FORMER England and Newcastle striker Alan Shearer has criticised Daniel Sturridge’s effort and performance in Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat away to Swansea on Sunday.
Sturridge played the full match but failed to get on the scoresheet, his one clear chance in the first half drifting wide.
Shearer, in his position as a pundit on the BBC’s Match of the Day 2 programme, was asked by presenter Mark Chapman whether he felt the 26-year-old had simply had an ‘off day’.
“I think that’s polite to be honest,” Shearer said. “(Manager Jurgen) Klopp left him out midweek (in the 1-0 away defeat by Villarreal in the Europa League semi-final first leg) and was probably looking for a reaction today.
“He probably didn’t get the right … the one he wanted. His touch was poor, his distribution was poor.”
Shearer, who still holds the record for scoring the most goals in Premier League history with 260, warned Sturridge that he needs to give Klopp a reason to select him more often.
The Liverpool forward recently said he was ready to ‘work’ for the Anfield club but Shearer believes that his chance may have come and gone already.
He said: “Klopp will be looking and judging these players and these young players that are coming in, as well as Sturridge, because he also wants to win the Europa League.
“He wants to finish as high as he can, but he also wants to plan for next season. He’s looking for reactions from those players and he didn’t get the reactions he wanted today.”
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