It won't be bluemoon if it wasn't reactionary or revisionist on certain players and it seems sterling is the latest. For the past 3 seasons he's been easily one of the best wingers in europe let alone the league. Even last season which was by far his worst of the 3 where he was inconsistent(started well, dipped in form around december onwards and then picked back up after lockdown) he still showed glimpses more times than not of his world class talent.
This season he has been poor or ok at best in pretty much every game he's started and not looked anywhere near the player most of us know he is. I'm of the opinion that his consistent game time has finally caught up to him this season and its affected him both mentally and physically. This is a player let's not forget was pretty much in the first team and viewed as a key player at the highest level for both club and country at just 18.
That means from that age till now at 25, he's made close to 50 club appearances every single season. He's been the one constant in pep's team ever since he was appointed manager and I can count on 1 hand the amount of games he's missed through injuries throughout his career that's how ridiculous his availability has been. I thought he sorely needed a rest last season but due to injuries to certain players he in fact ended up being the most used player in the squad above even ederson. All that considered he still ended up with the most goals and provided some match-winning performances contrary to many false statements made.
The above was just 2 champions league games I picked from last season where he was the difference maker. That is the player he is when fully rested and truthfully has been 90% of the time the past 3 seasons. A genuine world class player and match-winner who's numbers(goals/assists) have only been bettered by salah from the premier league during that period. No revisionist history from some will erase any of that.
He is also not some 'streaky' player who performs well in patches, he's been a highly consistent performer who very rarely goes more than 2 matches without contributing a goal/assist. In fact last season was the only I can think of that being the case. To provide context both mane/salah have gone longer than he did last season where they didn't score/assist but I'm sure many somehow forget those poor runs of form from them. But more important than any opinions on him from fans though is that he's clearly a highly valued player both by the manager/club(new contract coming) as well as his teammates(voted one of the vice captains).
He along with de bruyne, ederson and laporte not counting the new signings are probably the only players who you can guarantee are on the list of players who will not be sold in the near future so those shouts are comical. I'd expect fans of other clubs to make ridiculous statements like he's not good enough and should be sold/replaced and not from people who've watched him week in week out and seen what he's capable of the last 3 years. But then again this is a forum which at one point some wanted even the likes of aguero sold so it's not surprising. As for yesterdays' game he was ok, certainly looked more dangerous than he has the past few weeks but still some way to get back to what he's capable of.
Hopefully others can step up and he can get some well needed rest this season to regain his form as he will be hugely important to anything the team is to achieve in the foreseeable future as much as many of his detractors don't like to acknowledge or admit to.
