#7 | Raheem Sterling - 2020/21 Performances

[alexmcity]

For sure he can contribute a lot as already shown this season, but his weaknesses are being absorbed by the team on a winning run.
Is that acceptable? some appear to be ok with that as they clearly think this is a drop in form

Think there are more reasons to think that it is a drop in form than that it is a tendency of declining. Sterling turned 26 two months ago. Same as Bernardo. Bernardo had a longish dip in form and many on here were writing him off. He had 0 goals and 0 assists 3 months ago. Sure, techically he has been better and more reliable than Sterling but he was utterly unproductive. And look at him now. How can one be firmly convinced that Sterling has peaked when Bernardo was in a worse situation and has turned it around to the extent that he may be more important to the team than Kevin?

 

[sir baconface]

For sure he can contribute a lot as already shown this season, but his weaknesses are being absorbed by the team on a winning run.
Is that acceptable? some appear to be ok with that as they clearly think this is a drop in form

Tricky one. If you think it’s an ability issue, not just form, then no. But is it?

He’s clearly a guy with some outstanding talents and some glaring weaknesses. Plus some excellent stats. An unusual confection. When off form, as he has been for a considerable time, it’s the negatives that shout out.

Bernardo was allowed to play his way back into form and that’s finally paying off. His stats were a lot worse than Sterling’s during that period.

I’d take the middle ground and just rotate Sterling a little more.

That said, I would‘t give him the armband or offer mega bucks for a contract extension.

 

[mosssideblue]

Tricky one. If you think it’s an ability issue, not just form, then no. But is it?

He’s clearly a guy with some outstanding talents and some glaring weaknesses. Plus some excellent stats. An unusual confection. When off form, as he has been for a considerable time, it’s the negatives that shout out.

Bernardo was allowed to play his way back into form and that’s finally paying off. His stats were a lot worse than Sterling’s during that period.

I’d take the middle ground and just rotate Sterling a little more.

That said, I would‘t give him the armband or offer mega bucks for a contract extension.

Some valid points. I would say though that Bernardo is a much more technically competent player than Sterling, so allowing him to regain that form (or not), we knew what we could expect

I'd be interested to hear views on what does "in form" look like for Sterling

 

[BillyShears]

I know I’m a bit late to the conversation mate, but I think you are being far too entrenched in your views. He’s a top player, no doubt, but so horribly out of form it’s pretty frightening. He’s back at being the level he was a few years ago when a lot were doubting why we’d spent the money on him.

Of course, everyone was delighted to then see how amazingly he performed for the next couple of years, but he’s back to stinking the place out.

I then think it’s harsh to have a pop at anyone on here bemoaning his form after watching the game the other night, where my dead granny would have had a better game. He was truly awful to the point where he was incapable of the most basic elements of football. I was shaking my head in bewilderment at his performance the other night, it really was that bad.

Quite what the answer is, I have absolutely no idea, as I’ve never known a player like him - capable of 30 goals a year and brilliant awareness of where to be at the right time, yet also can look like someone who has never kicked a ball in his life. It’s bizarre.

I couldn't disagree more. As I said earlier, I think too many people seem to micro analyse Raz in a way that other players just don't get. I have absolutely no problem with him being the first name on the team sheet because I think what he gives the team nobody else can, and his contributions whilst not to everyone's taste, are more than good enough for me.

Sterling has his limitations don't get me wrong, but I don't expect him to be a player he's not. He doesn't have the technical quality of Mahrez or some of the others in our squad, but what he doesn't have in technique he makes up for in many other facets of his game.

 

[mosssideblue]

Think there are more reasons to think that it is a drop in form than that it is a tendency of declining. Sterling turned 26 two months ago. Same as Bernardo. Bernardo had a longish dip in form and many on here were writing him off. He had 0 goals and 0 assists 3 months ago. Sure, techically he has been better and more reliable than Sterling but he was utterly unproductive. And look at him now. How can one be firmly convinced that Sterling has peaked when Bernardo was in a worse situation and has turned it around to the extent that he may be more important to the team than Kevin?

