Liverpool need to stop protecting Sturridge – Hamann

Rob Conlon
Daniel Sturridge: Striker has featured just six times this term

Daniel Sturridge: Striker has featured just six times this term

Former Liverpool favourite Dietmar Hamann wants the club to come clean about Daniel Sturridge’s fitness issues – and suggests the injuries are more psychological. 

Sturridge has been plagued by injury since joining Liverpool from Chelsea in 2013, and has made only six appearances this season amid a number of niggling problems.

In November, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp hinted that the 26-year-old’s fitness issues were perhaps due to the player’s mentality.

“The club has got a responsibility to tell the paying public what is wrong with him,” Hamann told TalkSport.

“If he has got a hamstring injury, an ankle injury, or whatever he may have, the people who pay for a season ticket have got a right to know what is wrong with him.

“Judging by the way Jurgen Klopp answered his questions [ahead of the Manchester United game] I don’t think there is too much wrong with the player.

“If there is nothing wrong with him, it is more important to be honest and truthful with the paying public than to protect a player who has hardly played in the last 18 months, who seems to choose when he wants to play.

“He has got three years left on his contract and I don’t see any reason, if there is nothing wrong with the player, why the club should protect him.”

On Tuesday Klopp said the England striker had “no chance” of returning in Liverpool’s FA Cup third-round replay with Exeter and was unsure of when he may make his latest comeback.

Hamann was a team-mate of Sturridge at Manchester City, when the duo, were at opposite ends of their careers, and the former Germany international saw first-hand the forward’s troubles.

“There was always something wrong with him on the Thursday or the Friday. His back, his hamstring, there was always something,” Hamann said.

“If you look at his record since he has played professional football he probably doesn’t average half the games a season – and it has got worse at Liverpool.

“I am not saying he is pretending to be injured, I’m not sure. But if he is injured, say it. Nobody knows what is going on with him.”