Daniel Sturridge is one of those players who brings out extreme emotions in the minds of football fans. It is either delight at watching one of the most effortless and clinical finishers plundering goal after or goal or it could lead to hair-pulling frustration at his inability to stay fit for any period of time.
Over the years, fans have witnessed a start-stop-start run which is filled with periods where he scores before going out due to some injury or another and coming back to pick up from where he left off. There has never been any shortage of goals for the striker when fit, which in itself is quite an achievement.
Steven Gerrard in his autobiography says how impressive Sturridge is when fit while at the same time acknowledging that he is the type of player who needs an arm around him for motivation and is certainly not the kind who is desperate to return to the fold.
While he can, and at some point did, blame Manchester City and Chelsea for not giving opportunities during his early career, what has since transpired has been all his doing. The highs fall short of the lows at Liverpool where he has all but had one good season and has more or less been a resident at the trainer’s room.
But at 26, he should know the difference between normal pain and injury pain and clench his teeth and get himself going because his shelf life is fast slipping away.
With the fact that he is one of the highest paid stars at Anfield out in the open, it is only a matter of time before Jurgen Klopp gets tired of the prima donna act.
The time has finally come for Sturridge to show his undoubted talent and prove his multitudes of fans right by reaching the standards that are expected of him. The next two years will prove whether Sturridge goes down in history as one of the most lethal strikers in the Premier League era or as one of the biggest who could never reach the heights expected of him.
While you can find quite a few of them across England like Joe Cole, what keeps Sturridge apart is he could have played more but chose not to.
