It seems just a fleeting juncture since Daniel Sturridge was an unrivalled goal machine; his deadly partnership with Luis Suarez almost securing Liverpool their first ever Premier League title in 2014.
Since then, the 26-year-old has been ravaged by injuries on an almost unimaginable scale. In just over three years, Sturridge has amassed 19 injures at Liverpool, more than any other Premier League player in the same time period.
Quite incredibly, the four injuries that the former Chelsea man has accumulated this season, have all been completely unrelated:
October 16th 2015 – Knee Injury
November 26th 2015 – Ankle Injury
December 6th 2015 – Hamstring Injury
May 18th 2016 – Calf Injury
This mind-boggling sequence of misfortune has undoubtedly derailed Sturridge’s progress, but perhaps most worryingly of all, has planted seeds of doubt in the minds of both club manager Jurgen Klopp and England manager Roy Hodgson as to the player’s future.
Thankfully for Sturridge, the latter was willing to look past the catalogue of strains, tweaks and pulls and grant him a place in his 23-man-squad for the European Championship.
Yet, with Wayne Rooney an immovable object in any Hodgson starting XI, Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy’s spectacular goal scoring records and Marcus Rashford seemingly finding the net whenever he fancies, where does Sturridge belong in the future of the International set up?
There is no doubt that when 100% fit and on-form, Sturridge is one of the best players in the Premier League and despite his overwhelming injury troubles, the Birmingham-born striker has scored 43 goals in just 69 league games for Liverpool, a remarkable return.
However, his England record is less than impressive, especially in competitive games – where he has only netted three times. And since his last goal for England, against Italy at the 2014 World Cup, Sturridge has only featured in four international ties.
With all the furore over Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson harbouring injuries heading into the tournament, no one has mentioned that Sturridge has played under half a dozen England games in two years.
Sturridge must be fit enough to at least have an impact in France this summer. The importance of that cannot go unnoticed. The 26-year-old simply cannot afford to fall further down England’s pecking order, which may well transpire should Kane, Vardy or Rashford impress in the competition. He must convince the watching England fans and Hodgson that he still has the world class talent that he so wonderfully demonstrated in that famous 2013/14 Liverpool season.
Fail to impact England’s tournament in any way and the unfortunate Sturridge could well end up facing significant spells out of the international set-up, just as he enters the prime years of his career.
While Gary Lewin and the England medical staff will undoubtedly be working double time to ensure Daniel Sturridge is ready, it is up to the man himself to prove his worth at international level, something that may prove harder than he, or anyone else thinks.
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