Daniel Sturridge is 26 years old yet has made only a handful over 150 professional appearances. In his favour, he has scored more than 60 goals in those matches, which is why he is still considered an exciting talent and an exceptional finisher, though as he prepares to miss another significant part of the season with his latest injury the downside is obvious. The hamstring damage Sturridge reported after the Newcastle game is the third separate injury that has kept him out since Jürgen Klopp arrived at Liverpool, and the German has been in England only a couple of months.
As the striker has barely played at all for the past couple of seasons there is now serious doubt over whether he will ever turn out to be the player everyone thought he could be. Sorry, no need to use the past tense there. The player everyone still thinks he might become. 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.
Doubtless Sturridge is familiar with the terrace jibes that have begun to surface in the last couple of years over his alleged fondness for the treatment room. According to some of his Anfield critics Sturridge has been known to signal for medical attention for a twisted sock. He seems to be made out of crisps, others argue, or balsa wood. Even Klopp did not help much when trying to be sympathetic a week or so ago, in saying Sturridge needed to differentiate between pain and serious pain. Apart from sounding like a character in an EL James novel, the Liverpool manager invited everyone to assume that Sturridge’s problems were mostly mental ones, challenges that could be overcome with a sturdier mindset and a greater willingness to tough it out for the team.
This, in slightly more diplomatic language, is exactly what the fans have been saying. There might even be something in it. Sturridge used to marvel at the physical durability of Luis Suárez after all, during the season when the pair caused so much mayhem under Brendan Rodgers. Suárez hardly ever missed a game, despite being kicked and pummelled by defenders most weeks, and Sturridge used to call him Iron Man in admiration. He clearly could not see himself soaking up the same punishment every week and continuing to come back for more, and that seems to be the direction in which his career has now turned.
Spanish prints are now referring to the Unstoppable Suárez, in celebration of the 12 goals in eight consecutive matches that have made him the club’s leading scorer, yet while Sturridge was almost as prolific as his strike partner in the 2013-14 season he has been anything but unstoppable since. Stopped all the time would be more like it.
The only thing that has been known to stop Suárez is suspension, and there have been a few of those, but when available he remains a phenomenon, scoring at a better rate than a goal every other game for Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona and Uruguay.
Perhaps Sturridge does not need or deserve that comparison. Few players, even robust, fully fit ones, could match Suárez for goalscoring or zest for the game. But to take a slightly more mundane example from present-day Liverpool, James Milner had passed the 150 appearance mark long before he even left Newcastle seven years ago. He has played with distinction for Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool since then, and though only three years older than Sturridge has racked up 400 career games. At this rate Sturridge is not going to get anywhere near that sort of total, and as everyone on Merseyside knows thanks to the Raheem Sterling pay negotiations last season, he is one of Anfield’s highest earners.
It is possible that that knowledge is what makes some supporters so reluctant to give him the benefit of the doubt. Before Sturridge was made of crisps he was made of money. That is a double crime in modern football, or perhaps more accurately, a double bind. Supporters are not too bothered about the obscene amounts going into players’ pockets as long as they are seen to be worth it, capable of proving their quality on the pitch. Stop doing that for any reason, let alone develop a reputation for being injury-prone or unwilling to sacrifice everything for the team, and the balance none too subtly changes. The only thing worse than someone swinging the lead would be someone handsomely paid to swing the lead.
Does Sturridge deserve the opprobrium he is receiving, or does he deserve a bit of sympathy? The thing about a hamstring strain is that it is a common football injury that in most cases clears up in a matter of weeks. It is not a mystery hip problem that no one in this country fully understands and requires treatment in America; it is not even the sort of swollen knee that takes longer than anticipated to return to normal.
While Sturridge has had his fair share of injuries, this one seems to be routine. So let’s give him the benefit of the doubt, the compliments of the season, and wish him a speedy recovery.
Let’s hope he is back playing by Christmas. Most of all, let’s hope for some New Year resolution. Because so far, in his frustrated and frustrating career, only one season stands out as exceptional.
If Sturridge can just get back in time, this season at Anfield is shaping up to be another.
