Daily Mirror:

"

We need his goals and he is a goal scorer no doubt, but I don’t only think about him and goals. We are not a team who can play with a striker who scores a goal but is not involved in the game for the other 89 minutes.

We need the striker for the other options too, to work for the other minutes.

"

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It’s easy to see what Klopp means when analysing Benteke’s performance against Leicester in closer detail.

The Belgian not only missed a rudimentary opportunity to put the game beyond doubt late on, but the Reds looked a lot less industrious off the ball with the £32.5 million man up front instead of Origi. While he’s not naturally the most mobile forward, Benteke will need to be able to improve his work rate if he’s to thrive in Klopp’s setup, it would seem.

Bleacher Report’s Matt Ladson agreed with the assessment afterwards, insisting goals will not be enough for the former Aston Villa man to keep his place in the starting XI:

With Daniel Sturridge close to making his return from injury, Benteke will be acutely aware of that particular fact. The England international declared on his Twitter feed that he is "training and good to go" ahead of Liverpool’s tussle with Sunderland on Wednesday, but Klopp has stressed caution in respect of a possible comeback, per Maddock:

"

I think this is absolutely the same thing that Daniel said four weeks ago, and we let him play and he was injured again.

[...]

I don’t want to see him in training. Because everybody sees him training and they think ‘oh, come on, bring him into the team, we need his quality’. But no. We really, really have to be patient now, we have to wait, we have to train, we have to give the body the right information, and if he can do this, then maybe we can change something.

"

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A cautious approach is definitely needed from Liverpool when it comes to Sturridge. Having suffered with so many different niggles over the past couple of seasons, rushing him back into the team now would be extremely naive. 

As OptaJoe noted last month, seeing Sturridge on the pitch having a prolonged impact in a game has been rare lately:

The striker international showed what he is capable of with a brace against Southampton last month in the League Cup, but his constant struggle for fitness means Klopp cannot rely on Sturridge as he seeks to move this team forward. It also places a greater onus on Benteke to perform, especially given how much was spent to bring the forward to Anfield.

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Admittedly, Liverpool could make some stylistic tweaks to help their No. 9 have a more significant impact in games. He thrives on quality balls into the area, as was evident during his time at Villa, but in a Reds team that lacks genuine class in the wide positions, that kind of supply line is unlikely to emerge at Anfield any time soon.

Klopp clearly wants to see much more from the forward, though. The German proved he can make use of a target man during his time with Borussia Dortmund, with both Robert Lewandowski and Lucas Barrios making major improvements under his tutelage. It’ll be a sharp learning curve for Benteke, but he has a manager who’s well capable of aiding his progress as a player.