From the very start of his life, Daniel Sturridge has always been surrounded by football. His dad (Mike) and uncle (Simon) both played for Birmingham City, and uncle Dean spent a decade with Derby County.
There was only one path young Daniel was likely to follow, then, but it nonetheless required dedication and a mantra from Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers. “It says anything takes 10,000 hours of practice, and it’s like that in every aspect,” Sturridge tells FourFourTwo. “You need 10,000 hours on the right foot, the same on the left foot, on stepovers – on everything.”
Practice paid off as he broke through at Manchester City, before joining Chelsea and Liverpool, winning the Champions League with both. While he featured in neither final, it was Sturridge who scored the first goal of the Reds’ run to European glory in 2018-19, and also Sturridge who scored the opening goal of Gareth Southgate’s reign as England boss. He had previously netted at two major tournaments and at the Olympics.
Injuries interrupted his progress after he took Liverpool to the brink of the Premier League title alongside Luis Suarez in 2013-14. Today, though, 34-year-old Sturridge is enjoying life as a pundit on Sky and, sitting in a hotel near Stamford Bridge, is ready to discuss his life in football – starting with a special day in his youth…
Can you share one of your earliest footballing memories?
Tom Palmer, Southend
The first moment I can truly remember is when I won a football tournament with my school team and we got to play a five-a-side game against Aston Villa’s first team. It was us versus guys like Gareth Barry, Darius Vassell and David James. Imagine that! It was just a fun game, just messing around, but I was like, ‘Wow, I’m playing against lads I’ve been watching in the ground’. That moment really fuelled my dream to make it as a footballer. Later, when I was team-mates with Darius Vassell at Manchester City, I showed him the photograph we took that day. We were sitting in the dressing room and I said, “Remember this?” He said, “Was that you?!” It was crazy. That memory lives with me forever.
Who were your inspirations?
Ellen Khan, Solihull
I liked Nicolas Anelka, and because of him, I liked Arsenal – him and Dennis Bergkamp, then Thierry Henry. I liked Gabriel Batistuta and Alessandro Del Piero, as Italian football on Channel 4 was big then, and later, when Spanish football became really popular, I liked
