Forget SAS: Why Liverpool’s new strike trio will be a force to be reckoned with

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As every single Liverpool fan can recall with heartbreaking familiarity, in the 2013/2014 season Liverpool Football Club were devastatingly effective on the attack. The three-pronged attack of Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling had defenders constantly on their heels. With the return of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho and the fantastic form of Roberto Firmino there is cause to believe such an attack could return.

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Roberto Firmino signed for the Reds in the summer for a fee in the region of £29 million and he was immediately compared to Memphis Depay when he transferred from Hoffenheim. The Brazilian was hyped up as being Liverpool’s answer in an attacking sense. In many ways this held much merit but Brendan Rodgers played Firmino at wing back thus reducing the likelihood of him being very effective in the final third.

When Klopp took over as Liverpool manager it soon became clear how much he valued Firmino and clearly thought he had the talent to play as a false nine. He even said at a press conference that for a time Firmino was the standout player in the Bundesliga. Given how the Brazilian has been playing it’s not hard to see why Klopp would have thought this.

Liverpool fans are once more going through that extremely difficult phase, of watching yet another Daniel Sturridge comeback from injury. The emotions that one experiences when Sturridge returns but to falls prey to injury weeks later can be compared to the false hope of being reunited with a loved one only to be separated again. The only difference is that dealing with Sturridge and his injuries is far more taxing.

Last season, Philippe Coutinho was exceptional, scoring a number of brilliant and important goals for Liverpool. The problem the diminutive midfielder has is finding consistency in his creativity and being too predictable. After scoring a number of beautiful goals cutting in from the right, it became obvious that he would attempt such an effort numerous times each game. Klopp’s team instantly looks more creative and likely to create a chance on goal.

Jurgen Klopp’s desired system operates with speed and is extremely direct. Taking this into consideration, the straight swap of Coutinho for Adam Lallana is purely beneficial to the speed of the game. The interchange and interplay between the three of Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino is brilliant. It brings to mind some of the play that was seen during the 2013/2014 season when Suarez and Sterling still romped at Anfield.

When Brendan Rodgers was the man in charge at Liverpool during the 13/14 season, he was blessed with the two best forwards in the league at the time and the supposed best young in player in the world in Raheem Sterling too. His decision to use these players in an interchangeable front three meant that they roamed across opposition back lines wreaking havoc. Defenders genuinely hated playing against Liverpool because of what they knew ‘SAS’ were capable of.

The attacking options that Liverpool have currently are comparable to what was on offer in 2013 – not like for like but in the similar damage they can inflict. Liverpool also now have Divock Origi as an option off the bench which was never the case in the near miss with the Premier League trophy. Depth in options still isn’t really something that Liverpool can boast to a great extent, but if Danny Ings were fit Liverpool would have four fit strikers and five if you count Firmino, which; considering his recent output, you’d be silly not to.

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Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson believes Daniel Sturridge brings the “fear factor” back for the side and leaves defenders running scared with his skill and guile. The English forward made his first start since September and his headed goal after fifteen minutes combined with Firmino’s creativity inspired a 6-0 plundering at Villa Park.

“Studge makes a huge difference,” Henderson said. “You can see in the games that he has played how much he has been missed. He has been brilliant since he has come back (into) training and is looking really sharp. Hopefully he can continue to stay fit and cause problems when he plays. Everyone knows how good he is but because he has been out for a while, you do forget the quality he has got and how good he actually is. There are lads in training who maybe haven’t seen that much of him and they have been very impressed. Then you look at him in the games with his movement. His sharpness is top drawer. He is a massive bonus for us. He definitely gives us that fear factor back. Any central defender playing against him will be wary. They know how quick he is, how sharp he is with the ball. He can cause anyone problems, and I’m sure any center half in the world would be worried about coming up against him.”

As Luis Suarez was the main man for Liverpool in 2013, Daniel Sturridge is that player now. He was part of the attack that was so clinically effective three years ago. Philippe Coutinho was also part of that team although he was utilized as a deeper central midfielder arguably one of his most effective positions as it allows him to run from deep and use his incredible passing and vision to pick out the forwards in front of him.

Supporters of England’s most successful side have grown tired of hearing the words transition re-building but the fact of the matter is that this season has been exactly that. This means that the football on show has been inconsistent and frustrating. One look at Liverpool’s attackers and the message is clear: Liverpool will soon be a force to be reckoned with.

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