'Brendan Rodgers believed in me, Chelsea didn’t' - Daniel Sturridge

Brendan Rodgers and Daniel Sturridge of Liverpool

Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge is delighted with his form for the club and has praised manager Brendan Rodgers for the role he played in his upturn in fortunes.

The Manchester City youth product’s career had stalled at Chelsea, but Rodgers snapped up the 24-year-old when no one else was interested and transformed the then right-forward into a striker.

“I knew he rated me,” Sturridge told reporters. He knows how I work and what I need. I needed to be believed in, to play as a centre-forward at a club. I didn’t get that at Chelsea, and Brendan gave me the opportunity to do that here.

“We work well together, and it’s great to be part of his philosophy. He gets the most out of his players and makes us want to win for him.

“I’m just playing in the position that I enjoy. When I went to Bolton, I was able to show what I can do because I was playing as a centre-forward.

“At Chelsea, I never got the chance to do that, but I’ve got that opportunity at Liverpool. My self-belief and the hard work I put in on the training field helped me become the player I am now.

“If you ask Wayne Rooney or Danny Welbeck, they would say the same. None of us see ourselves as wingers or midfielders. We do a job for the team out there, of course, but it changes your game when you play out-of-position. Sometimes it hinders your performance.

“The biggest difference is I’m back to my natural thoughts and I’ve got no clouded vision when I’m on the field. That’s probably the main change.”

Furthermore, in an interview with the Metro, Daniel Sturridge calls his strike-partnership with Luis Suarez as “almost telepathic.”

Sturridge has been in lethal form for Liverpool, only failing to score once in nine games this season with a 27.6 per cent conversion rate.

Daniel Sturridge Stats

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