#7 | Raheem Sterling - 2021/22 Performances

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I mean...this just happens every week, almost every match at the top level.

If you want to put the ball past a top goalkeeper from 20+ yards you need to hit it so hard that if you get it slightly wrong it goes miles off target. Not just that, but you're doing it after trying to beat 1 or 2 top level defenders or get the shot away before being closed down half a second later.

Rodri scored a beauty on Sunday, yesterday he hit one from the same spot 20 yards wide. Mahrez does it plenty as well.
Mbappe scored one and missed one too. Personally I am delighted that Raheem is back scoring and anticipate a steady improvement in his performances.
 




If it's true, yay or nay?

The thing about Sterling is that he gives us something very different. If he's scoring goals it's incredibly difficult to argue against him being part of the squad.

Saying that, I have no idea what Sterling wants, and rumours seem to be split between him angling for a move and angling for a spot back in the starting XI.
 
I agree.
I am sure you keep thousands of passengers safe, but you would murder City in a heartbeat.
To become an elite footballer, playing his whole career at the top level, under the Worlds best coach's, shows his qualities far outweigh any perceived inadequacies in technique.
It is a shame really that you cannot identify those rather than relying on confirmation bias.
“Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.”

Where on earth would I have got confirmation bias? He is a person whom I only know through his football and what I see on the field. No pre-conceived notions.

I laud him when he plays well (see my comments on his Everton performance) but also highlight his PERSISTENT shortfalls when I see them.

When he came here, he was young, exciting and direct. He chipped in with goals and looked to be a diamond in the rough. However, that diamond has not produced the brilliance it portended, and recently looked to be getting rougher, not more polished, in the City team.

I’m not sure what bias that illustrates. Am I racist? Do I just not like him? Have I read too much negative press and I’m just piling on?

What EXACTLY am I wrong about? How EXACTLY would I “murder City in a heartbeat”?

I don’t generally respond to baseless, emotional posts full of personal attacks without evidence…..Oh wait, that’s half of this Forum!…so EDUCATE ME, tell me what you’re seeing that I am missing.

Explain to me how his performances warrant a starting position when everyone is fit, and who he keeps out of this current team, and why.

It’s great to defend a player, but ACTUALLY defend him, don’t attack me.

I look forward to hearing about his great first touch, his technical qualities, his outstanding shooting, and his brilliant decision-making when on the ball. These are all traits I find lacking in him, so I look forward to you educating me and producing the evidence of these skills.

His best work is instinctive, like getting into positions to receive a pass…only to often fluff his lines from there, unless an instinctive finish is required, and even then he has a tendency to overthink it.

A perfect example is the difference between the one on one, from a cross/slotted pass against Everton. Instead of a first time shot/pass into the goal against Pickford, he tried to jink around him, and lost complete control of the ball before Pickford smothered it. Against PSG, the deflection through Jesus’ leg meant THE ONLY THING HE COULD DO was reach out and try to get a toe on the ball, which is exactly what he did!

Right place, right time, decisions to make: Lost control.

Right place, right time, no decision to make: GOAL!

Those are just two concrete examples from the last two games which illustrate exactly what I’m saying.

You can call that “confirmation bias” until you’re blue in the face, but I call it hard evidence of my position that he is technically inferior to every player with whom he is competing for a game, at present.

Is he better than Mahrez? Foden? Bernardo?

I didn’t even mention a fit Grealish, fit Torres or even Jesus?

There are SIX PLAYERS who play in similar positions that he has to beat out for a job.

Now, he could obviously play with a couple of them on the front line, but what of the other 4?

Yes, he has tapped in 3 in 3, which is great and long may it continue! But, my argument is that in a possession team, the low percentage “flick around the corner” when attacking is a killer “pass.” For comparison, Bernardo (who played as a false nine presser) had 47 passes last night, with 47 completions, not the least of which was a beautifully cushioned inside foot volley pass to Jesus for the winner! (Which was very similar to the one Sterling fluffed in the first half!)

