Liverpool's Midfield Issues: Sturridge Questions Recruitment

Daniel Sturridge has fired a warning shot over Liverpool’s recruitment, questioning how a glaring midfield issue has been allowed to roll into a new season — and why a player like Mamadou Sangare is lining up for Brentford instead of the Reds.

Old Problems, New Coach

A new campaign, a new man in the dugout, but the same old headache.

Andoni Iraola’s first Premier League game in charge at Liverpool, away at Newcastle United, was supposed to signal a fresh start after Arne Slot’s departure earlier in the summer. Instead, it underlined a familiar flaw. Within minutes at St. James’ Park, Liverpool were sliced open on the counter.

Ryan Gravenberch surrendered the ball just outside the Newcastle box. In a flash, the hosts went from back to front, carving through the middle of the pitch. Anthony Elanga finished the move, and Liverpool were behind before they had even settled.

The pattern felt painfully familiar: a midfield that looked good on the ball, but fragile the moment it lost it.

Chaos in Transition

Liverpool did respond after the break. Cody Gakpo struck early in the second half to level the game and briefly tilt the momentum. Any sense of control, though, vanished almost as quickly as it arrived.

Newcastle simply waited for another transition. They got it. Again, Iraola’s side were caught open running back towards their own goal, and this time substitute Joe Willock punished them. Another counter, another goal, another reminder of what Liverpool lack at the base of midfield.

Only deep into stoppage time did Liverpool escape defeat. Victor Munoz drew a foul in the box from left-back Lewis Hall, and Dominik Szoboszlai buried the penalty with icy composure. The 2-2 draw looked respectable on the scoreboard.

Sturridge wasn’t buying it.

Sturridge: “They Need a Defensive Midfielder”

Speaking on Sky Sports after the game, the former Liverpool striker zeroed in on the centre of the pitch as the root of the problem.

“I think the team needs a defensive midfielder, personally,” he said. “We’ve been talking about a defensive midfielder at Liverpool for the last three years and I think Gravenberch coming in and winning the league changed that philosophy.

“But, if you actually analyze the midfield, they’re all naturally more attacking players.”

That, for Sturridge, is the crux. Too many eights, not enough six. Too many creators, not enough destroyer.

Which is where Sangare comes in.

The Sangare Question

Brentford moved for Mamadou Sangare this summer, paying £39 million ($52 million) for a player Sturridge believes fits the exact profile Liverpool are missing.

“For instance, if you look at Brentford signing Mamadou Sangare,” he said. “The stats jump out on the page. They are third in interceptions, third in tackles, third in possession recovered. For me, £39 million, you think to yourself, that’s not a load of money for someone like Liverpool.

“I’m not suggesting he was the man, but the stats jump out the page. Liverpool don’t have that profile of player right now.”

That is the sting. A “relatively modest” fee in modern Premier League terms for a ball-winner who racks up interceptions, tackles and recoveries — and he ends up in West London, not Anfield.

Too Many Eights, Not Enough Sixes

Sturridge also namechecked Trey Nyoni, a youngster he clearly rates, but again as a different type of midfielder.

“Trey Nyoni, I really like him, but he’s more of a ball playing eight,” he said. “He’s not a destroyer and won’t strike fear in the opposition, like a Sangare can. Or an N’Golo Kante over the years.”

Even Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s penalty hero on the day, came under tactical scrutiny.

“I also think, if I’m being honest, [Dominik] Szoboszlai is better as a no.10,” Sturridge added.

The picture he painted is stark: a squad stacked with attacking midfielders, yet short of the one profile that could have stopped both Newcastle goals at source.

Anfield’s Unanswered Problem

A last-gasp penalty saved Iraola from opening-day defeat, but it did nothing to silence the wider debate. The same vulnerability in transition that dogged Liverpool in recent seasons has survived the change of coach and the start of a new era.

Sturridge’s question now hangs over the club’s hierarchy: with the market still offering combative, ball-winning midfielders at prices Liverpool can clearly afford, how long can they afford not to buy one?