“There’s nothing new under the sun”, said King Solomon in Proverbs, “All that’s out there is out there.” The subject that we are about to prod, has been examined in the past, for and behest of good players, better players, and no less, the best players to grace the game. Articles on football usually, inevitably need an angle, because a narrative always makes for a pretty bow to tie it all up. But this isn’t one of those. This isn’t about drawing hyperbole with the greats in Luis Ronaldo or Van Basten, or Redondo, or tugging the heartstrings with the what-could-have-beens of Fernando Torres or Robbie Fowler. This article is about the subjectivity of injuries, fan opinion and, with utmost sincerity, about Daniel Sturridge.
Juan Carlos Valeron, Kieron Dyer, Savisevic, Owen Hargreaves, Harry Kewell, Johnathan Woodgate, Abou Diaby, Dean Ashton, Fabio Aurelio, Holger Badstuber, Tomas Rosicky, Sebastian Deisler, Vicente, Martin Laursen, Christian Veiri, and Alvaro Recoba. All names from past and present that’d would invoke lukewarm empathy or indifference from rival fans, and a sense of downright tragedy from fans of their own clubs – and that sets us up with the perfect starting point.