That was our pressing center forward who ran himself into the ground last night, but he came up with that movement and volley pass with his tank 80% empty…decision-making and technical ability of the highest order!

THAT is the standard at City now, even for the bloody full backs, as evidenced by Walker’s flying airborne volley pass for the first goal!!!

Personally, I don’t think Sterlings game has progressed in the last 12-18 months, while the team has, which means his technical deficiencies and decision-making are being further exposed, even magnified.

Pep is called Fraudiola because people say he only goes to teams where he can spend a fortune on players. Yet, Pep himself readily admits he needs the most technically gifted players he can get to play the perfect football he tries to coach.

THAT is who we’re are now, and it has left Sterling behind through the lack of continued development. Palmer and MacAteer are being bloodied in the first team because of the very attributes I’m saying Sterling lacks. Accordingly, as their experience grows, I believe this will move him further down the pecking order, because Pep will TRUST THEM MORE to not give the ball away and have the technical ability to play the way he wants.

Horses for courses, as they say, and the City course isn’t suiting where Sterling currently is in his development, which I feel stalled, or at least has sputtered, over the last 12 months or so.

Now, refute me.
 
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I mean...this just happens every week, almost every match at the top level.

If you want to put the ball past a top goalkeeper from 20+ yards you need to hit it so hard that if you get it slightly wrong it goes miles off target. Not just that, but you're doing it after trying to beat 1 or 2 top level defenders or get the shot away before being closed down half a second later.

Rodri scored a beauty on Sunday, yesterday he hit one from the same spot 20 yards wide. Mahrez does it plenty as well.

Yep... that's why xG good.... about 0.02 for that shot.
 
So Sterling scores and has a brilliant game against a team with Mbappe, Messi, Neymar and some fans first reaction is,

“Get rid, not good enough!”

I did say some “fans” use Raheem as a scapegoat for how they feel about people of my complexion and ethnicity. It is not even hidden anymore.

Save your excuses we know what you are, just own it!
you think some people don't rate sterling because hes black, fuck me.
 
Yep... that's why xG good.... about 0.02 for that shot.
What would be interesting is an xG for individual players, against their conversion rate.

For instance, what was Sergio’s xG versus, say an Alan Shearer?

Today, it’d be nice to see it for Sterling, and how it compares to other forwards.
 
“Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.”

Where on earth would I have got confirmation bias? He is a person whom I only know through his football and what I see on the field. No pre-conceived notions.

I laud him when he plays well (see my comments on his Everton performance) but also highlight his PERSISTENT shortfalls when I see them.

When he came here, he was young, exciting and direct. He chipped in with goals and looked to be a diamond in the rough. However, that diamond has not produced the brilliance it portended, and recently looked to be getting rougher, not more polished, in the City team.

I’m not sure what bias that illustrates. Am I racist? Do I just not like him? Have I read too much negative press and I’m just piling on?

What EXACTLY am I wrong about? How EXACTLY would I “murder City in a heartbeat”?

I don’t generally respond to baseless, emotional posts full of personal attacks without evidence…..Oh wait, that’s half of this Forum!…so EDUCATE ME, tell me what you’re seeing that I am missing.

Explain to me how his performances warrant a starting position when everyone is fit, and who he keeps out of this current team, and why.

It’s great to defend a player, but ACTUALLY defend him, don’t attack me.

I look forward to hearing about his great first touch, his technical qualities, his outstanding shooting, and his brilliant decision-making when on the ball. These are all traits I find lacking in him, so I look forward to you educating me and producing the evidence of these skills.

His best work is instinctive, like getting into positions to receive a pass…only to often fluff his lines from there, unless an instinctive finish is required, and even then he has a tendency to overthink it.

A perfect example is the difference between the one on one, from a cross/slotted pass against Everton. Instead of a first time shot/pass into the goal against Pickford, he tried to jink around him, and lost complete control of the ball before Pickford smothered it. Against PSG, the deflection through Jesus’ leg meant THE ONLY THING HE COULD DO was reach out and try to get a toe on the ball, which is exactly what he did!

