#7 | Raheem Sterling - 2020/21 Performances

[Tugay One Cup]

He was poor last season and went months barely making a contribution, a key reason why we didn't win anything.

That's one way of looking at it. Another would be that his goal contributions are what helped us finish comfortably above the other 18 teams despite virtually the whole team underperforming.

It's also worth mentioning that saying we won nothing is a lie. Maybe we didn't win as much as you wanted but that's a different matter.

We're in the present discussing this season's performances

Sorry, have I missed something? Look at the league table. Look at the Champions League fixtures. Look forward to the League Cup final.

Are his poor performances holding us back presently? Before Sunday, we were on a record breaking streak of wins.

You can argue about who has contributed more as much as you want but it would be disingenuous to claim he hasn't contributed at all.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

That's one way of looking at it. Another would be that his goal contributions are what helped us finish comfortably above the other 18 teams despite virtually the whole team underperforming.

It's also worth mentioning that saying we won nothing is a lie. Maybe we didn't win as much as you wanted but that's a different matter.



Sorry, have I missed something? Look at the league table. Look at the Champions League fixtures. Look forward to the League Cup final.

Are his poor performances holding us back presently? Before Sunday, we were on a record breaking streak of wins.

You can argue about who has contributed more as much as you want but it would be disingenuous to claim he hasn't contributed at all.

If you were compiling that list of players. Where do you think Sterling would sit on the list, when rated against everyone else in the squad, who has been given regular game time?

 

[FantasyIreland]

The comparison is sadly lacking, because Bernie and KDB are balls out, bust a lung, midfielders who CREATE and also score a few, not out and out attackers who score two kinds of goals:

A - A bundled tap in at the far post, sometimes barely making into the goal when it is much harder to miss, and

B - Dribble in from the left, beat a man, (beat another, and another, and maybe even another,) and put the ball in the bottom corner to the keepers left.

He is best at exploiting the space in behind the right back and right centre back with outside in runs, and he’s good at this because we have players who can put the ball on a sixpence for him when he makes that run.

When his game is relying on picking the ball up out wide left on the touchline, his ONLY serious contribution from there is often the quick 1-2 with our left back or left midfielder, as he scurries in behind. Very rarely, he takes the player on and beats him to the outside, because he has no left foot, so the defender knows to show him that way.

Because teams play narrow against us to smother the space, his preferred move (cutting inside on his right foot) is the proverbial “running down a blind alley” and almost always without any serious control of the ball. Silky, he is not!

For me, he has no first touch. However, even more damning, he has no FINAL TOUCH! It is THAT that makes or breaks a forward!

He plays with his head UP when he’s not on the ball, but his lack of ball control means he plays with his head DOWN when he has the ball.

REAL ballers KNOW where the ball is when they’re running with it...that’s because it is under their control! By definition, when it’s “under control”, you don’t have to look at it every second.

Sterling simply lacks basic control of the ball while on the run. Maybe it’s mechanics, maybe he has got away with it this long because of other attributes, but in a team where the full backs and even the keeper have better ball control than the (often) Captain and one of the main strikers, that’s a problem. I won’t even compare him to Mahrez or Bernardo, or even Foden for that matter, because it would be embarrassing to Raheem to do so.

Sums him up perfectly

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

Some say Jack Harrison would be an upgrade. Others say Sterling has got away with it because his shooting skills, lack of control and general technique are an embarrassment. And of course he lacks football intelligence.

I love the guy. He's different, he's flawed, he's frustrating BUT he is one hell of a good footballer for the impact he has on football games in a Manchester City shirt.

Meanwhile, Sterling with 95 league goals, is closing in on the 100 club. If he gets there before Salah and Mane, he'll be number 30 in PL history to join the elite group. Not bad IMO plus you get a dedicated programme on Sky :)

As a taster here is a you tube of his first all comps 100 tap-ins for City:

 

[The blue phantom]

Some say Jack Harrison would be an upgrade. Others say Sterling has got away with it because his shooting skills, lack of control and general technique are an embarrassment. And of course he lacks football intelligence.

