#7 | Raheem Sterling - 2021/22 Performances

[jimmygrimblesboots]

if there is any player who is desperate for a goal it is Sterling , he mus thave had four clear opportunites in 30 minutes agianst Brugge and the ball still will not go in the net for him , you cannot fault his effort and he needs praise for keeping going and getting into the right postitions.
Maybe a couple of games in his best position playing as an out and out winger will bring him some form , but at the moment it is painful watching him play.

 

[Phil1]

Diana Ross is made up today after realising there's somebody out there with less composure in front of goal than her..

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Even as a massive Raz fan it is hard to not see the reasons why he may be off.

He's not gotten back to himself, even if I like others have wondered if he needs a proper no. 9 to be at his best (Was nodding when Ahsan from 9320 also hinted at this talking with Ste on his Esteemed Kompany channel recently).

It might be that the only solution for him is a change of scenery and even as I know that will frustrate some of us if he turns it around elsewhere, it may very well be it almost just cannot happen here. Hard for any of us to know, but that might the the reality.

Even if I can readily refer to how more than a few of our players under Pep who have seemed certain to be gone still found some way to return to form and get back into the team. I was convinced at one point that each one of Aguero, Stones, Bernardo and Mahrez and now Laporte (still could go) would be off, and they all stayed.

However, I do think it is worth considering that Sterling may be a different case linked to his personality, where we have long suspected he is one who really needs to "feel the love" more so than others. Whilst Pep has given him chances, including the CL final, Raz isn't producing enough to what we even saw with England this past summer at the Euros (will say his pass to Palmer was excellent yesterday, however) and with Grealish here now and what was spent for him you do wonder how that affects him (Daniel Storey on the Totally Football pod hinted this as possibly impacting things on Monday, I believe).

Grealish is not playing so well right now, so there is some window again for Sterling to prove himself, but it doesn't seem to be happening and makes me wonder, does he have that in him now?

Problem is the market is not great in general, nor for him for what he may want in wages or top clubs willing to just slot him in as a starter at the moment and he will have to downgrade his expectations for clubs and wages (the latter outside of say Newcastle which would be far worse in the former).

Barca, sure, but they won't pay the wages he wants. I guess their reputation and the attention that comes with it would be the allure, but he's not assured of time there even though Griezmann is gone. Fati is back and playing well it seems, but TBF, there is probably less competition than with us.

If he goes Palmer would get more opportunities, but whilst I feel Raz probably more likely to move this summer, seems anything could happen.

Agree with most of that , apart from Grealish , he is playing fine and is adjusting to the work rate needed to play for Pep , if you are judging him on goals then i doubt he will ever be a prolific scorer he never has been , but he will get his fair share of assists and win free kicks and get opponents booked . His link up with Cancelo is proving a big plus for the team , unfair to judge him after a dozen games

 

[City_Sean]

Thought his movement was very good. Regularly got into good positions. He just needs one to go in off his arse and he'll be fine.

I'm confident he can get back to his best.

 

[PrezIke]

Agree with most of that , apart from Grealish , he is playing fine and is adjusting to the work rate needed to play for Pep , if you are judging him on goals then i doubt he will ever be a prolific scorer he never has been , but he will get his fair share of assists and win free kicks and get opponents booked . His link up with Cancelo is proving a big plus for the team , unfair to judge him after a dozen games

Cheers. I'm not worried about or even trying to slag off Grealish, btw.

Agree entirely he needs time to get acclimated to the way we play. Several players who've been signed under Pep have taken time to bed in. Bernardo, Sane, Mahrez, Rodri are those that readily come to mind. Even Gundo was not respected by a good portion of our fans until last season.

Just saying Grealish not performing at the level he is capable of and I don't just mean goals. He's a bit slower in tempo and more deliberate than others from what I see and whilst that is a good change to have it's finding when and where to do this perhaps.

 

[St.Pauli support]

if there is any player who is desperate for a goal it is Sterling , he mus thave had four clear opportunites in 30 minutes agianst Brugge and the ball still will not go in the net for him , you cannot fault his effort and he needs praise for keeping going and getting into the right postitions.
Maybe a couple of games in his best position playing as an out and out winger will bring him some form , but at the moment it is painful watching him play.

Yeah, he's reaching the status of a tragic figure. Cancelo showed the world how to touch a football in all different ways under perfect control and even Kyle Walker scored! Raheem was trying, but no.

It seems Raz is afraid to bottle a chance - and bottles the chance.
He even knows he will, and we can see it in advance. That's so painful.

I hope he has hired a dozen mental coaches, as his ball control isn't a technical problem, he did it before. It's a mental problem. The poor lad isn't free at all, he has tons of pressure on his shoulders and works and works but is still missing the confidence in his end product. But it doesn't help, he just has to keep on working and mainly stop thinking.

On a positive note he did put in a great defensive shift in our own box late in the game. Good attitude. Keep it up, Raz.

 

[OntarioBlue]

if there is any player who is desperate for a goal it is Sterling , he mus thave had four clear opportunites in 30 minutes agianst Brugge and the ball still will not go in the net for him , you cannot fault his effort and he needs praise for keeping going and getting into the right postitions.
Maybe a couple of games in his best position playing as an out and out winger will bring him some form , but at the moment it is painful watching him play.

You’re spot on and it’s really hard to understand why he is so poor when he gets a chance on goal in a game. I was watching him in shooting practice before the Burnley game on Saturday and he was absolutely smashing the ball into the net. So, clearly he knows how to do it - he just can’t make it happen in a game.

When he gets in on goal, especially when he is one on one with the keeper he freezes and looks like he has no idea what to do.

He obviously has the ability. Maybe a few sessions with a sports pschologist might be the answer. If he doesn’t get this sorted he will drop further down the pecking order and we’ll end up giving him away, which would be a sad waste of talent (and money).

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

You’re spot on and it’s really hard to understand why he is so poor when he gets a chance on goal in a game. I was watching him in shooting practice before the Burnley game on Saturday and he was absolutely smashing the ball into the net. So, clearly he knows how to do it - he just can’t make it happen in a game.

When he gets in on goal, especially when he is one on one with the keeper he freezes and looks like he has no idea what to do.

He obviously has the ability. Maybe a few sessions with a sports pschologist might be the answer. If he doesn’t get this sorted he will drop further down the pecking order and we’ll end up giving him away, which would be a sad waste of talent (and money).

I saw the last 4 or 5 attempts of that and he did look v v good. As did Mahrez. KDB couln't hit a barn door..

 

[roach3]

Im amazed at the patience of some fans on here, sterling as much as i love the guy has been shit for the last 18-24 months.
If this was a form issue it should have passed by now, the guy is struggling to make 3 yard passes sometimes
Im not a sterling hater but we cannot afford to carry players that contantly dont produce.
pep has given him loads of time to recapture his form even leaving better players on the bench.
its time to say thanks raz but you need time out and fresh surroundings.

 

[HamannCheese]

It's been awhile since I've posted on here but Sterling's poor form and his inability to actually play football at the moment has compelled me to post. What is going on with him?