Brendan Rodgers Right to Question Daniel Sturridge's Liverpool Priorities

When Daniel Sturridge leapt to head home an 88th minute equaliser for Liverpool against Everton to salvage a 3-3 draw on Saturday, Brendan Rodgers will have breathed a sigh of relief, but also a sigh of what might have been.

Rodgers admitted his frustrations after the match at being forced to leave his leading goal scorer out of the starting line-up.

He argued Sturridge’s absence could well have been avoided, had the 24-year-old, already suffering from a dead leg, not played for England in a friendly four days earlier.

Rodgers was quoted by Andy Hunter of The Guardian as saying:

"

It is very simple for me. 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.

If you don't do that, there is a consequence – you don't play. If you want to be a champion, if you want to win things, you have to be ready. For this game I just felt Daniel wasn't ready. 

"

Sturridge played just 11 minutes of football against Everton – his decision to play for his country forcing him out of the opening 79.

Rodgers is well within his right to feel aggrieved at the situation.

Had Sturridge been available from the start against Everton, the match could have unravelled a completely different story, and more importantly, three points for Liverpool.

After all, the former Chelsea striker has been nothing short of outstanding for Liverpool this season.

Nine Premier League goals, 11 chances created and a pass accuracy record of 80 percent, according to Squawka, proving his adaptation to Rodgers’ pragmatic, tactical evolution.

It is only fair to look at the argument from both sides though.

Sturridge wants to continue to impress Roy Hodgson enough to warrant his place in the England team at next year’s World Cup.

Understandably Sturridge may be feeling the pressure to consistently turn up with good performances for England, but choosing to risk injury and fitness issues just days before one of the biggest games of the season for your club is naïve and quite frankly, selfish.

Despite how some perceive him to be, Hodgson is not an idiot and a sparkling Merseyside derby performance from Sturridge wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by the former Liverpool manager either. 

There’s also a lot of merit in looking after yourself to excel for your club. Whether Liverpool are in a title race or the push for fourth is irrelevant – contributing to your club winning games is what makes you a great striker.

There was, interestingly, no criticism of Steven Gerrard from Rodgers, who also played in his country’s mid-week defeat to the Germans.

Gerrard played the full 90 minutes for the Reds, but looked fairly ropey throughout, especially in the opening half hour.

It is rare for the Liverpool and England captain to play two games in less than a week these days.

Playing a part in all three goals may have been his get out of jail card.

Earlier this month, Rodgers was quoted by ESPN as stressing the importance of the little chance you get to not drop points in the Premier League: “You don't get to play them [matches] again so you've got to claim the points.” 

The fall out between Rodgers and Sturridge in this contentious club/country debate could have been much worse, had Sturridge not come up with the game saving goods right at the death.

However, this also goes to prove Sturridge's value and with his contribution, a victory could have been sealed long before his 79th minute introduction to the game.

Rodgers may well feel the points dropped at Goodison Park could have been avoided if everyone at the club had prioritised it.