What Daniel Sturridge Must Do to Become a Liverpool Legend

Daniel Sturridge's phenomenal start to his Liverpool career, combined with his young age of 25 years old, puts him in a prime position to go on and become a club legend.

"Legend" is a word often thrown about recklessly, but in terms of football, we're talking the greats, the trophy-winners, the players who left a lasting legacy and their mark on the club.

Sturridge's 36 goals in his first 52 appearances for the Reds have set the England international well on his way to being written into Anfield folklore.

Ultimately, it will be up to Sturridge how he takes his Liverpool career forward, stays loyal to the club and handles himself professionally.

Here, we look at five ways Sturridge can build upon his success so far at Liverpool to have his name mentioned among the likes of Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard.

Ignore the England Hyperbole

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While there's no doubt Sturridge, a Birmingham lad born and bred, feels passionately about playing for England, the national team is often among a cloud of negativity and criticism.

Keeping his feet on the ground and creating distance between club and country will help Sturridge focus on both aspects of his footballing career. 

Continue His Goalscoring Prowess

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Upon playing his 50th game for Liverpool, Sturridge had amassed more goals than any previous Liverpool player in the same number of games with the club.

"

136 - @D_Sturridge has the 5th best mins-to-goals ratio (min 50 games) in Premier League history. Clinical.

— Opta Anfield (@OptaAnfield) August 25, 2014"

His instinctive poacher's goal against Southampton on the opening day of the season indicated that there's no reason why he can't build upon the 24 goals he scored in all competitions last season.  

Form Partnerships with Liverpool's New Players

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Last season, the media couldn't help but hail "SaS," as Luis Suarez and Sturridge stuck 52 goals past Premier League defenders.

"SaS" soon became "SaSaS" with the rise of Raheem Sterling's form—the Liverpool trio becoming the nucleus of the relentless, penetrating, attacking football the Reds perfected.

With the arrivals of attackers in Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, Sturridge must adapt his game to work cohesively with manager Brendan Rodgers' summer signings.

His relationship with Balotelli in particular will be fascinating to watch—both young enough and talented enough to potentially establish themselves as club legends in years to come.

Stay Injury Free

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One thing club legends have in common is the amount of games they played. At Liverpool, Dalglish played 515 games for the club while Gerrard has played 672 and counting.

Sturridge will want to stay injury free to rack up his appearances and chances to prove his worth at Liverpool.

His recent muscle injury during an England training session could see him forced out of action over the next few weeks. The former Chelsea forward will be hungry for game time once fit and available to return. 

Loyalty and Winning Trophies

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Alongside the sheer amount of games club legends play, their loyalty to a club doesn't go amiss.

Gerrard is a one-club player while Dalglish made Liverpool his second and last club after eight years in his homeland at Celtic.

Sturridge is in a brilliant place to continue his football development under Rodgers, who put his faith in the Englishman by signing him from Chelsea in 2013.

Now, Sturridge and Liverpool must move on to win trophies, compete for the league title and decorate his stature as a Reds player with medals.