At 26 years old and a seasoned International and PL player, the flaws are still there imo

 

[FantasyIreland]

Think there are more reasons to think that it is a drop in form than that it is a tendency of declining. Sterling turned 26 two months ago. Same as Bernardo. Bernardo had a longish dip in form and many on here were writing him off. He had 0 goals and 0 assists 3 months ago. Sure, techically he has been better and more reliable than Sterling but he was utterly unproductive. And look at him now. How can one be firmly convinced that Sterling has peaked when Bernardo was in a worse situation and has turned it around to the extent that he may be more important to the team than Kevin?

Bernardo wasn't consistently picked,he was flitted in and out of the side,his form and confidence was inevitably going to dip.When he did get an opportunity and showed his importance,he was usually dropped for the next game.He also has the problem of finding similar space to KDB and Gundogan,i think he may well be our best no.10 and ive always wanted him to assume that mantel.

The situations are very different......Sterling has had the privilege of never being dropped,and yet he has struggled to justify that thinking.

 

[alexmcity]

Bernardo wasn't consistently picked,he was flitted in and out of the side,his form and confidence was inevitably going to dip.When he did get an opportunity and showed his importance,he was usually dropped for the next game.He also has the problem of finding similar space to KDB and Gundogan,i think he may well be our best no.10 and ive always wanted him to assume that mantel.

The situations are very different......Sterling has had the privilege of never being dropped,and yet he has struggled to justify that thinking.

Pep wouldn't pick him if he was such a liability. The situatioin with Bernardo is different indeed in that his dip in form was longer and deeper.

 

[kaz7]

Round and round we go with the same detractors hammering home the same points till someone agrees

 

[Kippax77]

Lots of people on here seem to think his work rate is anything from good to phenomenal.
I disagree.
The amount of times i see us play down the opposite flank from which he is on is quite remarkable.
Either our players are now used to him hardly going by defenders anymore, or maybe it's because our play breaks down with him much more than other players that we inevitably attack more on the opposite flank.
But either way it means he is having less of the ball to run with.
Work rate off the ball..., when the opposition is playing out from the back, they always seem to get out easier on his side. He sees where the ball is going to go but is always 20 yrds away then makes a token gesture run to the player who as just received the ball for them to play it around him.
The amount of times team plays out from the back on his side is big this season.
OT derby was the first game i started picking up how easy wan bissaka and Mctomminay played around him to set utd off again and again.

Maybe i'm missing the point about his work rate cos i know i will see Raz having surging runs back towards his own goal to help out but that is usually after HE as lost possession and it would be criminal for any player not to try and retrieve the ball in that situation.

Listen i want this bad form of his to end and see him blazing again, the smiling speed merchant we know he is/can be.
He just seems weighed down at the moment, probably with his own personal performances of late, but there is only 1 person who can change this.....Raz himself.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Pep wouldn't pick him if he was such a liability. The situatioin with Bernardo is different indeed in that his dip in form was longer and deeper.

Pep picks him because he knows he has the ability to do something special and our lack of goals doesn't need to be any more of a problem.The issue is he rarely does that something special,and despite the impressive numbers in front of goal they should be so much better,along with his overall contribution.

Bernardo was in no way more out of form,he just wasnt given an opportunity to prove it.

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

'Great overall'?

He hasn't though,he has done the bare minimum in games to justify his inclusion,and,considering he is expected to produce world class performances.....he is currently offering nothing more than any other half decent Prem winger couldn't replicate.
At best he's been a 7/10,more often a 5 or 6 - The inflated praise really isn't deserved.

Thanks for that Fantasy but I'll stick to what I said which was that he has been great overall in his last 5 or 6 games before his awful performance against gladbach.

I suspect he has passed the Pep test as well with flying colours i.e as Pep's role for Sterling is markedly changing as part of the team collective, Sterling is coming up trumps with what is expected of him. Now there is a debate :)

Then there is the positive big impacts he has on games. So long as he delivers there it is great with me and I couldn't give a flying fuck about miscontrols, shooting technique etc etc as long as the positives outweigh the negatives.

Sterling has played 6 league games out of the last 7 since the WBA game a month ago and he most definitely delivered with the big impact stuff.

