#7 | Raheem Sterling - 2020/21 Performances

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EdersonsSmiley said:
Oh i agree completely, if he had Mahrez technique he would be a top 3 player in the world.

Despite Mahrez have 10x better technique than him, Sterling is still a better, more impactful player for us who regularly contributes to us winning games.

Here is the list of players i would say are as good or better than him in world football as a left winger:

Neymar,
Hazard (if he gets fit and to top form)
Mane
Son

Do people want us to spend £100m on a debatable upgrade for one of these players?
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If we have Sterling at the top of his game, he has as good an impact as anyone from out wide.

If we are talking purely on football talent, he is nowhere near the top levels of the game. You could pick any random list of wide players in the Prem, and the vast majority will do the simple things better than Sterling. Even at City, do we have any other wide player that has worse technique than him? Foden, Bernardo, Mahrez, Gabby and Torres have all played wide, and all are far more comfortable on the ball than he is. That's 5 players just at City, never mind at any other club.

This isn't to say there is a massive list of better players than Sterling, there isn't, just that Sterling has massive strengths and glaring weaknesses. If he is at the top of his game, his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses, and he has a positive impact on the side. His pace is obviously a major asset, and his movement off the ball is as good, if not better than any other player in World football. If he utilizes his strengths, he bags 30+ goals a season and nobody has any issues.

When he isn't at the top of his game, he stands out like a sore thumb, because his main weaknesses are the simple things that you would expect any footballer, at any level to be capable of. I actually find myself shocked, that a guy who has probably been playing football every day, for the best part of 20 years, cant control a football and kick it properly. I've seen kids playing in the park, who control and pass a football better than Sterling.

At his best, the list of possible Sterling replacements is so short, you are 100% correct in that, it wouldn't be worth the risk or outlay, to even think about replacing him. Currently, you could replace him with practically anyone of a decent standard, and not see a major drop in the teams overall performance levels.

I know we have a MOTM vote/thread after every game. I think it would be quite telling if we saw the number of times Sterling has been voted MOTM over the course of this season. I know the actual MOTM numbers might not tell the whole story, because if someone was the 2nd or 3rd best player on the pitch every week, they are probably having a great season despite not having a lot of MOTM awards. That being said, I doubt Sterling would be in the top half a dozen on total votes.
 
mosssideblue said:
Is he not currently trying to negotiate an enhanced contract
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Just wondering when would be the best time to sell him if we were so inclined. If we got Haaland at the expense of Sterling this summer for example it could make sense given that we have plenty of cover too.

As others have said I'm not sure that Sterling can go much further. His best form is as good as he can get. And that's fine perhaps. But does it move us further forward as an ever improving team? (Only Pep and Co will know)

Even though I'd like to sell Mahrez can we even get much for him? So is Sterling the only viable salable asset for the next phase of the project?
 
TonyM said:
Just wondering when would be the best time to sell him if we were so inclined. If we got Haaland at the expense of Sterling this summer for example it could make sense given that we have plenty of cover too.

As others have said I'm not sure that Sterling can go much further. His best form is as good as he can get. And that's fine perhaps. But does it move us further forward as an ever improving team? (Only Pep and Co will know)

Even though I'd like to sell Mahrez can we even get much for him? So is Sterling the only viable salable asset for the next phase of the project?
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Sell him this next window.
 
OrigamiNinja said:
If we have Sterling at the top of his game, he has as good an impact as anyone from out wide.

If we are talking purely on football talent, he is nowhere near the top levels of the game. You could pick any random list of wide players in the Prem, and the vast majority will do the simple things better than Sterling. Even at City, do we have any other wide player that has worse technique than him? Foden, Bernardo, Mahrez, Gabby and Torres have all played wide, and all are far more comfortable on the ball than he is. That's 5 players just at City, never mind at any other club.

This isn't to say there is a massive list of better players than Sterling, there isn't, just that Sterling has massive strengths and glaring weaknesses. If he is at the top of his game, his strengths far outweigh his weaknesses, and he has a positive impact on the side. His pace is obviously a major asset, and his movement off the ball is as good, if not better than any other player in World football. If he utilizes his strengths, he bags 30+ goals a season and nobody has any issues.

When he isn't at the top of his game, he stands out like a sore thumb, because his main weaknesses are the simple things that you would expect any footballer, at any level to be capable of. I actually find myself shocked, that a guy who has probably been playing football every day, for the best part of 20 years, cant control a football and kick it properly. I've seen kids playing in the park, who control and pass a football better than Sterling.

At his best, the list of possible Sterling replacements is so short, you are 100% correct in that, it wouldn't be worth the risk or outlay, to even think about replacing him. Currently, you could replace him with practically anyone of a decent standard, and not see a major drop in the teams overall performance levels.

I know we have a MOTM vote/thread after every game. I think it would be quite telling if we saw the number of times Sterling has been voted MOTM over the course of this season. I know the actual MOTM numbers might not tell the whole story, because if someone was the 2nd or 3rd best player on the pitch every week, they are probably having a great season despite not having a lot of MOTM awards. That being said, I doubt Sterling would be in the top half a dozen on total votes.
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Great post, spot on
 
To those who were asking "why sterling gets into the squad if he lacks talent" and "pep obviously see's something in him" etc...

Pep clearly likes those who follow his exacting instructions. One of sterlings strengths is his adherance to peps wishes on the pitch. Thats why he improved his positional game leaps and bounds. The other is his superhuman levels of fitness...as pep himself has alluded to many times.

