Daniel Sturridge scored England's first goal of the 2014 World Cup and their most important, most dramatic of Euro 2016 so far. And in between those two goals, he did not score for his country at all.
It sums up the stop-start nature of his footballing life. He turns 27 in September and yet has just 19 caps and only six goals for England. He has been injured for more than 600 days in a Liverpool career that began as recently as 2013.
He delivers staccato performances, springing to life for moments. It is a reason why Sturridge represents an awkward fit for a Jurgen Klopp team. The constant endeavour required to implement the German’s pressing game does not come naturally to him.
Sturridge is the virtuoso finisher who has been confined to a bit-part role at times. He began three of Liverpool’s pivotal Europa League games on the bench, but went on to start, and score in, the semi-final second leg and the final, quite brilliantly against Sevilla.
He did not begin either of England’s first two Euro 2016 games. Now the indications are that his catalytic cameo against Wales, where he crossed for Jamie Vardy’s equaliser and scored the injury-time decider, will earn him a start against Slovakia on Monday.
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“He’s a special player, there’s no doubt about that,” said England manager Roy Hodgson after Sturridge’s injury-time winner against Wales. Not special enough to start, though that also reflected on the shift in England’s striking fortunes.
It has been a while since Hodgson or any of his predecessors was able to call upon the two top scorers in the Premier League. Harry Kane and Vardy ensured that, while it was an exaggeration to brand Sturridge England’s forgotten man, he was certainly overlooked.
He was doubted, too, partly because a calf problem kept him out of the friendly win against Australia. As Hodgson said: “There were questions if he was the right player to be in the 23.”
Some had even suggested Sturridge should be one of those to miss the cut when England’s 26-man preliminary squad had to be reduced. Hodgson did not make the error of omitting him. Sturridge was chosen.
But the questions surrounded fitness and attitude alike. When Marcus Rashford scored his debut goal against Australia and others celebrated, the cameras panned to a seemingly nonplussed Sturridge fiddling with his phone on the bench. He was not deemed a team player by some, though he clarified he was receiving texts about a charity event and insisted there was “no disrespect” intended.
Yet Sturridge can feel aloof, a man apart. He has the selfishness strikers can require; perhaps it is why he has rarely teamed up instinctively with others. Even when they combined well, theirs have been partnerships of individuals.
“There was always a little bit of needling rivalry between Sturridge and [Luis] Suarez,” wrote Steven Gerrard in his 2015 autobiography. They competed productively rather than combining altruistically.
Unlike some of his Anfield colleagues, Sturridge actually liked Mario Balotelli yet he has rarely dovetailed symbiotically with fellow forwards for Chelsea, Liverpool or England. Injuries have been a factor, tactical choices and one-striker systems others.
Now the chances are he will be paired with Hodgson’s other rescuer against Wales, just as England’s 4-3-3 should be abandoned to incorporate two strikers and a diamond midfield.
Sturridge and Vardy provided an injection of sharpness into a blunt forward line on Thursday. There were signs that Harry Kane, after running 251 miles in this season’s Premier League and playing 118 games in the last two years, was running out of steam.
But running is Vardy’s forte, shooting Sturridge’s. Of the five strikers at Hodgson’s disposal, Kane may be the best all-round centre-forward. Over the course of his career, Rooney is the record-breaker. Rashford could rank as the most exciting. But Vardy is the quickest and Sturridge the best finisher.
They look Hodgson’s most potent formula now.
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