It's Quiet Thread 15 - Txiki Blinders

[FantasyIreland]

As I say, merely for the topic of debate, I personally fear we may have already had the best of Raheem and was interested what other Blues felt, without it becoming a vilification of a player who has served us very well?

The evidence would suggest so,he was brilliant a couple of seasons back,he frightened the life out of the opposition with his pace,movement and trickery and more often than not had some sort of end product.
Those attributes have gradually reduced over the past 18/24 months culminating in the player we are witnessing now.....one who is still capable but one who is also very inconsistent,lacks control and doesn't quite terrify defenders like he used to.
I think the dip in form has lasted too long to be a temporary issue......so has he regressed? or has his game been figured out and he is not capable of reinvention?

 

[dave_blue12]

The elephant in the room for me continues to be Sterling, because I think we need to contemplate a sale at the earliest opportunity.

Just my opinion, I have celebrated his goals and achievements with City just like everybody else, so not a statement to knock him, respectful of his time with us.

I have been watching him closely for the last 18 months or so since an obvious downturn in form.

I had put it down to fatigue and being overplayed, resulting in a lack of confidence.

However, I am seeing worrying signs it might be because he has actually peaked?

He was knocking on the first team door at the age of 15 and is more like 30 in playing years.

Raheem always had that spark which took him beyond his marker inside the first three or four yards, but he has lost his raw pace in my opinion.

It has made him indecisive and impacted his decision making.

The contract situation is a dilemma, but there is a point when it needs to be asked if he justifies being retained for another four or five years, never mind a regular starting place in the City team?

Raheem wouldn't be the first wonderkid to find his powers waning a little earlier than his age would suggest?

I always felt Michael Owen peaked at 22, he was absolutely electric beforehand, but his pace deserted him due to injuries.

Rooney hit 27 and the writing was obvious he wasn't the same player.

Perhaps we might even be seeing it with Kane?

All these guys have played a lot of football before their mid-20s.

As I say, merely for the topic of debate, I personally fear we may have already had the best of Raheem and was interested what other Blues felt, without it becoming a vilification of a player who has served us very well?

I tend to agree.

We see odd flahes of the old Raz but I think these will become less and less. And in my opinion he is not a player who can successfully reinvent himself.

Given his contract situation selling him now would be the perfect solution.

 

[Mad 4 It]

The elephant in the room for me continues to be Sterling, because I think we need to contemplate a sale at the earliest opportunity.

Just my opinion, I have celebrated his goals and achievements with City just like everybody else, so not a statement to knock him, respectful of his time with us.

I have been watching him closely for the last 18 months or so since an obvious downturn in form.

I had put it down to fatigue and being overplayed, resulting in a lack of confidence.

However, I am seeing worrying signs it might be because he has actually peaked?

He was knocking on the first team door at the age of 15 and is more like 30 in playing years.

Raheem always had that spark which took him beyond his marker inside the first three or four yards, but he has lost his raw pace in my opinion.

It has made him indecisive and impacted his decision making.

The contract situation is a dilemma, but there is a point when it needs to be asked if he justifies being retained for another four or five years, never mind a regular starting place in the City team?

Raheem wouldn't be the first wonderkid to find his powers waning a little earlier than his age would suggest?

I always felt Michael Owen peaked at 22, he was absolutely electric beforehand, but his pace deserted him due to injuries.

Rooney hit 27 and the writing was obvious he wasn't the same player.

Perhaps we might even be seeing it with Kane?

All these guys have played a lot of football before their mid-20s.

As I say, merely for the topic of debate, I personally fear we may have already had the best of Raheem and was interested what other Blues felt, without it becoming a vilification of a player who has served us very well?

He needs a change and so do City

 

[waspish]

The elephant in the room for me continues to be Sterling, because I think we need to contemplate a sale at the earliest opportunity.

Just my opinion, I have celebrated his goals and achievements with City just like everybody else, so not a statement to knock him, respectful of his time with us.

I have been watching him closely for the last 18 months or so since an obvious downturn in form.

I had put it down to fatigue and being overplayed, resulting in a lack of confidence.

However, I am seeing worrying signs it might be because he has actually peaked?

He was knocking on the first team door at the age of 15 and is more like 30 in playing years.

Raheem always had that spark which took him beyond his marker inside the first three or four yards, but he has lost his raw pace in my opinion.

It has made him indecisive and impacted his decision making.

The contract situation is a dilemma, but there is a point when it needs to be asked if he justifies being retained for another four or five years, never mind a regular starting place in the City team?

Raheem wouldn't be the first wonderkid to find his powers waning a little earlier than his age would suggest?

I always felt Michael Owen peaked at 22, he was absolutely electric beforehand, but his pace deserted him due to injuries.

Rooney hit 27 and the writing was obvious he wasn't the same player.

Perhaps we might even be seeing it with Kane?

All these guys have played a lot of football before their mid-20s.

As I say, merely for the topic of debate, I personally fear we may have already had the best of Raheem and was interested what other Blues felt, without it becoming a vilification of a player who has served us very well?

unless we are happy to sell him for 50m there is no buyers out there no swap deals out there, he will either sign a new contract or leave in two years on a free..

 

[BlueBrain]

The elephant in the room for me continues to be Sterling, because I think we need to contemplate a sale at the earliest opportunity.

Just my opinion, I have celebrated his goals and achievements with City just like everybody else, so not a statement to knock him, respectful of his time with us.

I have been watching him closely for the last 18 months or so since an obvious downturn in form.

I had put it down to fatigue and being overplayed, resulting in a lack of confidence.

However, I am seeing worrying signs it might be because he has actually peaked?

He was knocking on the first team door at the age of 15 and is more like 30 in playing years.

