TIME FOR STURRIDGE TO DELIVER
ENGLAND’S most talented centre forward will be in Roy Hodgson’s starting line-up in Saint-Etienne today and that should really be a cause for great comfort for them. But with Daniel Sturridge things are never that straightforward.
Sturridge is the player that nobody really feels they know and as such today’s Group B meeting against Slovakia may go some way to tipping the argument regarding his merits one way or the other.
The Liverpool centre forward is in today’s team partly because of others’ failings, most notably Tottenham’s Harry Kane. He is also playing because of the way he created and scored the winning goal against Wales last Thursday. That passage of play summed up perfectly the attributes of a footballer of rare gifts.
What we cannot be sure we will get, however, is a 90-minute performance of note from the 26–year-old. Nobody has been sure of that for a while. Not Hodgson, not Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and not his predecessor at Anfield Brendan Rodgers. Maybe not even Sturridge himself.
Since he finally returned from injury in the latter half of last season, Sturridge has presented flashes of his capabilities and some of them have been quite memorable. His goal in the Europa League final against Sevilla in Basel was a beauty and went some way to edging him in to Hodgson’s final 23-man squad.
There were also important contributions in games against Villarreal and Manchester United in the same competition and Sturridge actually has a current record of having scored in seven of the last 11 games he has played for club and country.
The problem is that across the period of a whole game he can hover on the periphery. In flight, Sturridge is a terrific sight; quick and nimble and two-footed; able to go by an opponent courtesy of a trick or a burst of pace.
Conversely, he can look lethargic and short on inspiration. Games can pass him by and that is why, to some degree, Hodgson’s decision to select him tonight is a risk.
One of Klopp’s biggest decisions of last season was not to start Sturridge in an away game at Borussia Dortmund, hinting that he couldn’t he sure he would get the requisite work from his player.
Another view is that Sturridge has suffered so much with injury in recent times that he has still not reached the stage where he completely trusts his body again.
If so, he is not the first player that has happened to and, having had to listen to suggestions that he does not have the mental durability to prosper at the top level, Sturridge has countered.
Speaking to the Mirror before the tournament, he said: ‘I think the problem is when there’s expectation, that’s when the problems start.
‘I don’t play for a long time and people still expect me to be Daniel Sturridge straight away.
‘You set a bar, a level and if you don’t reach that bar straight away people start to question, “what’s going on here?”
‘Players go through ups and downs in their careers… it’s inevitable.
‘It’s about bouncing back from adversities and believing in yourself, and keeping believing in yourself.’
Some footballers can use slights and criticism to drive them on through their career, to help during big games. Hodgson’s No 2 with England, former Manchester United full back Gary Neville, was one such player.
This does not seem to be the case with Sturridge. It would appear that he needs to feel fully at peace to perform at his best.
A natural goalscorer, Sturridge, who started his career at Manchester City, can be an effective substitute. He can adapt to the rhythm of a game quickly. He doesn’t need time.
His challenge is to prove he is better than the role of a substitute. Those among the Liverpool support who criticise him would do well to remember the part he played in partnership with Luis Suarez the season Rodgers almost led the club to the Premier League title in 2014.
That was the best we have seen of him. He scored 21 league goals in 26 starts, a feat eclipsed only by his remarkable team-mate.
Since that time, Sturridge has not really progressed. Injuries — a problem that started on international duty more than 18 months ago — have seen to that.
Tonight in Saint-Etienne, he has opportunity not only to make up lost ground but also ensure that he remains central to England’s hopes.