Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has told both fans and critics of Reds striker Daniel Sturridge to back off, and that if anyone is to blame for the England striker’s latest injury it is him.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s Europa League match against Sion in Switzerland Klopp told reporters that Sturridge will be out for at least ten days and even possibly until the New Year after scans revealed that Sturridge had strained his hamstring during last weekend’s match with Newcastle.
He also questioned reporters as to why they had so many questions about Sturridge when he wasn’t even with the team to take on Sion tonight.
He said: “It is no knee, no hip, no foot … It’s just a little hamstring. But this is a sign that it was too much for him.
“Daniel had his injuries, I don’t know most of them. But, after two days, the question is always, ‘Is he available?’ Then I say, ‘No, of course not.’
“Then another striker gets injured, so we say [to Sturridge], ‘Come on, let’s try’. And then something happens and we say, ‘Okay!’
“[Sturridge had] Absolutely no pre-season, he started training; then he started playing … Another injury. Then he has 10 days, another game. That is the problem.”
Klopp is now of the opinion that after such a long period out of the game Sturridge needs a less intense training routine and is weighing up all his options before playing the England striker before he is ready.
“Everybody is excited (angry) about this I believe, but we have to see how each player has to train,” said Klopp.
“That is the problem. He trained last time and got 60 minutes at Southampton, which is good, but then 30 at Newcastle which was not so good because he felt this problem in his muscle almost straight away.
“So we have to cool down this situation and try, together with him, to help him be more resistant for all the games we have.
“We have to find the specific point where it will be possible to bring him for more minutes on the pitch… though of course, in this moment now we know, he cannot play three games in a week.”
