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| Is Daniel Sturridge really as bad as Chelsea fans think? |
While it’s fair to say that Sturridge has his fair share of critics; he can rest assure he has an ally in me. When you consider that Sturridge has managed to deliver at every level starting from school boy level all the way up to international (where he came on as sub and got man of the match), I find it bemusing that Chelsea fans don’t rate him higher.
His form for Bolton emphasized exactly what Sturridge is capable of when playing in his preferred centre forward role, scoring 8 goals during his stay at the Rebook stadium. While his impressive tally of 13 goals last season (more than Welbeck and Carroll both of whom ended up at Euros) from the wing appears to be overlooked by vast amounts of Chelsea fans, especially when he ended last season with the same amount of goals as Drogba.
Traditionally strikers are meant to be selfish and never track back, so it’s harsh to criticise Sturridge for not always delivering on these elements of his game. While I’m not saying that the criticism of Sturridge isn’t justified, I’m just stating that people should take into account that AVB played Sturridge out of position as a right winger, so it’s only natural that certain weaknesses of his game will be exposed. Imagine if Hernandez, Defoe or Drogba played right wing? They all arguably would struggle to impress to the same level Sturridge did at times last season. Which is the reason why criticising a player who’s doing a job for the team by playing out of position and still managing to score goals baffles me greatly.
People talk about Sturridge’s attitude, but our new ‘golden boy’ Hazard has upset French and Belgian media on nermious occasions with his arrogant personality. However Sturridge’s antics don’t come close to those of Hazard’s. The only thing Sturridge can be guilty of is, not tracking back all the time and waiting patiently for the last three seasons for a chance to play in his natural position. Hardly attitude is it?
Okay he might be greedy, but surely that can be forgiven considering the amount of goals he scored last season. Has anyone ever thought that he’s just a young player eager to make a impression at a big club? I personally thought that he was trying to over-impress at times last season, as he attempted to catch the attention of Di Matteo and AVB, so they would give him a chance up front.
Instead Chelsea fans should draw on the positives of Sturridges game, he’s quick, tricky, fearless and confident. All trademarks qualities of Chelsea’s new evolutional blueprint. Should Di Matteo give into Sturridge’s demands and play him as striker for the coming season, we could potentially be looking at one of the most exciting strikers in the Premiership. However should this not happen I would happily eat humble pie and all criticism of him will finally be justified. But until then lets support our younger players especially when they are English.
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So selfish and selfcentered.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree...!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree...!
ReplyDeleteI don't like him as well, too selfish don't care about other players all he want is goal. We don't need this kind of player @ chelsea football club....
ReplyDeleteBlue Reign
Thought you might enjoy this...
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/l_fM0B5ZsH4
Best-J.
He wants the center, ok let him have it in exchange to work on his weakness of finding a partner with a pass when better positioned.
ReplyDeleteIf he is as good as he thinks he is, and as good we hope he is, then with the supply line we have now he should be in with a chance for the Golden Boot.
Stick Torres upfront in the center with him (2 forwards) and watch the sparks fly
If Sturidge was arrogant but played for the team, fought hard to win back the ball with hole hearted pressing(not tracking back)I would not mind,Sturridge is always about glorifying STURRIDGE.He is not a TEAM player that is his main ploblem.AT Bolton he was never the main striker , he was the second striker in a 4-4-2 ,I can't see him being the only striker in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1.We saw this in a few games last season and it did not work.
ReplyDeleteInteresting piece. Though I agree with most of what is said here, I fear his greed will be to the detriment of the team. Imagine, 10 mins to go in a vital game against Arsenal say. It's 1-1. Mata puts him through, but the keeper is out quick. Hazard/Marin has an open goal to just tap the ball in because the keeper is focused on Sturridge. What is the likelihood that Sturridge will pass rather than shoot? Ensuring a goal and possible win.
ReplyDeleteEnglish or no English, what you should be emphasizing is team spirit. Imagine, that he is playing what he is playing at Chelsea for England or GB. You write as a Sturridge fan and not as a critic, litte wonder you consciously left-out your name.
ReplyDeleteSturridge is very very selfish, how many assists did he give last season? Did you see what Torres did at the Euro final against Italy? That is TEAM spirit.
Though he might be a good player as Ʊ pointed out but he's not a team player.a good striker must be able to score goals as well provide assists,but this is not the case in sturridge.he always want the all the glory for himself.maybe if he tries to consider being a team player,I think he will b a better player.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't see being selfish as been a bad quality for a player in the final third especially if he can finish with a little bit of magic. Being selfish made Henry at Arsenal a legend and Robben was told not to change his game play after the champions league final. But Illd always stop a player from being selfish if the frequency of attempts per game always results in futility. In Dannys case, we cannot be so sure. He is a striker and he can score goals.
ReplyDeleteAbout the Euro final, no matter how tight you thought the angle was, there was 4 outcome. Either Torres goes on his own and score, he goes on his own and miss, he passes to Mata and Mata scores and he passes to Mata and Mata misses. If Mata had missed I'm sure some people would have blamed Torres for not trying. Besides, people don't like players that should be shooting when they are passing especially the strike leader and then, nothing keeps happening. Torres style works for him? Let us try Danny.
ReplyDeleteAll Sturidge needs is to pray for fans favour. No player is perfect. Even, the controversial players end up becoming the best players. Drogba did not have it rosy at Chelsea but eventually he concluded it in a glorious way.
ReplyDeleteHey guys. I am the original writer of this article. So I will answer some of your questions. Yes I am a Sturridge fan, he a very talent player, that just wanted a chance to preform in his favourite position.
ReplyDeleteIt was always going to be a one sided article because I think he is very good player and believe the criticism he gets is harsh at times. We should be supporting our young players not trying to ruin them.
He scored 13 goals last season and got 8 assists, Drogba got 13 Goals and 7 assists. But Drogba played more games.
Yes he is selfish, but he tries to over-impress too much. But he is young, so of course he will be a little immature at times, but we must give him time to learn for his mistakes. This season is about transition.
And none of us know or have met Sturridge before so I refuse to bring his attitude into my judgement of him. Instead I judge him on his ability to win Chelsea matches. And I think you all should do the same.
Sturridge is not a team player and very selfish a player. He should take a clue from Torres and learn very fast. Chelsea doesn't deserves such a player! and stop protecting him LOREANZO!
ReplyDeleteI think Sturidge just have a bad decision problem. There is always an obvious time to pass and a time to shoot but he prefers only shooting. Maybe he thinks he is adventurous. But the good thing is that he is still improving. If he strikes though he would reduce his passing positions.
ReplyDelete