“This is the time… when Dan has to become The Man.”
Jamie Carragher has bestowed some pretty high praise on his former Liverpool teammate Daniel Sturridge.
According to the Sky Sports pundit, only Sergio Aguero is a better striker in the Premier League, and not only is Sturridge England’s best striker, but he’s also potentially the best player available to Roy Hodgson.
“He is certainly the one player in Liverpool’s squad that the other teams in the Premier League would love to have,” Carragher writes in his Daily Mail column ahead of Liverpool’s League Cup final clash against Manchester City on Sunday.
“He has played 61 times in the Barclays Premier League for Liverpool. They have won 37 of those games and scored 139 goals, losing only nine times. But he has missed 58 games through injury and 20 of those were defeats.”
“The goal tally without him drops to 89. It shows his impact on those around him.”
“So Liverpool have spent almost £100million on strikers since Luis Suarez joined Barcelona but none is able to hold a candle to Daniel at his best. In fact, the only forward in the division who has an edge on him is Sergio Aguero, who will spear-head City’s attack at Wembley.”
Sturridge has recently returned to the Liverpool line-up, having been plagued by for the past 18 months, and Carragher admits any talk of Sturridge becoming a Liverpool great, or spearheading their attack, must be prefaced by a “but”, due to his patchy fitness record.
The former Liverpool warned Sturridge that time is running out for him to make an impact worthy of his talent.
“If he does not grab something in the next four years, if he does not stamp his class on a game that really matters, he could find himself in the future wondering why there were not more of the days every footballer wants. Sunday could be one of those days. This could be his moment.”
Carragher’s column reads like a pep talk for the striker ahead of Sunday’s Wembley final, and steers clear of any questions about Sturridge’s mindset when dealing with injuries.
Which contrasts directly with Steven Gerrard’s view on Sturridge’s attitude to injuries, as revealed in his autobiography.
