The Sunday Telegraph - 11.08.2019

The Sunday Telegraph Sunday 11 August 2019^ *** 5

D

aniel Sturridge turns 30

on Sept 1, a milestone

that comes one day

ahead of another

deadline: the closure of

the European transfer

window and the end of another

summer of buying, selling, loaning and

general chance-taking and hunch-

trusting. Sturridge remains a free

agent and perhaps once the window

closes and certain clubs become even

less convinced of the decisions they

made over the previous three months

he will be a much greater commodity.

He is, after all, a 26-cap international

goalscorer who once returned 21 goals

in a Premier League season, and it

might surprise you to learn that he

made 27 appearances for Liverpool last

season during a campaign in which he

was conspicuously injury-free.

As he approaches that birthday that

looms so large in the minds of

footballers, there is still time for him to

rescue the last part of his career and

make the most of that undoubted

talent, but the clock is ticking and, in

the elite game, time is short.

Thus far, what has been most

surprising about Sturridge’s future

prospects during the transfer window

in an industry that is never shy of

thinking aloud on potential new

signings is how rarely his name has

been mentioned. Only one story

seemed to have any life at all, a link

between the striker and the Turkish

club Trabzonspor, although if you

were thinking of wagering a bet on

that being the correct outcome then

this might not be the horse to back.

It remains a source of no little irony

that the betting scandal that earned

Sturridge a two-week ban from a

Football Association commission last

season actually meant some of his

family and associates emerged with

cumulative losses from wagers on the

striker’s future.

In what should stand as an eternal

warning over the caprice of the

transfer market, and an insight into

the existence of those of us trying to

divine fact from fiction, the insider

trading conspired to lose around

£3,000 on bets totalling £13,755.82.

Add the £75,000 fine from the FA

commission and it might qualify as the

worst tip ever, given the identity of the

chief tipster and information source.

Sturridge’s ban expired at the end of

last month, although one presumes

that the FA decision to appeal against

the case in pursuit of a greater

punishment is part of what is

deterring interest in him thus far.

All in all a sad state of affairs for a

striker who was still near the top of his

game when Jurgen Klopp arrived at

Liverpool almost four years ago and

for a while the team’s fortunes seemed

to rest on his fitness or otherwise.

There was always space made for

peak Sturridge in the Liverpool team

of Brendan Rodgers, and the England

sides then, because of a faith in his

ability to freestyle something from

Downfall: Daniel Sturridge gradually lost

his must-pick status with Liverpool

CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER

SAM WALLACE

Free agent

can still

prove there

is life after

Liverpool

but talk of

striker’s

name has

been rare in

this window

and it may be

that betting

scandal has

put potential

suitors off

Sturridge running out of time to save career

and avoid becoming football’s forgotten man

Luiz exit a win

for Lampard

Klopp

decided

early on

that he

could not

rely on

Sturridge

so built a

team

without

him

injury-time minutes of that

monumental Champions League

semi-final second leg against

Barcelona at Anfield and has missed an

entire pre-season, which would be

alarming for any player keen to hit the

ground running at a new club.

The most notable event since his

departure from Liverpool has been

that curious incident concerning the

theft and subsequent return of his pet

dog in Los Angeles, which evidently

was the source of some distress.

It remains in the hands of the player

himself. How much do these last

precious few years as a professional

mean to him? Football is extraordinary

when it comes to second chances, as

well as third, fourth and fifth chances.

This is a summer in which Ravel

Morrison has been rehabilitated as a

Premier League footballer on the basis

of a handful of games in the Swedish

top flight. Even Saido Berahino has got

a new contract at Zulte Waregem after

the worst job reference ever from Glen

Johnson. His former team-mate said

he would not sign Berahino if the

latter paid him, and Johnson is by no

GETTY IMAGES

F

rank Lampard has done a good

job of dampening the embers

of any potential row with

David Luiz in recent days but there

is no question that the Brazilian’s

desire to get out of Chelsea was the

first big challenge for the manager’s

authority. Whatever leadership

qualities Luiz (left) will take to

Arsenal they were not evident in

the final days at Chelsea and

Lampard recognised quickly

that it was much more

expedient to get rid. A good

lesson for the club too, and

Marina Granovskaia, who

backed her manager and

sold Luiz for the benefit of

squad morale. Past

Chelsea managers have

not always felt the same

and this was a show of unity

that bodes well for Lampard.

By Ian Whittell

Liverpool will go into Wednesday’s
European Super Cup clash against
Chelsea in Istanbul with Adrian as their
first-choice goalkeeper and potential
concerns ahead for Jurgen Klopp.
First choice Alisson suffered a calf
injury during Friday’s 4-1 victory over
Norwich City and is expected to be out
for between four and eight weeks.
The Brazilian’s injury marked an-
other twist in what has become a head-
ache for Klopp – finding an able
back-up for the £66.8 million signing
from Roma who played such a key role
in last season’s successes.
Simon Mignolet was allowed to leave
for Club Brugge last week, prompting
Klopp to sign free-agent Adrian,
who played only five cup games for
West Ham United last season and had
not played a first-team game since a

shock FA Cup defeat by Wimbledon in

January.