Stats and data back-up my view from those 6 league games

• 2nd best in the league behind Gundog (6+1) with 4 goals and 2 assists.
• 1st for xGChain - a measure of involvement leading to chances
• 1st= with Gundog for Shot Creating Actions ( the best new metric yet for measuring action leading towards a goal attempt - ordinarily KDB is number 1 in the league)
• 1st for successful dribbles - 22 from 36 attempts

The dribble stat is brilliant - Mahrez, Bernardo and Foden had the same number combined.
Also it is approximately half of the 40 odd successful dribbles he had in the entire 17/18 season.
I for one am happy it is back and excited to see more..

So, yep I think he has been great in recent league games.

 

[mcfc482]

You say Sterling cannot dribble past a guy? I know he has had a poor season but Sterling usually does multiple successful take ons that lead that chances and goals every game. Lately he has been running into blind alleys but when you look at the players in our team that have successful dribbles in the opposition box, Sterling is number one of the lot. Bernardo dribbles very efficiently but whenever he is in and around the opposition box, his first thought is usually to keep the ball, look for a runner in a good position and lob the ball and so he finds a passing alternative. Mahrez is similar but doesn’t do it as well as Bernardo. Sterling is the guy that would like to take more risk and try to use pace and trickery to beat 2 or 3 players. I disagree with your submission in that respect.

His passing and general play technique, shooting technique, erratic finishing sometimes, etc are well documented issues about Sterling which I don’t see him improving so much on as he gets older but what he brings to the team (if you are not completely focused on his temporary dip in form) far outweigh these issues and that is what makes your conclusion so wrong. In fact we should be grateful to Pep and Sterling for delivering these mind blowing numbers inspire of these deficiencies. You conclude by saying we should see the back of him and freshen up but have you highlighted the issues with Bernardo’s play how we can look non-threatening for so many months especially if KDB is in the team or when he is playing in attack, how that we do not seem to have the cutting edge and decisiveness in attack many times when he is there despite having a superior technique? Do we ditch Bernardo because of this and “freshen things up.” Do we also ditch him because many of us are pouncing on a very recent dip in form when Bernardo had been relatively poor for like 18 months, are we being fair?

See I don’t have a problem with pointing out his faults but can you just be fair? Apart from the above I would sooner see the back of Torres, Mahrez and Gabriel before ever suggesting his exit. He may be the least aesthetically appealing attacker but he is one of the most decisive and result-oriented.

Do not let decency bias skew your judgement inappropriately.

Everyone keeps mentioning Bernardo. I am not having a go at Sterling because he is out of form. It’s because he has massive technical deficiencies and it is embarrassing to see what he does sometimes. Honestly you think how this this guy a footballer sometimes. Look at the last 2 games as a sample of this and most people will see what I mean.

Bernardo was a really good player out of form. He can at least do basic things like pass and move consistently well even if he is out of form.

Sterling is an average player out of form. When he is playing well he is an average player in really good form with world class movement hence the goals he scores.

EDIT: He is out the team today, not surprised because Pep was clearly annoyed at him at midweek.

 

[FantasyIreland]

So, yep I think he has been great in recent league games.

We clearly have different standards.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Everyone keeps mentioning Bernardo. I am not having a go at Sterling because he is out of form. It’s because he has massive technical deficiencies and it is embarrassing to see what he does sometimes. Honestly you think how this this guy a footballer sometimes. Look at the last 2 games as a sample of this and most people will see what I mean.

Are you sure? i'm told he was great?

 

[ojeme]

I’d say it was from about October 2019 so that would be around the 18 month mark. That’s when I think his general play started to really slide towards how it was pre Pep. The difference is his movement is miles better than a few years ago and he still continued to get into goal scoring positions.

Obviously I’m not saying he’s not had any good games or spells during that time but he’s not been consistently good for that long. What has continued to mask that poor form in the eyes of some is his goal return. He’s very capable of bagging 3/4 games running now but that won’t mean people are wrong about his glaring weaknesses if he’s still struggling with basic things.

