If anyone thought the moment of anger portrayed on the face of Daniel Sturridge after not getting a pass from Luis Suarez as Liverpool lost to Arsenal means a breakdown in the relationship between the two strikers, he couldn’t be further from the truth.
Daniel Sturridge scored goals before Luis Suarez came back from his suspension, but he knows quite well that both from a personal standpoint and by taking the broader team view, having the Uruguayan striker playing next to him is something he benefits from.
Suarez might have been a tad selfish in that moment, but Sturridge won’t find many partners who have no problem giving up on goal opportunities on most occasions for the benefit of the team. Sturridge himself is also a team-first player, but he just isn’t as skillful when it comes to setting up other players, usually doing much better when he simply needs to put the ball in the net.
At Liverpool, it seems like Sturridge, with 8 league goals so far this season, has finally found a team that is willing to give him a permanent place in the lineup, not to mention being in a two striker formation, which makes it even better for Sturridge who loves spreading his wings out to the flanks to find space. He knows that the team’s success this year and in the future depends on the club’s ability to keep Luis Suarez from joining the team’s that have been trying to sign him for the last couple of seasons.
Everyone wants Luis to stay at the club. It’s up to Luis to decide what he wants to do. If he believes it’s best for him to move on, then that’s the way it’s got to be. But the club, the players and the fans all want him to stay and I’m sure he will. It’s great to play with Luis. We give defenders problems and we’re both different. It’s good to have a strike partner you can bounce off. We get on well and that’s the most important thing. There is no rivalry there, no hidden agendas. We both go out and work hard to help the team. It’s not about the SAS strike-force, it’s about the team.