The 32-year-old Spaniard played just

under an hour on Friday without diffi-

culties, even if he did concede the visi-

tors’ only goal, and defender Virgil van

Dijk insists his elevation to the post will

cause no problems.

“I think he’s at that kind of age, that

stage of his life and career that he can

come in and slot into the team pretty

easy,” said Van Dijk.

“He’s [Alisson] very important for us.

We have to deal with it and we’re going

to deal with it.”

Klopp said he was impressed, if not

surprised, at how Adrian had slotted

into a new team after five days at the

club.

But, in the short term, there may be

slight anxieties about a substitute for

Adrian with Alisson missing for up to

two months.

Ireland Under-21 international Cao-

imhin Kelleher is still “not 100 per

cent”, according to his manager, after a

summer wrist surgery.

Klopp also has two teenage goal-

keepers – Jakub Ojrzynski, 16, and

18-year-old Czech Vitezslav Jaros – in

his squad but even the latter is unavail-

able through injury. And the lack of

goalkeeping depth is underlined by the

fact Liverpool took 35-year-old jour-

neyman Andy Lonergan on pre-season

tour as cover.

With Alisson out for many weeks,

Liverpool may be forced to seek a free-

agent signing and petition the Premier

League to add him to their 25-man

squad as emergency cover.

Liverpool negotiated their opening-

night challenge with ease at the start of

a campaign which opens with opti-

mism sky-high among supporters.

That mood stems, in small part at

least, from Van Dijk’s emergence as one

of the world’s premier players, leading

to the Dutchman being mooted as a po-

tential Ballon d’Or winner this year.

Predictably, Van Dijk remained un-

moved by such talk. “Obviously I’m

honoured but I have no influence on

anything of that so I just focus on play-

ing games,” he said.

“The only thing I want to do is keep

working, keep giving everything I can

in every game, in training as well and

be an example for all the players that

are coming through the ranks at Mel-

wood, but also the younger players that

are becoming professional footballers.

Everyone can get better.”

Liverpool could move for free agent after Alisson injury

Stepping in: Adrian

will play against

Chelsea in the Super

Cup in Istanbul on

Wednesday night

means the only Stoke City player of

the era to feel that way.

Sturridge left Liverpool on good

terms at the expiration of his contract

this summer and was, one is reliably

informed, well-liked by players and

staff, which says a lot about the

difference between the way he can be

perceived and the reality of it.

But he has to take some

responsibility for that: the betting

episode was foolish in the extreme and

has given potential new clubs another

reason to doubt his viability.

He was once an extraordinary talent

who went into the 2014 World Cup

as England’s most in-form

striker, and there were

moments two years later at

Euro 2016 when he showed

flickers of that form again on

the international stage.

The next club could be

the most important of his

life, even given all those he

had played for in the past

• a final chance to show
  just what a good player he
  can be.

nothing. Most of his managers would

agree that he had a mesmerising

ability that could be brought to bear in

one or two decisive moments.

For a while that was enough, but

when the injuries took hold that faith

started to drift.

There is much less patience now for

players of Sturridge’s type, those who

play the game the way they see fit and

whose minds can appear to drift when

it comes to pressing zones and team

shape. Klopp decided early on that he

could not rely on the player’s

availability and simply built a team

without him. There were still

moments when trusting in Sturridge’s

great ability paid off, like that goal

against Sevilla in the 2016 Europa

League final. But by the time he should

have been at his peak as a player, he

was barely a part of the run to last

season’s Champions League triumph.

What now for one of the most

talented players of his generation? He

last played competitively in the

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Fulham profit from ‘bravery’

Fulham manager Scott Parker praised

his side’s bravery as they adhered to

his passing creed to secure a 2-0

victory over Blackburn Rovers at

Craven Cottage. The hosts gave the

fans several anxious moments before

the interval as they managed to lose

possession in their own half, but

Fulham profited from holding their

nerve and sticking to Parker’s passing

creed, with Tom Cairney and

Aleksandar Mitrovic scoring the goals.

“There was a bit of edginess at the

beginning, but the boys were very

brave,” Parker said.

Elsewhere in the Championship,

Isaac Vassell came off the bench for

Cardiff City to score a last-gasp

winner against Luton Town, the team

he almost joined in the summer. “It’s

not just a goalscorer’s goal,” said

Cardiff manager Neil Warnock of his

new signing. “He ran 50 yards to close

someone down and it just spread to

the crowd and the other players.”

Blackpool surge to the top

Blackpool took the early lead in

League One with a 3-1 victory away to

Southend United. Simon Grayson’s

side scored all their goals in a

dominant first-half performance, and

were able to survive the dismissal of

James Husband on the hour. They

went in front after nine minutes when

goalkeeper Mark Oxley’s attempted

punched clearance struck team-mate

Harry Lennon and deflected into his

own net. Nathan Delfouneso then

scored twice inside 25 minutes to

secure the points.

Blackpool are one of three sides on

maximum points after two rounds of

fixtures. Lincoln City are another of

them after securing a 2-0 win at

Rotherham, thanks to an own goal

from Shaun MacDonald and Harry

Anderson’s header. Joey Barton’s

Fleetwood Town came back from a

goal down to defeat AFC Wimbledon

and triumph 2-1, their second win of

the season.

In brief

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