He may be struggling to start regularly for Liverpool at the moment but it seems that Daniel Sturridge is the main man for England.
Gareth Southgate has picked Sturridge for both World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia ahead of the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy.
While Sturridge may have scored the opener against Malta in a 2-0 victory at the weekend, he struggled against Slovenia as the Three Lions could only draw 0-0.
Captain Wayne Rooney was sitting alongside Rashford and Vardy on the England bench and they had to sit and watch with the rest of us as Sturridge and co. failed to really test Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak in the Slovenia goal throughout the 90 minutes.
While everyone knows Sturridge, who has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal last summer, has the pace and goalscoring ability to be a quality player, he often frustrates fan and teammates with his greediness.
Pundits may tell us that all of the top strikers were greedy but on too many occasions Sturridge is found guilty of shooting when his teammates are in much better positions. It happened far too often against Slovenia and, while working as a pundit for ITV, Ryan Giggs thinks that is the one thing preventing him from being a “top, top player.”
“I played with Sturridge at the Olympics [in 2012 for Great Britain],” the former Manchester United winger told ITV Sport in his role as a pundit.
“He has everything. He’s got a good touch, good finisher, he’s quick, he can run the channels but to be a top, top player… decision-making.
“You have to make the right decisions. You have to make the right decisions more often than you make bad decisions. Today there were just too many bad decisions.”
Sturridge has started just two of Liverpool’s seven Premier League matches with Roberto Firmino being preferred up-front. There is certainly no doubting his goalscoring ability – his 55 goals in 99 Liverpool matches proves that – but Giggs is right about his decision-making.
Less shooting from ridiculous angles and more trying to bring his teammates into play will instantly make Sturridge a better player. Whether he will change his style of play at the age of 27 remains to be seen but Giggs obviously feels it’s the only thing that separates him from the top, top players.
However, Giggs may be hoping Sturridge doesn’t change his ways in time for next Monday’s Premier League clash between Liverpool and United at Anfield. With Adam Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum struggling with injury, Sturridge looks set to be given a starting role in the massive match on Merseyside.