His finish for Chelsea's only goal in Amsterdam was the highlight of the team performance and his manager complimented young players' efforts against experienced opponents, but Daniel Sturridge remained troubled by the friendly game defeat.
The 20-year-old didn't hesitate when the ball came his way after Josh McEachran was tackled, lashing it past World Cup finalist Maarten Stekelenburg from outside the area for his first goal of the pre-season program.
It was a first-half equalizer but two minutes later Ajax scored again and then last season's Dutch runners-up made it 3-1 in the final moments of the game at the Amsterdam ArenA.
'I was upset not to score in the last game [at Crystal Palace] and in this game it was good to score but I am devastated the team didn't get to win because whatever I am playing in I want to win,' insisted Sturridge following the game.
'I am upset that we lost even if it is a friendly. I am gutted but the next game is coming soon so hopefully we can go out there and play better next time.'
Despite his unhappiness with the display, Sturridge didn't lose focus on the principal reason for the fixture, especially as he was one of three Chelsea players to last the full match.
'The only positive is that we have come away with more fitness. It was a very hard game and we all worked hard out there. Everyone coming off that pitch will feel a lot fitter from playing such a game.
'Of course it felt a lot more of a test than the previous game. You could see the difference out there in the way Ajax passed the ball and the movement they had out there.
'I think they had played five more games than us, this was only our second game, so they were a lot fitter, but we tried to play as we can. Obviously it would have been a lot better if we could have won the game.
'I played three different roles,' he explained.
'I played up front with Franco [Di Santo] first half and then I played on the right second half and then I went to centre-forward and I was up front on my own towards the end.
'You have to do these things to have some versatility in your game and to be a better player, and to be on the pitch for 90 minutes is what I enjoy doing.'
The 20-year-old didn't hesitate when the ball came his way after Josh McEachran was tackled, lashing it past World Cup finalist Maarten Stekelenburg from outside the area for his first goal of the pre-season program.
It was a first-half equalizer but two minutes later Ajax scored again and then last season's Dutch runners-up made it 3-1 in the final moments of the game at the Amsterdam ArenA.
'I was upset not to score in the last game [at Crystal Palace] and in this game it was good to score but I am devastated the team didn't get to win because whatever I am playing in I want to win,' insisted Sturridge following the game.
'I am upset that we lost even if it is a friendly. I am gutted but the next game is coming soon so hopefully we can go out there and play better next time.'
Despite his unhappiness with the display, Sturridge didn't lose focus on the principal reason for the fixture, especially as he was one of three Chelsea players to last the full match.
'The only positive is that we have come away with more fitness. It was a very hard game and we all worked hard out there. Everyone coming off that pitch will feel a lot fitter from playing such a game.
'Of course it felt a lot more of a test than the previous game. You could see the difference out there in the way Ajax passed the ball and the movement they had out there.
'I think they had played five more games than us, this was only our second game, so they were a lot fitter, but we tried to play as we can. Obviously it would have been a lot better if we could have won the game.
'I played three different roles,' he explained.
'I played up front with Franco [Di Santo] first half and then I played on the right second half and then I went to centre-forward and I was up front on my own towards the end.
'You have to do these things to have some versatility in your game and to be a better player, and to be on the pitch for 90 minutes is what I enjoy doing.'
No comments:
Post a Comment