Its the moments where he himself has to make something happen(pep famously said in intervioews that he himself is responsible for the first 2/3 of the build up play...the final third is on the players) where he fails so many times, thats when the debate starts about the quality of raheem. He clearly has utility, follows orders well, is nippy and hardworking, and has great stamina. Unfortunately what he doesnt have is enough talent in front of goal, or any of the important mental attributes. Thats is something a "top, top, top level team" cannot afford to carry.

I take no pleasure in having this debate either because he's scored some important goals for us in recent years.
 
FantasyIreland said:
Saka is the kid,everything and more that Sterling was.
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Ehhh I rate Saka but that's a pretty bold claim.

Saka (19) has recorded 6 goals, 7 assists, with 416 minutes per goal ratio, over 31 games
Sterling (19) recorded 11 goals, 12 assists, with 239 minutes per goal ratio, over 39 games (this is with Liverpool)

At the same age, they are very close in quality, but stats-wise, Sterling has more eye for goal. So I disagree Saka is more than Sterling was. That is, of course unless I'm misconstruing your argument.
 
Pep must see a different player to most people on here, as he seems to pick him for all important games
 
Akira said:
Ehhh I rate Saka but that's a pretty bold claim.

Saka (19) has recorded 6 goals, 7 assists, with 416 minutes per goal ratio, over 31 games
Sterling (19) recorded 11 goals, 12 assists, with 239 minutes per goal ratio, over 39 games (this is with Liverpool)

At the same age, they are very close in quality, but stats-wise, Sterling has more eye for goal. So I disagree Saka is more than Sterling was. That is, of course unless I'm misconstruing your argument.
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To be fair he was playing along side Suarez in his prime and a team brimming with the kind of confidence(until the end of teh season at least lol) arsenal can only dream of. Current arsenal is no comparison to 2014 dippers.
 
BlueBanger said:
To be fair he was playing along side Suarez in his prime and a team brimming with the kind of confidence(until the end of teh season at least lol) arsenal can only dream of. Current arsenal is no comparison to 2014 dippers.
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Yep that's a fair point. I just don't think Saka atm is more than Sterling was at 19. In my opinion, regardless of Suarez, Sterling at Liverpool then was electric.
 
Akira said:
Yep that's a fair point. I just don't think Saka atm is more than Sterling was at 19. In my opinion, regardless of Suarez, Sterling at Liverpool then was electric.
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Yeah its an interesting comparison...i genuinely believe that suarez was the worlds best striker at that time though and he terrified defenders so much its used to create havoc and space for others in their squad. Sterling was very much a beneficiary of playing alongside him at that time. Hell even sturridge was and he did squat when he left them.

Cant stand suarez as a person but in 2014 who in the world was better as a striker?
 
Top clubs do not sell young top players unless there are contract issues.
Top clubs replace older players or those with contract issues.
Top clubs do not have culls, but continually add young top class talent as and when they can procure them.
 
BlueBanger said:
Yeah its an interesting comparison...i genuinely believe that suarez was the worlds best striker at that time though and he terrified defenders so much its used to create havoc and space for others in their squad. Sterling was very much a beneficiary of playing alongside him at that time. Hell even sturridge was and he did squat when he left them.

Cant stand suarez as a person but in 2014 who in the world was better as a striker?
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Dial back a season or two ago, I would say Tevez had a fair shout. But nah, at 2014, don't think any striker could compare to Suarez. Truly terrifying player.
 
BillyShears said:
It’s truly incredible how often I’ve read varying degrees of Sterling isn’t a top level player. The levels of delusion in this thread are bordering on clinical at present and one or two need a holiday from football before they eat themselves.
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Does anyone think that at his best Sterling isn't a top level player? I don't think many/any in here are saying that. What is being said, is that the guy is woefully out of form, and has been for a significant amount of time.

He cant have the past 3 years he has had, and then hope that nobody notices that his form has fallen off a cliff this season. Its there, right in front of everyone. Are we supposed to just ignore it because of what has gone before? His last few seasons means he has money in the bank, but it cant last forever. It wont last forever with Pep, he was already clearly frustrated with him the other night.
 
BillyShears said:
It’s truly incredible how often I’ve read varying degrees of Sterling isn’t a top level player. The levels of delusion in this thread are bordering on clinical at present and one or two need a holiday from football before they eat themselves.
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Think you got it right on the pod yesterday.
Simply Sterling was poor midweek but the 5 or 6 games or so before that he's been great overall. I wouldn't go quite as far as Lloyd but I'm so much closer to his view and a million miles away from the extreme views on here.
 
OrigamiNinja said:
Does anyone think that at his best Sterling isn't a top level player? I don't think many/any in here are saying that. What is being said, is that the guy is woefully out of form, and has been for a significant amount of time.

He cant have the past 3 years he has had, and then hope that nobody notices that his form has fallen off a cliff this season. Its there, right in front of everyone. Are we supposed to just ignore it because of what has gone before? His last few seasons means he has money in the bank, but it cant last forever. It wont last forever with Pep, he was already clearly frustrated with him the other night.
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I completely agree about his form, but it's within the context of a team which has many many attacking players who have been woefully poor. I actually think Raz has turned a corner and is improving, and it's disappointing that the other night gave rise to another wave of hysteria.

We've won how games on the bounce now? I appreciate that it's a forum and people have opinions etc - but you'd think that there'd be a bit more of a measured approach than so many seem to be showing when we're on such a good run.
 
BillyShears said:
It’s truly incredible how often I’ve read varying degrees of Sterling isn’t a top level player. The levels of delusion in this thread are bordering on clinical at present and one or two need a holiday from football before they eat themselves.
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He currently isn't though, and hasn't been for some time.
We know what he is capable of, but to say he has been a top level player consistently, is simply blue tinted specs, or head in sand.
 
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