Liverpool fans are surely enjoying their time under Klopp’s management. They haven’t seen their side performing like some hungry lions for so long. It has been a long time since Liverpool last won a major trophy in fact, after their 2005 Champions League turn around, they haven’t won any.
Liverpool made many managerial changes but still, the club was struggling in the mid-table. 2015-16, the season started roughly for Liverpool and eventually the board sacked Brendan Rodgers, then, came the ‘Normal One’. Jürgen Klopp has achieved so much during his time with Dortmund. So obviously, the expectations were set high. The team needed a leader, a guide to set everything up and Jurgen Klopp was the right man to do so.
Coming to the point, in recent times, everyone knows that, Divock Origi has given Jürgen Klopp a nice kind of dilemma to choose between him and the club’s old Daniel Sturridge. Liverpool recently conquered the quarter-final stage by defeating Borussia Dortmund where Origi played a major role to score an away goal and also scored a goal at Anfield. Not to forget his brace against Stoke City as a half-time substitute.
Klopp’s strategy seems to have been applied perfectly by the 20-year-old Belgian. As we have witnessed how Klopp has transformed Emre Can, Sakho and Lovren, we are on the verge to witness another making of a superstar in my opinion. In recent week, the performance of Origi has been outstanding, he is completely fitting into the bills of Klopp’s tactics.
Origi has learned plenty this season as he was named in Ligue 1’s worst XI during his season-long loan spell back at former club Lille. Klopp brought the confidence back in the young boy’s mind and he has been emphatic since then. Origi has worked a lot on his physical strength as well as on his running and has suddenly emerged as a key member of Liverpool’s squad.
On the other hand, we all know what abilities Daniel Sturridge possess. He has been that one striker Liverpool desperately wanted alongside Suarez. But, to be honest, he hasn’t been that good after the departure of the Uruguayan. Though he has got the shooting skills and the vision, he doesn’t seem to be the man to fit in Klopp’s play. He is having a decent season but, he is losing his form. I do believe, Klopp will find a replacement for this English striker in this coming transfer market.
Origi is full of confidence at the moment and is having a great time under Klopp for sure. Though he is not a better passer than Sturridge, he knows when his team needs him most. He has room to improve and has that ambition to learn more. At just 20, he is a great sprinter and also a great finisher of the ball. He follows what he has been told and we have seen it in the Dortmund’s game as well as in the Stoke’s game. With getting short in options for the strikers, Klopp will surely encourage this young Belgian to be one of the best in the world.
Sturridge is a smart and an experienced player but, his form and his romance with the injuries is not supporting his play. Origi, on the other hand, is improving. Improving his confidence, improving his strengths and that makes him a solid attacking option. Even the defender like Lukas Piszczek was unable to handle the strength and pace of Origi in the first leg.
I do believe, Sturridge will have to settle down at the club as a substitute. However, the strikers can combine as well. We saw how they trashed Southampton by 6 goals to 1 in the League Cup back in December and also against Stoke. But if, Klopp goes with 2 strikers, one from the midfield has to be compromised.
Honestly speaking, Origi has a bright future under Klopp where he can learn new thing and can experimented but, Sturridge doesn’t have that space ahead of him to improve and also, didn’t had that game-changing impact in a while.