Daniel Sturridge Shows Why He Should Be the Main Man for Liverpool and England

Roy Hodgson's double substitution at half-time against Wales on Thursday paid dividends, with Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge scoring the goals that saw England come from 1-0 behind to win 2-1 in Lens, France.

It was yet another dramatic ending at the European Championships, with Sturridge's goal arriving in the 92nd minute.

The Liverpool forward started and finished the move that gave the Three Lions an important three points and almost secured their qualification to the knockout stages.

Sturridge's second-half cameo was epitomised by his positivity in forcing the goal: playing the ball in to Vardy and receiving it back, via Dele Alli, outmuscling Chris Gunter and finishing past Wayne Hennessey at his near post.

Throughout his 45 minutes on the pitch, the 26-year-old looked like he was on a mission to prove he should be the main man up front for England. He was lively, he was positive and he seemingly made those around him take a more attacking and quicker approach to their play, too.

Perhaps the former Chelsea striker is, quietly, frustrated at being pushed down the England manager's striking pecking order.

Sturridge vs. Hodgson

Whereas Sturridge is now competing in a squad consisting of Vardy, Harry Kane—Hodgson's first-choice striker so far at this tournament—and youngster Marcus Rashford, that wasn't the case two years ago at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. 

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There, Sturridge started all three of England's games, playing all but 10 minutes of action. He scored the equaliser against Italy in the opening game, but England went on to lose that and their next game against Uruguay, before drawing 0-0 with Costa Rica in their final game.

England finished bottom of their group and didn't win a game, their worst-ever World Cup showing, yet somehow the Football Association saw fit not to replace the manager.

Since then, it's been an injury-hit two years for Sturridge, with several of those injuries picked up while on international duty. That's not ideal, given Hodgson's refusal to apologise when admitting he had played the Liverpool man against Germany in a pre-World Cup friendly in order to "test his resolve a little bit."

Sturridge's first major injury after the World Cup arrived in September 2014, with then-Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers critical of England's handling of the player.

"It was an injury which could have been prevented," Rodgers told TalkSport (via This Is Anfield), and he went on to explain how England's recovery strategy needs changing.

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Three months later, Sturridge was injured again while with England, with reports saying the player had told England staff he needed an extra day to recover but was forced to train anyway, per Chris Bascombe of the Telegraph.

He was then forced to withdraw from the squad in March 2015, not returning to full fitness for club or country until earlier this year.

Since the 2014 World Cup, Sturridge has started just twice for England—a friendly against Norway in September 2014 and a friendly against the Netherlands in March this year.

Sturridge's place in the squad for this tournament was in doubt last month when—after going four months without an injury, his longest spell since the 2014 World Cup—Sturridge was injured soon after linking up with Hodgson's squad, per This Is Anfield. 

Sturridge in 2016

Despite missing large spells of last season with injury, Sturridge finished as Liverpool's top goalscorer, with 13 goals in all competitions from 25 appearances (just 19 starts). That's a strike rate of less than one in two.

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The Birmingham-born striker now has 53 goals in 92 appearances for the Anfield club. That's a prolific strike rate.

He reached his half-century for Liverpool quicker than legendary players such as Robbie Fowler, Kenny Dalglish, Luis Suarez and Michael Owen. His goalscoring record is phenomenal, yet underrated.

In February 2015, Sky Sports crunched the numbers and found Sturridge to have a Premier League strike rate better than Sergio Aguero, Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney.

Plagued by injuries since then, he returned to full fitness in March this year and scored in five of Liverpool's six games, adding an assist in the other.

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He capped his season with a stunning goal for the Reds in the UEFA Europa League final. He is a man in form arriving into these Championships; a big-game player with a big-game mentality.

Main Man

Of course, Sturridge's injuries—of which he has had 19 since joining Liverpool in January 2013—are likely the reason his incredible goalscoring record is so overlooked by media and supporters alike. Perhaps they feel he cannot be relied upon.

But when fit, he is England and Liverpool's best goalscorer, of that there is no doubt.

So when he is fit, as he is now, he should be the main man. He should be starting for England in a major tournament, the fulcrum of their attack. Use him while you can.

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"Sturridge’s movement can be spellbindingly good when he is on his game, a test of not just the opposition but also his team-mates’ ability to follow his tail feathers," wrote the Guardian's Barney Ronay in reaction to Sturridge's vital second-half contribution against Wales.

"Sturridge is England’s most gifted frontman, and he proved it at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis after being belatedly introduced at half-time," wrote the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce.

A player with the aforementioned goalscoring record should not have to prove his quality for a regular starting place, but Sturridge found himself warming the bench for the opening 135 minutes of England's Euro 2016 campaign.

Hodgson will be lauded for his positive half-time changes, which overlooks his failings with original selections, but perhaps now even he will be forced to acknowledge Sturridge's quality and use him as England's first-choice striker for the rest of this tournament.

A player of Sturridge's quality and record should be the main man for club and country.