#7 | Raheem Sterling - 2020/21 Performances

[mosssideblue]

It's not really a tough decision though.

You have a 26 year old who's been absolutely integral the the performance of the team and scored and assisted more goals than anyone else in the squad over the length of his current contract. Yeah he's had a below par season but there's obvious reasons why. You re-sign him.

it's that simple. I don't believe for 1 second the club is even debating whether he gets a new contract or not, and from what @BillyShears and IIRC @tolmie's hairdoo have said, they aren't.

Of course its a tough decision. I suspect the board will look at risk, probability and consequence of each scenario before making an informed decision.

Obviously the best outcome for the club is he fully rediscovers and maintains his form, but how long do they give?

What if the club offer a new enhanced contract and he doesn't rediscover form?
What if we sell and he does rediscover his form?

IMO, the former is the higher risk to the club from a financial perspective

 

[kwm1988]

I know this doesn't satisfy the forum's need to draw permanent conclusions and thirst for telling our own players to fuck off and be sold, but maybe he's just fucking tired and needs a rest? And maybe we should just let him get that rest without devoting hundreds of posts to gossiping like teenage girls about how he's lost Pep's trust because he didn't come on in a game we'd already won.

He has been the only omnipresent player in this side other than Ederson. KDB has had almost 2 season out injured. Bernardo spent 18 months on the bench after he burnt out in 18/19, Mahrez has only started 50% of games since he arrived, Foden hasn't played until this season so no wonder he's the freshest and Gundogan spent 4 seasons behind David Silva.

Sterling did an absolutely monumental job for the team last year, taking up all of the slack from Sané leaving and Aguero getting injured.

The guy deserves a season out of form more than anyone, and he certainly deserves it without a horde of supporters trying to undermine or erase all the good he did in the past 4 years and demand he gets sold. Not to mention the racist abuse from his own fans both online and in person which he has got, despite some posters' attempts to pretend it didn't happen or wasn't from City fans.

All competitions + Internationals

View attachment 14816

Just for City -

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And by the way, those stats include this season when he's been in poor form and in and out of the team. At the beginning of the season, he'd played 50 games worth of football more than Bernardo since 2017/18. 25 more games than KDB, and 70 games more than Gundogan. And we've actually got 430 pages of people asking why he's out of form.

good post.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

It's really puzzling what's going on with Raz. I watched him closely in the qualifier against Poland and it looked like he was getting his mojo back - he really looked good.

England don't play like we do and playing style is always going to have an effect.

We are far more methodical and technical than in previous seasons. I think if you didn't know the teams and compared 17/18 City with 20/21 City, you would be convinced they were managed by a different person.

17/18 we played a lot quicker, with balls in between CBs and FBs to Sane and Sterling to run on to. This really suited Sterling.

20/21 we have a much slower tempo with most of our play in front of the opposition. Strategically moving them around like a game of chess. I don't think this suits Sterling at all because some of his major weaknesses are ball control and short, sharp one and two touch passing.

Dare I say it - He would look fantastic at United.

 

[domalino]

Of course its a tough decision. I suspect the board will look at risk, probability and consequence of each scenario before making an informed decision.

Obviously the best outcome for the club is he fully rediscovers and maintains his form, but how long do they give?

What if the club offer a new enhanced contract and he doesn't rediscover form?
What if we sell and he does rediscover his form?

IMO, the former is the higher risk to the club from a financial perspective

Can you name any 25/26 year old player who has lost form permanently without suffering a big injury or changing club?

 

[mosssideblue]

Can you name any 25/26 year old player who has lost form permanently without suffering a big injury or changing club?

Are you suggesting it could never happen?

A couple of years older but our very own Joe Hart falls into that category particularly well.

 

[domalino]

Are you suggesting it could never happen?

A couple of years older but our very own Joe Hart falls into that category particularly well.

So that's a no. Not one example, other than a guy who was 30 and got booted out by a new manager (afte rejecting offers to stay as a back up).

It never happens, it's not something the club will concern themselves with. It's the same level of worry they might have about KDB's knee exploding again after we sign him to a new deal. It's not theoretically impossible, but it's so unlikely you can't live your life worrying about it.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

It's not really a tough decision though.

You have a 26 year old who's been absolutely integral the the performance of the team and scored and assisted more goals than anyone else in the squad over the length of his current contract. Yeah he's had a below par season but there's obvious reasons why. You re-sign him.

it's that simple. I don't believe for 1 second the club is even debating whether he gets a new contract or not, and from what @BillyShears and IIRC @tolmie's hairdoo have said, they aren't.

I fully expect the club to give him a new contract, but I am less convinced than I was 2 months ago. I think we all saw a relationship between Pep and Sterling where Pep absolutely loved him. I'm not convinced the same still applies.

Re contract - It had better not be that simple. If the club is dishing out £50m+ contracts without debating the merit of doing so, it is a problem. I don't believe this is the case.

 

[decmancity]

I fully expect the club to give him a new contract, but I am less convinced than I was 2 months ago. I think we all saw a relationship between Pep and Sterling where Pep absolutely loved him. I'm not convinced the same still applies.

Re contract - It had better not be that simple. If the club is dishing out £50m+ contracts without debating the merit of doing so, it is a problem. I don't believe this is the case.

How Pep is now with Foden is how he was with Sterling a few seasons ago. The one to one coaching, hugging on the sidelines, discussion in the media and so on.

I wonder if hes a bit pissed off by being replaced basically as the teachers pet, Sterling was always the wonderkid of England especially at the dippers and then when he joined City and performed better than ever before his stock had never been higher. He was the face of fighting against racism in the media and was winning title after title. Now Foden has come into the team and nobody speaks about Sterling anymore.

I think he will get a new contract unless someone puts an offer on the table, which is very unlikely with the finances available across Europe. We have to roll the dice that he can get his form back, if he gets into the form of his life next year then hes 1 year away from leaving on a free which we are not in the business of doing.

 

[TonyM]

I think there are a few alternatives that are likely to be better. If we can afford them and they'll come then Sterling should be sold this window.

In the meantime, I don't want to see him starting any game that truly matters.

 

[mosssideblue]

So that's a no. Not one example, other than a guy who was 30 and got booted out by a new manager (afte rejecting offers to stay as a back up).

It never happens, it's not something the club will concern themselves with. It's the same level of worry they might have about KDB's knee exploding again after we sign him to a new deal. It's not theoretically impossible, but it's so unlikely you can't live your life worrying about it.

It seems your the one worrying about it.