Good OP.
The Gerrard/Torres pairing were direct, and if we had the calibre of those two upfront then an emphatic YES would be my answer. As it is, we don't have the quality in a striker to get in channels and run behind the defence with the turbo boosters on supplied by a pin pointed Gerrard through ball.
The closest we have is Sturridge, ala Southampton, who has the movement, pace and finishing to rely upon but we all know he is about as reliable as a car made in France.
The other style of directness that a player like Benteke may tempt, would have to be a no from me. And this wouldn't even solve our fundamental problems IMO.
Similar to Arsenal, we've become pansies somewhat on the field who don't fancy the fight of earning the right to play. While the Leicester's and Watford's will scrap and ruffle the feathers of their opponents and use their quality thereafter, we've become accustomed to mincing around about shirking the dirty work.
We need a destroyer in midfield, Mascha, Sissoko, Gerrard or someone who can dish out a bit of the rough stuff and who can help put some meat on our bones.
I digress, even if we had Ings fit, never mind Sturridge I don't think this reasonable question would be asked because we'd have a couple of strikers who would keep big CB on their toes all game with their pace and movement. Origi, recently has looked to put his pace to better effect but because he is far from the finished article it looks as though he needs five good chances to put one away, most of the time.
You realise how good your strikers are when chances are few and far between but the Rush's, Fowlers, Owen's, Suarez's and Torres's could always be called upon to nip that fleeting opportunity into the onion bag.
I just think we're crying out for that striker, and Sturridge briefly gave us a glimpse of what it would be like if we had the quality up front to rely upon. All this sadly is compounded by the fact our AM and M collectively have a horrendous scoring record. Would lumping it up Benteke change this, maybe, maybe not but from the little I have seen from our long ball game suggests the likes of Coutinho and Firmino would have an easier time reading Brail than knowing where the ball is going to drop. Addded to the fact that to most defenders in this league, this is food and drink for them where as it's like lambs to the slaughter as far as our little lightweights are concerned.
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