Raheem Sterling - 2016/17 performances

[Tom_mcfc]

I think it's telling that in 30+ yards he still hadn't really managed to set the ball properly onto his stronger right foot, which is why the little nudge was enough to inbalance him to be unable to shoot properly. If he's approached it right I'm convinced he still gets his laces through that.

Don't think I've seen him lace a ball haha. My 6 year old daughter kicks it harder

 

[Easy]

Its astonishing how much criticism Sterling gets.

Mentally weak? After getting absolutely destroyed by the media during and after Euro 2016, he came back to City to be one of our most important players and is having the best season of his life. The media painted him out to be the reason England failed at the tournament and were calling for him to be sent home only after what two games in?

Last season Raheem had 11 goals and 10 assists in 47 games. This season he has 6 goals and 12 assists in 28 games. That is a big improvement for me and I'm sure he will surpass his goal tally of last season.

Yes, he should have more goals by now, his decision making is lacking at times but I am sure this will all improve and it already has this season.

Name me another 22 year old playing in his position for a top team in a top league that is better than him? I don't think there is one.

He is going to get better and better and will be world class soon.

 

[quiet_riot]

Its astonishing how much criticism Sterling gets.

Mentally weak? After getting absolutely destroyed by the media during and after Euro 2016, he came back to City to be one of our most important players and is having the best season of his life. The media painted him out to be the reason England failed at the tournament and were calling for him to be sent home only after what two games in?

Last season Raheem had 11 goals and 10 assists in 47 games. This season he has 6 goals and 12 assists in 28 games. That is a big improvement for me and I'm sure he will surpass his goal tally of last season.

Yes, he should have more goals by now, his decision making is lacking at times but I am sure this will all improve and it already has this season.

Name me another 22 year old playing in his position for a top team in a top league that is better than him? I don't think there is one.

He is going to get better and better and will be world class soon.

Sorry, but the part in bold is utter balls. He's performing reasonably well, but is still well below the level he was for the dippers.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

I'm not here to bash him, I done that last year when he was shite and he has improved greatly this year (which proves my point he was bad last year)

What I find frustrating is how shite he is in front of goal. If I was as bad as him I'd be working my bollocks off in training, extra drills afterwards to improve. Now someone I'm sure will say how do you know he doesn't do that, well if he does he won't improve will he because he's getting worse. His decision making in front of goal is wank. He slows down and doesn't know what to do, yes on occasions he's fouled but that's not from predicting he will be, it's from taking far too long. He's not clinical enough.

Whilst he has improved if he can't get better at these kind of things I can't see him becoming a world beater.

Name a player, in the top leagues, who his this mythical natural finisher with 40 odd goals per season and a 101 assists..

The facts are he's improving, you state that yourself, being realistic is the key... Pep has had 7 months with the lad and he has come on exponentially,'let's give him a few more, aye? Heed your own advice, writing him off was a mistake last year, expecting him to be the finished article in this, is also....

Look at the positions he now takes up, that isn't a fluke, he's responding to positive coaching, which means he can be taught and will improve, which he is doing.

Name another player in our team who is getting in to those positions, consistently, not one... I agree it's frustrating in terms of his quality in front of goal but we have some on here who are actually questioning his mentality, I mean come on ffs... He never hides, has been crucified by an abysmal media witch hunt and yet gets his head down and tries... He's got one of the biggest pair of balls in that team and then some,'he's also displaying a set of traits that all the big players have, ahead of schedule!

 

[Easy]

Sorry, but the part in bold is utter balls. He's performing reasonably well, but is still well below the level he was for the dippers.

I wouldn't agree. In addition to his goals and assists, how many penalties has he won us this season? And how many more should have been given to him?

He has been one of our most dangerous players.

 

[Cobra]

Its astonishing how much criticism Sterling gets.

Mentally weak? After getting absolutely destroyed by the media during and after Euro 2016, he came back to City to be one of our most important players and is having the best season of his life. The media painted him out to be the reason England failed at the tournament and were calling for him to be sent home only after what two games in?

