Daniel Sturridge’s late equaliser gave Liverpool a share of the spoils in an enthralling Merseyside derby last weekend, yet this wasn’t enough to divert attention from a spiralling club versus country row.
Sturridge wasn’t deemed fit enough to start on Saturday after being away on international duty with England, and Brendan Rodgers was forced into the unenviable position of breaking up the hugely impressive ‘SAS’ partnership. The Premier League duo have been in remarkable form together, and the omission of Sturridge would have come as a huge relief to Roberto Martinez ahead of the match.
For some Sturridge’s commitment to play for England is refreshing, unlike so many of his compatriots that seem to view turning out for their country as a chore and side show to their club football, Sturridge revels in it. Yet for every person that has applauded Sturridge for putting fitness to one side and playing for England, there are just as many that say his club must come first and that his participation during the break was wholly irresponsible. For Sturridge this just seems to be a no win situation.
It would have been easy for Rodger’s to castigate the FA for their handling of the situation, but he suggested the ball was as much in Sturridge’s court as the associations. Speaking to the Telegraph he gave the following assessment of the situation:
“I am looking at him in training on Friday and he is not right. Whose responsibility is that? It is the association, the player,” Rodgers said.
“All I can do is look and assess who will give me absolutely everything when they go out on the field. We have a game against a massive rival away from home. I need everyone as close to 100 per cent as I possibly can. He is clearly not. A lot of players, especially the top ones, are never 100 per cent fit. Suárez will never have been 100 per cent in his time here. Different personalities, different types.”
“Daniel has been a match winner for us throughout his time here but I didn’t feel, because of that level of fitness, he was going to be that for us. I have seen it before. There is a trend. There are some games when he hasn’t played well and that has happened on the back of not training. With any player, you have to put yourself on the training field. If you do that, you will be in with a chance of playing.”
While Sturridge wasn’t a match winner as such, he was central to Liverpool’s snatching of a late point, and many will be thinking what the outcome may have been had the player played the full 90 minutes.
Some may question why Sturridge was played at all during the international break, why risk him in a friendly? Sturridge is as keen as anyone to make it to Brazil and whilst this will owe a lot to his league form, he knows that impressing Hodgson directly is also crucial. Club and international interests collide head on, and for someone like Sturridge he naturally just gets caught in the crossfire.
It is fortunate perhaps that Sturridge was able to have such a significant impact on Saturday, seeing Liverpool succumb to defeat due to his absence would have been immensely damaging for his relationship with the club regardless of his intentions.
The problem we have in England is that unlike over nations we have a particularly small pool of talent to choose from at the top level. There are only a handful of top strikers to pick from, hence why Glenn Hoddle saw fit to tout Fraizer Campbell as a potential international forward, it isn’t as absurd as it sounds. Rather than be able to rest and rotate, Hodgson is forced to include players like Sturridge on almost every occasion and after a while it becomes a burden.
We all know Sturridge has been struggling with persistent injury and clearly playing for England doesn’t help. But it is unavoidable; the player is passionate about his country as much as he is about his club.
Traits that in my opinion should be applauded, but with club and country locking horns it just seems like Sturridge will unfortunately bear much of the brunt.
Are Liverpool damned if they do and damned if they don’t?
Join the debate below
[cat_link cat=”liverpool” type=”grid”]
