Media persecution of Raheem Sterling

Mon Autre said:
He wasn't amazing this tournament but he caused defences way more problems than any of our other attacking players. Seems like, just as with the Euros, the poor contributions of Alli and Kane will be erased from history. Maybe Kane was a little bit deprived of service but the one big chance he did have he fluffed. Sterling was nowhere near our worst performer at this tournament. Part of me wants him to sack it all off and let the actual poor performers get the scrutiny they deserve.

The nation's obsession with Rashford over Sterling needs to stop. Rashford didn't show anything when given an opportunity to suggest he's a better option than Sterling right now. Mourinho clearly isn't convinced either.

Taking Sterling off was a weird decision to me as Lingard just doesn't have the stamina to last extra time. That much was obvious in the Colombia game.

Hope our own fans can get behind him this season. He's a 23 year old kid who we see jeered and bullied by other fans week in week out for literally no reason and it's been going on for years. Its pretty shocking when you think about it. It's unbelievable when our own fans question his mental toughness when you think about the shit he gets non stop. He's one of the mentally toughest players we have and made a massive contribution last season.
Click to expand...
That is all true. And there are few alternatives. But the Sterling I saw for England was not the Sterling who scored 18 times and had 11 assists in 33 league games. Yes Rashford and Lingard were no better, but you have to accept that Sterling was not at his best....probably because of the hostility that he faces.

It was very noticeable that half way through the competition the media seemed to start a Sterling offensive talking him up instead of down. perhaps the England staff had a word, or perhaps they realised the nation would not accept such criticism
 
Marvin said:
That is all true. And there are few alternatives. But the Sterling I saw for England was not the Sterling who scored 18 times and had 11 assists in 33 league games. Yes Rashford and Lingard were no better, but you have to accept that Sterling was not at his best....probably because of the hostility that he faces
Click to expand...

I agree he wasn't able to replicate his form for us, although it's hard to tell how much of that is to do with the limitations of the rest of the team. That said, my main issue is that regardless of whether or not England gets the best out of him, he is unfairly singled out for criticism while other players seemingly get a free pass. On the up side, I think some sections of the press has realised the bullying has gone too far now and there's been a fair few articles speaking out in his defence these past few days. I get the feeling it's too little too late to change the minds of some fans though.
 
Marvin said:
That is all true. And there are few alternatives. But the Sterling I saw for England was not the Sterling who scored 18 times and had 11 assists in 33 league games. Yes Rashford and Lingard were no better, but you have to accept that Sterling was not at his best....probably because of the hostility that he faces.

It was very noticeable that half way through the competition the media seemed to start a Sterling offensive talking him up instead of down. perhaps the England staff had a word, or perhaps they realised the nation would not accept such criticism
Click to expand...
It’s because even United and Liverpool fans were directing things at people’s negative rubbish like “what are you on about? he played well, just didn’t take his chance”

I think those last few stories before the World Cup started (the breakfast story especially) made even Rags and Scousers think “hang on a minute, this is just bollocks, get off his back”

Anyone still banging the old drum now is just a bitter idiot who should just be ignored
 
Marvin said:
That is all true. And there are few alternatives. But the Sterling I saw for England was not the Sterling who scored 18 times and had 11 assists in 33 league games. Yes Rashford and Lingard were no better, but you have to accept that Sterling was not at his best....probably because of the hostility that he faces.

It was very noticeable that half way through the competition the media seemed to start a Sterling offensive talking him up instead of down. perhaps the England staff had a word, or perhaps they realised the nation would not accept such criticism
Click to expand...

Nothing to do with hostility but more the lack of service he thrives on from Leroy, David and Kev, he's head must drop the minute Henderson gets the ball as he knows he's got to sprint 50 yards and he may as well sit down once Alli gets it as he only looks for Kane.
 