Right place, right time, decisions to make: Lost control.

Right place, right time, no decision to make: GOAL!

Those are just two concrete examples from the last two games which illustrate exactly what I’m saying.

You can call that “confirmation bias” until you’re blue in the face, but I call it hard evidence of my position that he is technically inferior to every player with whom he is competing for a game, at present.

Is he better than Mahrez? Foden? Bernardo?

I didn’t even mention a fit Grealish, fit Torres or even Jesus?

There are SIX PLAYERS who play in similar positions that he has to beat out for a job.

Now, he could obviously play with a couple of them on the front line, but what of the other 4?

Yes, he has tapped in 3 in 3, which is great and long may it continue! But, my argument is that in a possession team, the low percentage “flick around the corner” when attacking is a killer “pass.” For comparison, Bernardo (who played as a false nine presser) had 47 passes last night, with 47 completions, not the least of which was a beautifully cushioned inside foot volley pass to Jesus for the winner! (Which was very similar to the one Sterling fluffed in the first half!)

That was our pressing center forward who ran himself into the ground last night, but he came up with that movement and volley pass with his tank 80% empty…decision-making and technical ability of the highest order!

THAT is the standard at City now, even for the bloody full backs, as evidenced by Walker’s flying airborne volley pass for the first goal!!!

Personally, I don’t think Sterlings game has progressed in the last 12-18 months, while the team has, which means his technical deficiencies and decision-making are being further exposed, even magnified.

Pep is called Fraudiola because people say he only goes to teams where he can spend a fortune on players. Yet, Pep himself readily admits he needs the most technically gifted players he can get to play the perfect football he tries to coach.

THAT is who we’re are now, and it has left Sterling behind through the lack of continued development. Palmer and MacAteer are being bloodied in the first team because of the very attributes I’m saying Sterling lacks. Accordingly, as their experience grows, I believe this will move him further down the pecking order, because Pep will TRUST THEM MORE to not give the ball away and have the technical ability to play the way he wants.

Horses for courses, as they say, and the City course isn’t suiting where Sterling currently is in his development, which I feel stalled, or at least has sputtered, over the last 12 months or so.

Now, refute me.
Expect much head scratching from those with a different view point, followed by a confirmation bias based one line response of “Yeah but he’s scored 3 in 3”.

I’ve learned it’s best to praise the glimmers of hope and heavily temper your language when highlighting the short comings. You get less abuse and accusations.

You’re absolutely correct in your summation of course, though our course may change if we bring in a striker, and I have long held the belief that; that course may suit Sterling better.
 
What would be interesting is an xG for individual players, against their conversion rate.

For instance, what was Sergio’s xG versus, say an Alan Shearer?

Today, it’d be nice to see it for Sterling, and how it compares to other forwards.

xG is only readily available on public websites since about 14/15 so can't compare Sergio v Shearer.

Sterling entered scoring mode in 17/18 and can easily compare with great scorers since then on non-penalty goals.

From the table below for league games only Ronaldo's cumulative xG for non-penalty shots was 81 and he scored 85 non-penalty goals so just +4 over his xG. At the other extreme Messi is +33 which is simply incredible.

Jesus 51...44.....-7 (yes that's a minus so 7 goals down on his xG )
Ronaldo 81...85.....+4
Sterling 60....66....+6
Aguero 47....54....+7
Salah 79.....92... +13
Kane 64....77 ....+13
Messi 79... 112....+33



Conversion rate per shot and Sterling has the best. Obviously there are reasons for that and I'm sure you, as a great football man, will know what they are :)

Sterling 18%
Jesus 17%
Aguero 16%
Kane 16%
Salah 16%
Messi 16%
Ronaldo 12%
 
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Great to see him back in form and scoring regularly again (three in his last three games, I think). Still looks far more effective on the right, but guess him and Mahrez will have to alternate in that role as they both offer a lot in that position. Hope that he signs a new deal, but suspect that he’s ready for a change in the next year and won’t begrudge him that if it happens.
 
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