Some pessimistic football fans like to say, ‘never get your hopes up and you will never be let down’. Unfortunately, it’s very hard to not become optimistic again when Daniel Sturridge exhibits time and time again, albeit briefly, what a quality player he is. When Sadio Mane popped up with a simple headed goal, Southampton looked to have struck decisively and early, revealing the shortcomings of Alberto Moreno and the Liverpool defense as a whole. Perhaps last season, that would have been that. Liverpool would have pressed but shown little cutting-edge, and the game would have been ground out at a crawling rate.
Step up Daniel Sturridge. The perennially injured striker loves a comeback, and soon enough he latched onto a dangerous long ball forward from Allen, though having appeared to drag the ball too far wide, a quick check and a low accurate strike later and it was all square. Emre Can then turned provider with a delicious angled ball, struck by the outside of his boot, which Sturridge then calmly waited for to bounce, before guiding it past an onrushing, and ultimately helpless Stekelenburg. In what felt like a handful of seconds Liverpool had turned around what could have been just ‘one of those games’, this was largely thanks to the guile and ability of one Daniel Sturridge.
“Now I know what everybody is talking about” – Jurgen Klopp on Sturridge’s performance against Southampton.
Apparently, however, all good things should fall apart. And, after coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute, Sturridge suffered another hamstring problem in a miserly defeat against Newcastle on Sunday. Cue the traditional media uproar. Indeed, the cyclical love and despair surrounding Sturridge has now ultimately made him a somewhat of a laughing stock, with varying levels of success in the levels of mockery. Case in point “If he was a horse they’d have put him down by now” or “Daniel Sturridge’s loan spell at Liverpool football club has been cut short and he is now returning to his parent club Liverpool Hospital”. Although many ultimately show great sympathy for Sturridge’s cause, it is hard to truly criticise those fans quick to bemoan the player’s fortunes due to the sheer repetitiveness of these occurrences.
This frustration was surely emphasized by Klopp’s misguided and uncompromising comments on the injury narrative,
“We have to accept the situation and the situation is that Danny was very often injured in the last few months, maybe years. What you need in this time is training and with Danny you have to learn to adapt to new intensity of training and you have to learn what is serious pain and what is only pain”.
And, these words gave legions of armchair physiotherapists the opportunity to state that enough is enough, Sturridge is not worth the hassle or the psychological torment. Incredibly, Sturridge has now missed 57 of Liverpool’s last 81 games, amassing 8 separate injuries in that time (it was perhaps a Christmas miracle that Liverpool’s fateful title-challenging season only saw Sturridge out for 2 months). And, despite exhibiting every bit of skill Liverpool’s attacking force have been missing, the question remains, what do we actually do with Daniel Sturridge?
Firstly, it must be taken into account that Daniel Sturridge’s injury is not as bad as first feared, a fact now stated by the media who days ago were quick to sensationalise yet another Sturridge injury story. Liverpool are now hopeful he will be fit in time for the Christmas fixtures, although it will see him miss matches against West Brom, Watford and Sion. Taking into account the fact these teams should be beaten by Liverpool regardless of Sturridge’s fitness, and that Klopp is expected to rest most of his key players for the match against Sion with Liverpool already progressing, Sturridge’s most recent injury has occurred at a fairly opportunistic time.
Nonetheless, with his injury cycle in mind is keeping Sturridge, currently earning in the region of £150,000 worthwhile? In January of 2013 Liverpool paid £12 million for Daniel Sturridge, but it is incredibly unlikely he would fetch higher or even equal to this amount with his current injury record. Sturridge currently has roughly 3 and a half years remaining on his contract, hardly a small amount of time. And, even if Liverpool could sell Sturridge, his wage demands would probably mean the club would have to subsidise part of his salary (despite him not playing for the club) in order to facilitate a move to a lower-status club. Liverpool would also be reluctant to sell him to a rival club in the unlikely event that Sturridge repeats his move from Chelsea and finds fitness elsewhere in the Premier League. Unfortunately, this leaves little manoeuvrability to do anything with Sturridge himself. Yet, this does ask greater questions of the club itself.
Those wishing to put two and two together could perhaps point to the departure of Liverpool’s once cult-hero, and club doctor Zaf Iqbal. Since Zaf’s departure injuries to Sturridge and in general have occurred more frequently. And yet, Henderson’s injury was caused by an undiagnosed condition, Sakho landed awkwardly on his knee, and ACL injuries abound are not caused by simple medical mistreatment. Regrettably, injuries have occurred not as a matter of neglect to be assessed, but rather simple bad luck.
For some time, Liverpool have only done one thing wrong with Sturridge, and that is to think of him as a key player when he simply cannot be relied or depended upon. Possible replacements Benteke and Origi have shown signs of promise at either end of the season, but Liverpool have not truly bought a like-for-like or at least as skilled a replacement. With age a fair excuse for Origi’s raw talent, it remains to be seen if Benteke can adapt to Liverpool’s new style of play, although I maintain that the Belgian was not bought just as a target man for the Reds. Regardless, Liverpool may have to look to the ever-encroaching transfer window to bolster the attacking ranks when you take into account Danny Ings’ ACL injury.
Hordes of fans have simply suggested that Daniel Sturridge is an unsalvageable player, ravaged by injuries it may be too late for him, and it is entirely possible that we have already got the best season we could out of him. Some have suggested an overhaul of our medical staff, or psychological help (many fans have stated only a human sacrifice will keep Sturridge fit but at Fanscorner we believe this should only be seen as a last resort). Unfortunately, the most logical and rather damning decision regarding Sturridge is to only consider him as a bit-part, a bonus when he is fit. As Paul Wilson of the Guardian states, “the great irony to Sturridge’s career is that in the early part of it he could not get enough games at Manchester City or Chelsea through no fault of his own. So he ended up at Liverpool wanting to be a more regular and valued part of a team, and now finds himself hardly getting any games through a succession of injuries”.
On Instagram Sturridge turned to his faith, “one day it will all come together and everything will make sense” – I’ll be back before you know it. With Liverpool being left only the slim prospect of a foreign club wanting to take the risk we did nearly three years ago, we must wait this frustrating, perplexing saga out. With faith in mind we need Sturridge back anyway we can. So make sure he’s at the top of your wish list to Father Christmas, and take a note from the Simpsons and “pray to Buddha, Jesus, Spongebob – there’s no time to be picky!”
It’s the hope that kills us Liverpool fans with Sturridge, but unfortunately hope is all we can do now.
Ben Butler
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