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Daniel Sturridge has provided an insight into how Jurgen Klopp will manage his Liverpool side behind the scenes as the Reds chase an unprecedented fourfold increase.
Liverpool already beat Chelsea to win the League Cup in February and will meet the Londoners again next month at Wembley for the FA Cup final, as they face Villarreal in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals this week. Meanwhile, they are currently one point behind Man City in the Premier League title race with five games to go.
Sturridge spent six and a half seasons at Anfield and was part of the Reds who narrowly missed the Premier League title twice in 2013/14 and 2018/19 but won the Champions League in the latter season. And the former Liverpool striker, who also played for both Man City and Chelsea before moving to Merseyside, has backed Klopp’s men to win even more silverware before the end of the season.
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“He’s fantastic. He gets the best out of the players, he puts the team together really well,” Sturridge said of Klopp. “On and off the pitch everyone knows his role and everyone knows what the expectations are, not only of him but also of representing Liverpool Football Club.
“He’s done a fantastic job since he joined the club. They were in final after final, challenging for Premier Leagues. Everyone should also be happy and grateful for the property for trusting and finding Jurgen as the manager and helping of the club as a whole.
“(This season has) been a huge success. Performance wise, the offensive, the defensive. They have tremendous depth within the squad which allows the manager to rotate as needed and when needed, to give the opponent various problems.
“Of course everyone is talking about the quadruple and the opportunity they have there to make some history. They started the season so well and now they are at the end of the season.
“If they win a few trophies or three trophies, I think that’s a huge success. If they do it fourfold, it’s an even greater success. The players know what the task is and what they need to do to achieve those things.
“And the manager will do everything he can to prepare the guys for that.”
Sturridge spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live after seeing his former club beat Everton 2-0 in Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Anfield, with longtime team-mate Divock Origi coming off the bench to claim the Reds’ victory.
It looks like the Belgian will leave Liverpool at the end of his contract this summer, having had to get used to playing a bit under Klopp. Sturridge, who now plays in Australia for Perth Glory, suffered a similar fate under the German himself before leaving Anfield in 2019 and is not surprised to see Origi continue to impress despite limited playing time.
“With the changes the manager has made (against Everton), they have made a huge impact and finally got the result they needed,” he said. “I worked with Divock for many years when I was at Liverpool. He is a great person, works hard on the training ground and scores goals.
“He’s a natural goalscorer. When he gets his chances, he takes them and likes to play against Everton too! It’s great, not only for the fans, but also for himself.
“I think so (it’s hard not to play), but also when you’re at a big club and the manager has a lot of options within the squad, what Liverpool have a great squad now, especially in the attacking third, there’s going to be a lot of rotation.
“So for any player who plays for a big club it’s important to know that there will be games when you are not going to play, there will be games when you are going to play and games that you will be asked to get on the football field and create something, change something and make an impact.
Divock is great at that and has been good at it for Liverpool his entire career.”
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