Sturridge And Coutinho Give Reds Real Cause For Optimism

 With one game to go, no trophies won and a seventh place finish confirmed I think looking back over Liverpool's season it's fair to say the most important part of 2012/13 was the January transfer window. The additions of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho have given our team a greater attacking threat and a genuine reason for optimism going forwards.

 Sturridge has received plenty of praise from Liverpool fans (though not the press coverage you'd expect a young, English striker with his goal return to get), scoring five times in the three games we've had since Luis Suarez' much publicised suspension. Now I'm going to say something that may seem a little off - I don't think Sturridge is a great striker. But he doesn't have to be. He fits into how we play, he's the right player for that specific position in the system we play, and that's worth all the ability in the world. 

 I'm not saying Sturridge is a bad player, far from it, but I think his goal return has been as much down to the team and the formation as the individual. We play one central striker with an attacking midfielder behind him (I'll get to Coutinho in a bit) and two advanced wide midfielders with license to roam infield as and when the opportunity arises. In short we have a system designed to create chances for one main man, and Sturridge has been finishing off those chances. He's just doing his job, playing his role in the system and that only happens because everyone else is also fulfilling their briefs. Like I said, he's the right player in the right role in the right system. We needed somebody selfish who is quick and doesn't really move too far from the central striker position and our January signing from Chelsea fits the bill perfectly, full credit for this must go to Brendan Rodgers for seeing exactly the right qualities in our number 15. 

 Suarez has scored a lot of goals this season, but he's had A LOT of chances. He's a fantastic player and a world class talent, but is he a deadly finisher? Well, sometimes. But not all of the time. With the ball at his feet there is no better player in the league than the Uruguayan and he's made plenty of his goals for himself (see his brace at QPR) but he's also missed a shedload of chances. A more consistent finisher playing in Suarez' position would probably have finished off more chances that team mates had made for him, but scored fewer self-made goals. Suarez playing out wide making chances for himself and a central striker (Sturridge) seems ideal. Downing and Sterling between them can cover the other wide position (though personally I'd like to see Andre Wisdom at right back and see how Glen Johnson fared in an advanced role) and there is real potential in that attack.

 Coutinho's arrival from Inter has been another major factor in our recent run of good results. I must admit when we signed him I half expected him to flop, I think I've just seen too many skillful foreigners (Kewell, Smicer, Gonzalez, Cheyrou, Diouf) turn up and make no impact and I've lost a bit of faith. But on the evidence so far the little Brazilian seems to be a player of genuine quality. Some of his passes to create goals and goalscoring chances seem unremarkable at first as he makes them look so easy but on second viewing you realise exactly what he's just done, and then you have to watch it again and again. 

 He's still very young and hasn't been impressive every match (Chelsea at home) but when he's given space he uses it intelligently and with no little amount of vision and skill. The way he plays some of his passes through the air to land in just the right place is something I haven't seen before and it's difficult to defend against - thankfully we don't have to! He's more effective playing centrally behind the striker than he is when he's put out wide which makes him slightly harder to accommodate but certainly not impossible. 

 Steven Gerrard and Lucas playing as more orthodox central midfielders with Coutinho in front of them, Suarez and Downing wide and Sturridge central seems like a very effective front six. Players like Henderson, Allen, Shelvey, Borini, Sterling and Suso can also fit in when needed and be trusted as able replacements. We're blessed with a flexible squad with the likes of Suarez, Downing, Sterling, Borini, Henderson, Suso, Coutinho and Gerrard who can fit into more than one position within our system, meaning it's easy to change things around during a game without using up substitutions. We can also switch from a version of 4-3-3 to more of a 4-4-2 at the drop of a hat and that can be invaluable in a tight game.

 The two men brought in to Liverpool in January may not have been cheap, but by today's standards it looks like we got a pair of bargains who have improved our team no end. Brendan Rodgers has shown that he is a man who can be trusted with a transfer budget and hopefully whoever we bring in over the summer will be just as wisely chosen as Coutinho and Sturridge. It's about having a system and finding the right players to buy into it and make it work and the way we've played a lot of the time this year suggests we're on the right path.