BR: Daniel can help bring exciting dynamic
Brendan Rodgers expects Daniel Sturridge to help provide a 'really exciting dynamic' for Liverpool when he returns to the pitch as the boss aims to restore a risk-taking element to his team.
The Reds striker is back in full training at Melwood as he continues his rehabilitation from a long-term injury that has denied the manager a chance to field the prolific No.15 so far this season.
No specific timeline has been put on a potential appearance for Sturridge, though Rodgers today outlined the important assets the Englishman can soon bring to the team in combination with his fellow attacking talents.
“On his game he’s one of the best that there is,” he said at his pre-Norwich City press conference. “There’s not too many that can compare with him when he’s at his level.
“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.”
Rodgers continued: “It’s also about risk-taking as well. For some reason, that bit of risk has gone out of our game.
“It’s also about availability of players. That’s no disrespect to anyone but we have missed a lot of goals and creativity in our team.
“It’s ensuring that we take those risks in order to create in the game and bring that intensity to the game. That’s something the players have been working really hard at over the last week or so.
“It only takes that one performance to spin the season around again.”
In their five Barclays Premier League games to date Liverpool have scored three goals, with Rodgers acknowledging that more creativity is required.
On Norwich’s previous two visits to Anfield, the Northern Irishman’s charges have powered five past the Canaries – and the boss is eager to restore that kind of energy.
“It’s about reinforcing the process of how we can arrive into positions to score goals,” he said.
“It has been an ongoing issue for a little while now. But we will get there like we did before. We had an issue when I first came in [with] scoring goals; there’s always a process to it.
“The players coming back will enhance the quality in the team and give us a greater opportunity to score goals.”