FORMER LIVERPOOL MIDFIELDER Dietmar Hamann believes that striker Daniel Sturridge should be saved for an impact role off the bench when Manchester United make the trip to Anfield on Sunday.
Sturridge has started the Reds’ last three fixtures since he was named among the substitutes for a 2-1 win against Manchester City on 1 March.
The England international has scored one goal in that period as he nears full fitness since returning from calf and thigh injuries. Hamann — a Champions League winner with Liverpool – feels that manager Brendan Rodgers would be better suited deploying Raheem Sterling as a striker, with Sturridge coming on, as the Merseyside club bid to leapfrog United into fourth position.
“That’s what I’d do, personally,” he told the Liverpool Echo. “I would not be surprised to see Sterling play up top, with Sturridge on the bench. “I don’t think Daniel is quite at 100 per cent yet so I think it would be good to have him as a real weapon on the bench for the last half-hour and let Sterling stretch the United defence to start with.
“If you think back to the game at Old Trafford, that was the first time we really saw Sterling used as a striker and, though we lost the game, we created more chances than we had all season, really, and he made a big difference.
“I think he’s played that role beautifully since. It changes everything when you have that pace up front because you can stretch the game. We lacked that in the first part of the season when Mario Balotelli or Rickie Lambert were playing up there but we’ve had it since that Old Trafford game.
“It would be a big call to leave Sturridge out but I just think Sterling may be the way to go.”
