'When a player misses nine out of ten difficult shots, everybody remembers that tenth one that went in. Similarly, when Sterling makes nine out of ten easy shots, people remember the tenth one that didn’t'
Sterling is a player that football fans love to hate, or simply fail to understand, so hear me out. Below is an article based on the statistics (not a completely useless tool, seeing as football clubs around the world consider them to be very important) behind Sterling's incredible 17/18 season for Man City
https://statsbomb.com/2018/07/raheem-sterling-is-good-at-scoring-goals/
Firstly, yes Sterling had a pretty poor world cup. Even though he was the only attacking player who progressed play for England, his lack of end product was clear. However, you can't really write him off as a player on the back of a poor tournament (or two), unless you want to dismiss Lewandowski, for example, as he's been anonymous this world cup and the last Euros. I don't see anybody doing that
A lot of people admit themselves that they don't really 'get' Sterling as a footballer. From 'he's only got pace', to 'he only does well cos of his City teammates' (why wouldn't Bernardo Silva start ahead of him if that was the case???), to 'he can't shoot'. The article above explains what exactly Sterling does, comaparing him to his teammate Sane who people admire despite worse output, and even explaining the reason for the general perception of Sterling
If read with an open mind, it could hopefully somewhat alter your opinion of Sterling, if the one you currently have is negative. He's no superstar, and has a lot of improvement to make, but the complete lack of respect and dismissal of his achievements is really quite illogical
Raheem Sterling is Good at Scoring Goals
posted on 17/7/18
I disagree with the second part of that post.
Several times sterling did run an get in behind and no one was there.
He passed several times to someone who was in a great position to score and they didn’t, he was always ready to receive the ball and never stopped trying.
posted on 17/7/18
The movement of the players around him was hardly dynamic we were as a team too slow in the build up and allowed teams to get back into defensive positions.
posted on 17/7/18
comment by LQ (U6305)
posted 19 minutes ago
I disagree with the second part of that post.
Several times sterling did run an get in behind and no one was there.
He passed several times to someone who was in a great position to score and they didn’t, he was always ready to receive the ball and never stopped trying.
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Several times over the course of the tournament isn't enough. I think you are being clouded by club bias. I watched the matches with various members of my family/friends and Sterling's unwillingness to commit players/run at the opposition was mentioned in every game and by different people.
We were certainly too slow in our attack building as a team, but Sterling is one of the key players in the team that has to take on that responsibility. He is in there to use his pace to create space for other players, and he simply didn't do that anywhere near enough.
posted on 17/7/18
Yet every time he went off the opposition pushed up field.
posted on 17/7/18
comment by LQ (U6305)
posted 4 minutes ago
Yet every time he went off the opposition pushed up field.
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The only game where I think the opposition pushed up was against Croatia and that was already happening with Sterling on the pitch. We simply sat too deep in the second half and tried to hold on to what we had when we should have kept on pushing forwards. Once Croatia scored they had the momentum and we looked mentally weak across the team.
posted on 17/7/18
I don’t think you can bet 23 goals from midfield without knowing one or two things about playing football 🤷♂️
posted on 17/7/18
comment by gratedbean (U4885)
posted 23 minutes ago
I don’t think you can bet 23 goals from midfield without knowing one or two things about playing football 🤷♂️
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I'm not saying he doesn't know anything about football, just that he isn't a clever footballer in the same way that De Bruyne or Silva are. He is more of an instinct player and relies on his pace and reflexes, which is great when you have top players in the team pulling the strings. England don't have that quality and Sterling doesn't seem to have that ability (or perhaps confidence) to make things happen himself.
posted on 17/7/18
“just that he isn't a clever footballer in the same way that De Bruyne or Silva are.”
That’s a bit different to not having a footballing brain, there aren’t many on the same level as De Bruyne or Silva 😂 watch his goals from last season, yep a few tap ins, but largely goals he’s made himself - he wants to be in the box, England just aren’t set up that way. Lots of long range efforts or buying FKs 30 yards out.
posted on 17/7/18
comment by gratedbean (U4885)
posted 6 minutes ago
“just that he isn't a clever footballer in the same way that De Bruyne or Silva are.”
That’s a bit different to not having a footballing brain, there aren’t many on the same level as De Bruyne or Silva 😂 watch his goals from last season, yep a few tap ins, but largely goals he’s made himself - he wants to be in the box, England just aren’t set up that way. Lots of long range efforts or buying FKs 30 yards out.
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I think his decision making is pretty poor to be honest. Reminds me very much of Nani. Can be amazing but equally frustrating. More so for England than City. I think with City he has less thinking to do. The ball is put into the right areas for him and he is then away and relying on his instinct. When he has more time and has to think for himself he struggles.
posted on 18/7/18
comment by 9ctics (U21076)
posted 2 days, 4 hours ago
Why does sandy card more about kane winning next season's golden boot than Spurs achieving any tangible success?
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Because he knows the players are not good enough to win anything.