Mon Autre said:
I agree he wasn't able to replicate his form for us, although it's hard to tell how much of that is to do with the limitations of the rest of the team. That said, my main issue is that regardless of whether or not England gets the best out of him, he is unfairly singled out for criticism while other players seemingly get a free pass. On the up side, I think some sections of the press has realised the bullying has gone too far now and there's been a fair few articles speaking out in his defence these past few days. I get the feeling it's too little too late to change the minds of some fans though.
Click to expand...
I think the media expected England to crash out, but when there was a chance to progress they got behind the team.... a bit late.

Guardiola and City have to build him back up again to the levels he was at at the start of last season. He was inconsistent as a forward for City I felt. Sometimes brilliant sometimes very hit and miss, and I think he is a player who can go up another level which will be amazing for us if he does.

I really hope he renews his contract at City and knuckles down and does it. I feel he may take the easy option and leave England but I doubt he'll ever get a better platform than he has now. City though can not afford to nurse him back to form. he has to hit the ground running. it will be a lot easier in a City side that play to his strengths and who have fans who support him and will forgive mistakes.
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
It’s because even United and Liverpool fans were directing things at people’s negative rubbish like “what are you on about? he played well, just didn’t take his chance”

I think those last few stories before the World Cup started (the breakfast story especially) made even Rags and Scousers think “hang on a minute, this is just bollocks, get off his back”

Anyone still banging the old drum now is just a bitter idiot who should just be ignored
Click to expand...
Depends whether they do it fairly or not. He's not the finished article. There are plenty of players, even Kane, who are not what they are made out to be.

mentality is huge in football. You introduce doubt into a players head you instantly undermine them. The media of course will not batter Kane for that double miss. he is the great white hope. if it was Sterling, certain organisations would have gone for him because it suits their agenda.

Where my opinion differs to some on here I think is that I do think this criticism, and the way he was asked to play, affected him game, whereas some City fans thought it was business as usual and he was great. he had his best game last night. A game that was most similar to the game he plays for City. I was surprised he was subbed off.
 
He didn't get worst player voted on BBC. In fact there are 6 below him. Close the thread.
 
Marvin said:
That is all true. And there are few alternatives. But the Sterling I saw for England was not the Sterling who scored 18 times and had 11 assists in 33 league games. Yes Rashford and Lingard were no better, but you have to accept that Sterling was not at his best....probably because of the hostility that he faces.

It was very noticeable that half way through the competition the media seemed to start a Sterling offensive talking him up instead of down. perhaps the England staff had a word, or perhaps they realised the nation would not accept such criticism
Click to expand...

But Rashford is the exact same player we see at United. The one who is a squad player, the one who Jose clearly doesn’t trust, the one who can beat a man but has little end product aside from the odd wonder strike.

The campaign against Sterling included praising Rashford, in an attempt to oust Raz from the side, so much that he was made out to be a Messi/Maradona hybrid.

I actually felt sorry for Rashford yesterday because people were expecting far too much from him. Nothing he has produced so far suggests that he’d be in with a chance of the Golden Boot if he’d have started every game like Hoddle claimed. But people lap it up. They see a good 10 minute cameo against Costa Rica and ignore the other 80 minutes of average play.

The penny actually dropped, for some in the pub, after Sterling went off that we are a poorer side without him. The same happened against Colombia as well.

I said at the time that the decision would kill us and we’ll revert to long ball and invite more pressure. A few people agreed but most disagreed and slagged Sterling. Needless to say by the 90th min those people were then slagging Rashford and calling the side shit.
 
Cobra said:
105 league goals in 4 years suggests he’s pretty close to being world class
Click to expand...
That's like saying Joe Hart's golden glove awards means he is world class. Kane is similar to Lukaku in that he will score goals against the shit teams and occasionally against the better teams. He won't as things stand be the player to score goals on a regular basis in big European games against the better teams. He isn't that quick, isn't that good in the air for someone so tall and is a greedy sod. All he is interested in is himself - remember him trying to claim a goal because he thought he would be premier top goal scorer? As poor as I think Mandzukic is he would be in my team before Kane.
 
daztrueblue91 said:
But Rashford is the exact same player we see at United. The one who is a squad player, the one who Jose clearly doesn’t trust, the one who can beat a man but has little end product aside from the odd wonder strike.