Last season Raheem had 11 goals and 10 assists in 47 games. This season he has 6 goals and 12 assists in 28 games. That is a big improvement for me and I'm sure he will surpass his goal tally of last season.

Yes, he should have more goals by now, his decision making is lacking at times but I am sure this will all improve and it already has this season.

Name me another 22 year old playing in his position for a top team in a top league that is better than him? I don't think there is one.

He is going to get better and better and will be world class soon.

Where are you getting the assist stats from? He has 6 assists in the league since the start of last season, and I can't believe he's got 16 assists in cup competitions in the same time

 

[Tricky_Trev]

It's frustrating how much he slows down when clean through on goal. He's quicker than practically everyone on the pitch yet he seems to always get caught up through his dithering and general pissing about trying to get the ball under control. He certainly needs to work on one on ones - and not just the finishing, but more the way he runs with the ball.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Where are you getting the assist stats from? He has 6 assists in the league since the start of last season, and I can't believe he's got 16 assists in cup competitions in the same time

He never said he had 22....

 

[Cobra]

He never said he had 22....

Erm, he said he had 10 last season and 12 this season.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Erm, he said he had 10 last season and 12 this season.

My mistake, misread your post.... He has 6 assists and 6 goals, I think he added 'goals scored'.

 

[Jumanji]

I like him a lot as a player, but I honestly wouldn't start him over Jesus or Sane. This is hard saying because he's one of my favourite players.

Jesus and Sane can shoot, but Sterling can't really. I'd go as far as saying they can do everything he can do, but better.

How late can a player really learn a shooter's instinct? Any examples of a player that has turned it around and became an excellent shooter from a horrible shooter in their 20's?

Too many times his weak foot lets him down. And I know he can do things with it. He just gravely doesn't trust it. If Sterling would just hit twat the ball with his weak foot and go for power when through on goal, instead of trying to take extra touches or adjust his body positioning, he'd have so many more goals.

But right now for me, he has to sit. He is part of the reason why we aren't finishing the myriad chances we are making. I also suspect that he doesn't link up that well with Aguero, and would love to see if Jesus and Sane would link up better with Kun.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

I like him a lot as a player, but I honestly wouldn't start him over Jesus or Sane. This is hard saying because he's one of my favourite players.

Jesus and Sane can shoot, but Sterling can't really. I'd go as far as saying they can do everything he can do, but better.

How late can a player really learn a shooter's instinct? Any examples of a player that has turned it around and became an excellent shooter from a horrible shooter in their 20's?

Too many times his weak foot lets him down. And I know he can do things with it. He just gravely doesn't trust it. If Sterling would just hit twat the ball with his weak foot and go for power when through on goal, instead of trying to take extra touches or adjust his body positioning, he'd have so many more goals.

Gareth bale

 

[kaz7]

His finishing is terrible but he also gets into great positions,very frustrating
He can't win with the refs,go down and he gets nothing or a yellow,stay on his feet he gets nothing,

 

[PannickAtTheDisco]

it's starting to become Balotelli levels of treatment by the refs on Sterling. Difference is Sterling has actually never put a foot wrong.

 

[butlerkb]

I like him a lot as a player, but I honestly wouldn't start him over Jesus or Sane. This is hard saying because he's one of my favourite players.

Jesus and Sane can shoot, but Sterling can't really. I'd go as far as saying they can do everything he can do, but better.

How late can a player really learn a shooter's instinct? Any examples of a player that has turned it around and became an excellent shooter from a horrible shooter in their 20's?

Too many times his weak foot lets him down. And I know he can do things with it. He just gravely doesn't trust it. If Sterling would just hit twat the ball with his weak foot and go for power when through on goal, instead of trying to take extra touches or adjust his body positioning, he'd have so many more goals.