I think we’ve seen lately Pep getting frustrated with him too. I’m one of Sterling’s biggest critics because he could be amazing for us and has been but for all that I still think he’s well worth his place as he provides the only genuine pace we have. Down the right I hope we start to see him regain his confidence when dribbling because if he does no fullback will get near him.

I try to stay away from arguments regarding players’ form because we will mostly have diverging opinions if there is no definite stat to measure “form” over a period. That being said I understand fans’ frustration with Sterling and I share this frustration. However my response to the other poster was attempting to highlight the fact that no one attacker has shown over the period Sterling has been here that they can stake a claim over him at least for now and so the idea to do away with him is uncalled for so long as more technically gifted players do not deliver as much, their potential regardless.

In those times when Bernardo was out of form he was mostly coming on from the bench unlike Sterling who has been at the forefront of our attack even when out of form contributing in goals and assists. It’s not the same. I also don’t think he’s falling down to pre-Pep era levels when Jesus Navas had a fair claim to starting games ahead of him.

 

[Rolee]

Thanks for that Fantasy but I'll stick to what I said which was that he has been great overall in his last 5 or 6 games before his awful performance against gladbach.

I suspect he has passed the Pep test as well with flying colours i.e as Pep's role for Sterling is markedly changing as part of the team collective, Sterling is coming up trumps with what is expected of him. Now there is a debate :)

Then there is the positive big impacts he has on games. So long as he delivers there it is great with me and I couldn't give a flying fuck about miscontrols, shooting technique etc etc as long as the positives outweigh the negatives.

Sterling has played 6 league games out of the last 7 since the WBA game a month ago and he most definitely delivered with the big impact stuff.

Stats and data back-up my view from those 6 league games

• 2nd best in the league behind Gundog (6+1) with 4 goals and 2 assists.
• 1st for xGChain - a measure of involvement leading to chances
• 1st= with Gundog for Shot Creating Actions ( the best new metric yet for measuring action leading towards a goal attempt - ordinarily KDB is number 1 in the league)
• 1st for successful dribbles - 22 from 36 attempts

The dribble stat is brilliant - Mahrez, Bernardo and Foden had the same number combined.
Also it is approximately half of the 40 odd successful dribbles he had in the entire 17/18 season.
I for one am happy it is back and excited to see more..

So, yep I think he has been great in recent league games.

Yep, wouldn't go as far as great, although he has been at times in that run but overall very good. I wonder what people are watching sometimes.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Hopefully the rest (extend if necessary) does him the world of good and he comes back the player nearing the world class tag that he earnt a couple of seasons ago and prior.

We are a far worse team for a struggling Sterling.

 

[FantasyIreland]

I wonder what people are watching sometimes.

Agreed.

 

[Rolee]

Agreed.

What you think of his second half at Anfield, great or not?

 

[ojeme]

Everyone keeps mentioning Bernardo. I am not having a go at Sterling because he is out of form. It’s because he has massive technical deficiencies and it is embarrassing to see what he does sometimes. Honestly you think how this this guy a footballer sometimes. Look at the last 2 games as a sample of this and most people will see what I mean.

Bernardo was a really good player out of form. He can at least do basic things like pass and move consistently well even if he is out of form.

Sterling is an average player out of form. When he is playing well he is an average player in really good form with world class movement hence the goals he scores.

EDIT: He is out the team today, not surprised because Pep was clearly annoyed at him at midweek.

My point being that if you do the basics well and it doesn’t translate to enough scoring or creating, it leaves much much more to be desired. If Sterling plays like a farmer but is always high up there in terms of final output, my question to the other guys that play more like footballers but cannot match that output would be “why do you deliver worse than a farmer.”

Bernardo only picked form of late you must remember. For many months even sometimes when we played in the KDB role, he wasn’t a threat. Dribbling effectively, keeping the ball, passing nicely and those little little nice things without having the cutting edge to do anything of note or really hurting the opposition.

We must recognized that these guys are talented differently and live with it as we hope for the best. I know we have our favorites (and by the way I am more of a Bernardo fan than a Sterling one) but I want us to be fair to Sterling. Even he knows that he’s not doing well at the moment but I think we aren’t fair to him.