The campaign against Sterling included praising Rashford, in an attempt to oust Raz from the side, so much that he was made out to be a Messi/Maradona hybrid.

I actually felt sorry for Rashford yesterday because people were expecting far too much from him. Nothing he has produced so far suggests that he’d be in with a chance of the Golden Boot if he’d have started every game like Hoddle claimed. But people lap it up. They see a good 10 minute cameo against Costa Rica and ignore the other 80 minutes of average play.

The penny actually dropped, for some in the pub, after Sterling went off that we are a poorer side without him. The same happened against Colombia as well.

I said at the time that the decision would kill us and we’ll revert to long ball and invite more pressure. A few people agreed but most disagreed and slagged Sterling. Needless to say by the 90th min those people were then slagging Rashford and calling the side shit.
Click to expand...


What’s worrying was Southgate after watching Rashford in games and training he thought taking Sterling of for Rashford was the right decision! Rashford and sterling on the pitch would of made Moreno of deference and take Lingard or Ali of instead.
 
jrb said:
Given the Daily Cannon plenty of stick in the past, but this is a great article.

Redknapp and the Daily 'let's target Sterling again' Fail are at it again.

http://dailycannon.com/2018/07/daily-mail-rate-harry-kane-higher-than-raheem-sterling-again/
Click to expand...

To be fair to Redknapp, I’d be surprised if those ratings are actually his. The Mail is a cnut’s paper and every story in it is manipulated with its target audience of foaming Brexiteers and reactionary bigots in mind. Their pre World Cup full page spread about “tattooless Harry, a hero the nation can be proud of” (ie white, born here, married to childhood sweetheart, lives in the biggest Tory stronghold in Britain, etc etc), is a pretty good indicator that even if he scored 4 own goals in one game and smoked a spliff at half time, they’d still give him a higher mark than Sterling, who represents everything the paper and its readers hate
 
36856080_10216911645732882_1999401568000016384_n.jpg


The booing from other fans will be worse next season
 
daztrueblue91 said:
But Rashford is the exact same player we see at United. The one who is a squad player, the one who Jose clearly doesn’t trust, the one who can beat a man but has little end product aside from the odd wonder strike.

The campaign against Sterling included praising Rashford, in an attempt to oust Raz from the side, so much that he was made out to be a Messi/Maradona hybrid.

I actually felt sorry for Rashford yesterday because people were expecting far too much from him. Nothing he has produced so far suggests that he’d be in with a chance of the Golden Boot if he’d have started every game like Hoddle claimed. But people lap it up. They see a good 10 minute cameo against Costa Rica and ignore the other 80 minutes of average play.

The penny actually dropped, for some in the pub, after Sterling went off that we are a poorer side without him. The same happened against Colombia as well.

I said at the time that the decision would kill us and we’ll revert to long ball and invite more pressure. A few people agreed but most disagreed and slagged Sterling. Needless to say by the 90th min those people were then slagging Rashford and calling the side shit.
Click to expand...
I agree with most of that but I still think Sterling is very young and has suffered in this side for all manner of reasons.

I think Rashford has got something although his game has stalled at Utd. Vardy is top quality and I felt sorry for him because I think this is the for him at a big tournament although it does look like he was injured.

I hope Guardiola and City can develop Sterling's game. He needs to work on his finising. He scored 18 goals last season but he could easily have scored 25. if he improves his finishing he will become a world class player who will be almost unplayable. His confidence will improve too. I hope that there wont be a hangover from the World Cup for him because City will be under pressure to produce results immediately and I suspect that Mahrez and Sane are going to start on the wings with Jesus or Aguero up front.
 
Seen several comments from people on social media saying that "Rashford looked dangerous when he came on". I've asked each to be a bit more specific as how he looked dangerous, what he did that was dangerous and whether they meant dangerous to the opposition or to his own team mates. It's been some hours now and, as of yet, no ones got back to me .... maybe they're still compiling their list!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top