Can Three Lions’ enigma Daniel Sturridge keep mind & body together to take Euros by storm?
Liverpool striker has suffered from fitness issues his whole career but it may still be a case of mind over matter
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IT REMAINS one of the great talking points of England’s Euro assault.
Right up there with the debate over Wayne Rooney’s best role, how Raheem Sterling kept getting picked — and which team will eventually KO the Three Lions on penalties.
It is of course the subject of Daniel Sturridge’s fitness . . . and whether it is merely a question of mind over matter.
Even before Roy Hodgson announced his squad for France, there was a split over whether he should be picked after another niggle — this time in his calf.
Yet now Sturridge is making headlines not for being doubtful, but deadly.
He kept England on the rails, and Hodgson’s head off the block, after coming on as sub to bag England’s late winner against Wales.
Now Sturridge, 26, is favourite to start Monday’s final Group B game against Slovakia ahead of Harry Kane as England chase top spot and a theoretically easier passage.
For many critics, though, his heroics in Lens have merely muddied the waters again because almost every high in his career seems to be followed by a low.
Can we really expect a man who has missed ALMOST HALF Liverpool’s games since joining them in 2013 to cope with two matches in four days?
Hip, thigh, ankle, hamstring, calf . . . you name it, Sturridge seems to have been sidelined by it.
But do not fall into the trap of thinking his absences are all down to attitude — a chip on his shoulder, a “me first, screw the rest” mindset.
Sturridge may act like he is brimming with belief in his talent, but he is a complex character. One who, for all the plaudits, still carries a lot of insecurities and self-doubt. That is why the striker has constantly been loath to put himself out there when not 100 per cent fit.
That is why he has insisted he is unfit when other more serious crocks would have had to be strapped down to stop them playing.
That is why, three games into his return from six months out, and six weeks after Jurgen Klopp arrived, he pulled out of his planned Kop comeback against Bordeaux hours before with a foot problem.
Sturridge wants to play only when he feels he is in peak condition. He does not want to let himself or his team-mates down.
While some players need a rocket and a roasting, Studge — as he is known to those around him — reacts best to an arm round the shoulder.
It certainly does not sit well to suggest, as Liverpool boss Klopp did: “You have to learn what is serious pain or only pain.”
Not when it sparks such frustration and impatience in fans. Not when it has the player himself then questioning whether he wants to stay where he feels unloved.
And while those doubts over his Kop future have calmed somewhat, the fallout means they still linger in the background.
For Sturridge has to be told how valued he is and craves the confirmation he is the man who can make a difference.
It is something his managers have grown to realise. Brendan Rodgers did after the row with England following a hip injury on international duty.
Liverpool blamed the Three Lions for making him go through a full session the day after the Norway game in September 2014, which then saw him sidelined for months. It was a bust-up which made Sturridge an unhappy centre of attention yet again before a tentative olive branch was offered from both sides.
Now, though, he is firing on all cylinders.
So when England and Liverpool team-mate Adam Lallana claims Sturridge is in better shape than ever, it is not said lightly.
After the heroics against Wales, Lallana insisted: “That’s the fittest I have seen him for a while, even including the back end of the season for Liverpool.
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“He just seems to be getting fitter and fitter and was looking extremely dangerous against Wales — and that’s great for us.
“Studge has so much talent and it’s a pleasure playing with him. He had a couple of sighters and sometimes you think we could be more patient and play the extra pass.
“But he doesn’t need too many chances before he gets his name on the scoresheet and he showed what a vital player he is for us.
“He’s always involved, he’s a big player who gets involved in big moments and that summed him up against Wales.
“When you have the quality of him and Jamie Vardy coming on at half-time, the opposition are just thinking, ‘Oh no’.”
Hodgson, who initially warned Sturridge he would have to prove his fitness in the run-up to the Euros squad announcement, is clearly delighted he kept the faith.
The Three Lions chief admitted: “He’s a special player, there’s no doubt about that. I’m just pleased for him because he had that injury and there was speculation.
“There were questions if he was right to be in the 23 — should he go? I’m delighted I showed confidence in him because he’s not let me down very often.”
Will he do so again though? It is enough to drive everyone Sturr crazy worrying about it.