I love the guy. He's different, he's flawed, he's frustrating BUT he is one hell of a good footballer for the impact he has on football games in a Manchester City shirt.

Meanwhile, Sterling with 95 league goals, is closing in on the 100 club. If he gets there before Salah and Mane, he'll be number 30 in PL history to join the elite group. Not bad IMO plus you get a dedicated programme on Sky :)

As a taster here is a you tube of his first all comps 100 tap-ins for City:

I've read enough bile & vitriol thrown at him in the match threads to know some posters will never leave him alone, We have some absolute Cunts following our club, as someone else has said as bad as them fuckin cockroaches in the media.

 

[twosips]

I really think its as simple as this:

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not the main man but alongside a world class finisher like Aguero? Fine! It's not on him to be insanely clinical! We don't notice as much and his goals are mainly complimentary, sometimes key, but crucially not the be all and end all.

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not alongside a world class finisher and has to shoulder more of the burden? Grating, as he gets more chances, and we notice the flaws more as we've not got someone like Aguero being more likely to score alongside him, which would lessen the importance of his misses.

Solution? Sign a great striker. Sterling becomes 'bonus' goals as opposed to the main source of goals. Everyone's happy.

 

[FantasyIreland]

I really think its as simple as this:

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not the main man but alongside a world class finisher like Aguero? Fine! It's not on him to be insanely clinical! We don't notice as much and his goals are mainly complimentary, sometimes key, but crucially not the be all and end all.

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not alongside a world class finisher and has to shoulder more of the burden? Grating, as he gets more chances, and we notice the flaws more as we've not got someone like Aguero being more likely to score alongside him, which would lessen the importance of his misses.

Solution? Sign a great striker. Sterling becomes 'bonus' goals as opposed to the main source of goals. Everyone's happy.

It makes sense to a degree,but how will signing a clinician improve Sterlings first touch,his lack of ability to defend from the front or hold the ball up, and his indecision on the ball?

Sterling does get over analysed,i agree,but hats mainly down to him not living upto expectation.....he is supposed to be world class,a consistent game changer.....as his contract/wages are evidence,and yet we are very rarely seeing anything close.

 

[mosssideblue]

I really think its as simple as this:

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not the main man but alongside a world class finisher like Aguero? Fine! It's not on him to be insanely clinical! We don't notice as much and his goals are mainly complimentary, sometimes key, but crucially not the be all and end all.

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not alongside a world class finisher and has to shoulder more of the burden? Grating, as he gets more chances, and we notice the flaws more as we've not got someone like Aguero being more likely to score alongside him, which would lessen the importance of his misses.

Solution? Sign a great striker. Sterling becomes 'bonus' goals as opposed to the main source of goals. Everyone's happy.

So, are you saying we have our own version of Pogba, a luxury player who is paid vast sums, but needs someone alongside him to perform?

Surely, we should expect a level of ability and consistency from a player, who is not only one of the top earners, but has been playing at a senior level for many years.

I don't think many would argue that Sterling has some obvious flaws to his game, but with a club with huge aspirations, should we simply accept them, or look at alternatives. If the former, then restructure his pay accordingly and his place in the pecking order.

Would fans be happier if a replacement were brought in who had much better technique and improved us more?

 

[BillyShears]

I really think its as simple as this:

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not the main man but alongside a world class finisher like Aguero? Fine! It's not on him to be insanely clinical! We don't notice as much and his goals are mainly complimentary, sometimes key, but crucially not the be all and end all.

Sterling's goal contribution when he's not alongside a world class finisher and has to shoulder more of the burden? Grating, as he gets more chances, and we notice the flaws more as we've not got someone like Aguero being more likely to score alongside him, which would lessen the importance of his misses.

Solution? Sign a great striker. Sterling becomes 'bonus' goals as opposed to the main source of goals. Everyone's happy.

Except clearly everyone won't be happy.

Some people won't change the record until Sterling is sold - which is going to make the next five years very long for them ;)

 

[paulsimpson]

Raheem needs to be the player he can be . Starting tonight . C'mon lad .