But right now for me, he has to sit. He is part of the reason why we aren't finishing the myriad chances we are making. I also suspect that he doesn't link up that well with Aguero, and would love to see if Jesus and Sane would link up better with Kun.

Totally agree 100% he is a navas imo.lots of effort and commitment but final ball is terrible and doesn't score enough.gabriel Jesus looks like the answer give him a good run and sell sterling whilst he is worth something.with that attack if we get two new full backs and a centre half next year we will walk it.

 

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Totally agree 100% he is a navas imo.lots of effort and commitment but final ball is terrible and doesn't score enough.gabriel Jesus looks like the answer give him a good run and sell sterling whilst he is worth something.with that attack if we get two new full backs and a centre half next year we will walk it.

I despair.....sniff sniff

 

[Tom_mcfc]

Name a player, in the top leagues, who his this mythical natural finisher with 40 odd goals per season and a 101 assists..

The facts are he's improving, you state that yourself, being realistic is the key... Pep has had 7 months with the lad and he has come on exponentially,'let's give him a few more, aye? Heed your own advice, writing him off was a mistake last year, expecting him to be the finished article in this, is also....

Look at the positions he now takes up, that isn't a fluke, he's responding to positive coaching, which means he can be taught and will improve, which he is doing.

Name another player in our team who is getting in to those positions, consistently, not one... I agree it's frustrating in terms of his quality in front of goal but we have some on here who are actually questioning his mentality, I mean come on ffs... He never hides, has been crucified by an abysmal media witch hunt and yet gets his head down and tries... He's got one of the biggest pair of balls in that team and then some,'he's also displaying a set of traits that all the big players have, ahead of schedule!

He does hide I'm not having that. Anfield we've played with ten men with him, also any team that gives him shit. Everton last week. I don't expect a finished article my main issue in his game like you agreed is how shite and scared he is in front of goal. Composure and confidence might come in time, West Ham and Swansea goals shows he can keep a cool head but every other time he's a headless chicken 1 on 1. Put it this way if we break in that position and he has it I'm not confident in the slightest it's going to end up in the back of the net. He needs to work hard, stay behind and perfecting his ability in front of goal like many of the greats did and still do.

If he is doing that I can't see it improving, he isn't naturally gifted in front of goal his rawness comes in other areas. If he is training on it and it's not improving that's when it's worrying.

 

[balotelli's back pocket]

My mistake, misread your post.... He has 6 assists and 6 goals, I think he added 'goals scored'.

He is counting penalties won as assists. They count as assists, actually

 

[blue wang]

Thi

I like him a lot as a player, but I honestly wouldn't start him over Jesus or Sane. This is hard saying because he's one of my favourite players.

Jesus and Sane can shoot, but Sterling can't really. I'd go as far as saying they can do everything he can do, but better.

How late can a player really learn a shooter's instinct? Any examples of a player that has turned it around and became an excellent shooter from a horrible shooter in their 20's?

Too many times his weak foot lets him down. And I know he can do things with it. He just gravely doesn't trust it. If Sterling would just hit twat the ball with his weak foot and go for power when through on goal, instead of trying to take extra touches or adjust his body positioning, he'd have so many more goals.

But right now for me, he has to sit. He is part of the reason why we aren't finishing the myriad chances we are making. I also suspect that he doesn't link up that well with Aguero, and would love to see if Jesus and Sane would link up better with Kun.

Very good post,

I would give him another season to see if this improves. I hope pep and his team have specific training for this, but as you mentioned these are things that you develop as a youngster and is essentially the way you play, I am sceptical that they can be learnt.

I also agree that he doesn't link up with other players nicely, especially kun and this is holding kun back, in fact I would go so far to say kun doesn't trust him with the ball.
You can see why.

I admire his attitude and work rate, however he is costing at the moment.
Sane and Jesus are the natural progression.

Sterling future for me is in the balance.

 

[Dax777]

Fabulous player. Believe we need him, Sane, Gabby and one more winger attacking from wide places.