Klopp defends decision to leave Sturridge on bench

Matt Stead

Jurgen Klopp has defended his decision to bench Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge against Tottenham.

Sturridge’s future at Anfield remains unclear after the forward started on the bench at White Hart Lane.

The Reds impressed without the England international, but could only draw 1-1 against Mauricio Pochettino’s side. Here are 16 Conclusions from the game. One of those conclusions included the following:

‘* I would be surprised if Daniel Sturridge is at Liverpool beyond January. Not every excellent player can thrive under every excellent manager. Just ask Paul Pogba.’

After enduring a succession of injury-hit campaigns, Sturridge was expected to develop into the club’s starting striker this season.

However, he missed the opening-day win against Arsenal due to his fitness, and was used as a winger in defeat to Burnley, while he has been on the bench against Tottenham and for the clash with Burton in the EFL Trophy.

Sturridge was afforded just two minutes of normal time on Saturday, and failed to make an impact in such a short space of time.

“I picked him – last 10 minutes,” Klopp told BBC Match of the Day after the game. “If you want to you can always talk to me about players who didn’t start.

“You saw this was not the worst decision, this line-up. And then you have to change again in the game.

“We brought him [in], maybe a little bit too late. Unfortunately we didn’t have the ball long enough to bring his quality [in to the game].”