...he's no where near as good a striker nor talented footballer. Unfortunately, when someone as controversial as Joey Barton makes such revelations, they are immediately dismissed and then buried under a slew of ad hominem recoil. It also doesn't help that he is terrible at proving his points. Applauding goals that could have easily been scored by most any striker with the kind of service Welbeck received last night proves nothing, especially that he is a good 'team' player.
The two biggest differences between Sturridge and Welbeck is that the former is a brilliant scorer/goal-creator while the latter is a more complete footballer, though not close to a brilliant level. The former Man U forward is merely average on attack, he will never be spectacular, not even at Arsenal were he'll be spoon-fed goal opportunities. He is one of the better defensive forwards, stifles counters before they can come to fruition and gets back for support. Last season he posted a defensive possession efficiency of 0.636, much better than an attack-first forward like Sturridge, who had a 0.541 dpe.
Welbeck is a better overall passer as well, posting an 87.4% completion rate last season compared to Sturridge who managed a 79.3%. When it comes to assists and chances created, Welbeck pales in comparison. Sturridge had 7 assists and 29 chances created compared to Welbeck who had 1 and 13 respectively. The Liverpool forward did play 800 more minutes, 55.2% more than his United counterpart, but last time I checked, that doesn't equate 7 to 1.
Sturridge creates and scores goals at a world-class rate, while Welbeck does not. Sturridge scored 0.83 goals and created 1.11 per 90 minutes last season, Welbeck averaged 0.55 and 0.62, not even close. It sort of makes me scratch my head that Arsenal bought him, but I guess they were desperate. They, like every other unbiased, somewhat intelligent manager would take Sturridge over Welbeck in a second. No, he's not a better team player, but I'll take his goal created a match since it's much more likely to help the team win opposed to a tackle or clearance in midfield.
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