Raheem always had that spark which took him beyond his marker inside the first three or four yards, but he has lost his raw pace in my opinion.

It has made him indecisive and impacted his decision making.

The contract situation is a dilemma, but there is a point when it needs to be asked if he justifies being retained for another four or five years, never mind a regular starting place in the City team?

Raheem wouldn't be the first wonderkid to find his powers waning a little earlier than his age would suggest?

I always felt Michael Owen peaked at 22, he was absolutely electric beforehand, but his pace deserted him due to injuries.

Rooney hit 27 and the writing was obvious he wasn't the same player.

Perhaps we might even be seeing it with Kane?

All these guys have played a lot of football before their mid-20s.

As I say, merely for the topic of debate, I personally fear we may have already had the best of Raheem and was interested what other Blues felt, without it becoming a vilification of a player who has served us very well?

I think the most difficult situation with Sterling is the contract delima. The real situation is that he is a player in seriously bad form for 18 months with 2 years left wanting wages on the level of Kevin De Bruyne.

Which puts the club in a really tough position because:

A) do you sell today? You potentially lose out on a 26 year old player that is English

B) sign him up to a new deal on KDBs level to "secure the asset". Which goes against the wage structure of the club in rewarding players for their performances

C) make a decision next season when the threat of him leaving becomes even higher due to his contract only having 1 year left on it

I'm at the point where I am "okay" in selling him. But at the same no club is paying over 70-80m the club would want

 

[argyle]

Oh Sterling. :/

 

[Mad 4 It]

I think the most difficult situation with Sterling is the contract delima. The real situation is that he is a player in seriously bad form for 18 months with 2 years left wanting wages on the level of Kevin De Bruyne.

Which puts the club in a really tough position because:

A) do you sell today? You potentially lose out on a 26 year old player that is English

B) sign him up to a new deal on KDBs level to "secure the asset". Which goes against the wage structure of the club in rewarding players for their performances

C) make a decision next season when the threat of him leaving becomes even higher due to his contract only having 1 year left on it

I'm at the point where I am "okay" in selling him. But at the same no club is paying over 70-80m the club would want

Swap deal for Frenkie De Jong

 

[manimanc]

I noticed something about sterling last night. He was receiving the ball out wide and started checking. (term used for feet being jittery before receiving the ball).
So before he gets the ball he's already unsettled and not in control. He came on to the ball but he lost it within a couple of seconds. It's almost like he has to think what to do before he actually does it and that is causing him to be indecisive. In the centurions season everything came natural to him, it was effortless and he was immense that year.
Now he's just not the same and like tolm alluded to maybe he's peaked and this is the decline we're seeing, whatever it is it sticks out like a sore thumb.
He should have gone off last night not Phil, was a major bollock dropped by Southgate.

 

[hammersmithlad]

The elephant in the room for me continues to be Sterling, because I think we need to contemplate a sale at the earliest opportunity.

Just my opinion, I have celebrated his goals and achievements with City just like everybody else, so not a statement to knock him, respectful of his time with us.

I have been watching him closely for the last 18 months or so since an obvious downturn in form.

I had put it down to fatigue and being overplayed, resulting in a lack of confidence.

However, I am seeing worrying signs it might be because he has actually peaked?

He was knocking on the first team door at the age of 15 and is more like 30 in playing years.

Raheem always had that spark which took him beyond his marker inside the first three or four yards, but he has lost his raw pace in my opinion.

It has made him indecisive and impacted his decision making.

The contract situation is a dilemma, but there is a point when it needs to be asked if he justifies being retained for another four or five years, never mind a regular starting place in the City team?

Raheem wouldn't be the first wonderkid to find his powers waning a little earlier than his age would suggest?

I always felt Michael Owen peaked at 22, he was absolutely electric beforehand, but his pace deserted him due to injuries.

Rooney hit 27 and the writing was obvious he wasn't the same player.

Perhaps we might even be seeing it with Kane?

All these guys have played a lot of football before their mid-20s.

As I say, merely for the topic of debate, I personally fear we may have already had the best of Raheem and was interested what other Blues felt, without it becoming a vilification of a player who has served us very well?

Good point. I’ve always regarded Raz as a confidence player. When it’s sky high he’s on top form & when it’s low he tries too hard, head down & forgets the basics.
I’m sure none of us would class him as a natural finisher & inevitably when he has time to think about a shot it’s rarely successful.

As for his contract situation, if it was solely down to Pep I think he would be ruthless & let him go much like he has done with our previous brigade who have served us well. However, since Pep states he doesn’t get involved with contract situations, it must be down to our board who I think will take a more softer approach with Raz & eventually agree a new contract taking into account how he has served the club.

The ruthless move for City to do is sell him at a relative peak & invest in a new Raz whoever that maybe, but the current economic climate will most likely dictate otherwise.

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

The evidence would suggest so,he was brilliant a couple of seasons back,he frightened the life out of the opposition with his pace,movement and trickery and more often than not had some sort of end product.
Those attributes have gradually reduced over the past 18/24 months culminating in the player we are witnessing now.....one who is still capable but one who is also very inconsistent,lacks control and doesn't quite terrify defenders like he used to.
I think the dip in form has lasted too long to be a temporary issue......so has he regressed? or has his game been figured out and he is not capable of reinvention?

Perhaps the regression is compounded because, as you say, two years ago he was virtually unplayable and didn't try to stand his man up?

For whatever reason, he doesn't seemingly trust that directness anymore, so he is giving defenders more opportunity to expose his lack of technique and decision making?

The saying form is temporary, class is permanent, is well known, yet Raheem never gets injured and has already had a career of games most 30 year-olds would be proud to boast of.

I have assumed for a while he could play his way out of this funk, but I am concerned he either needs a fresh start somewhere else, or he has peaked.

The worry is, he exhibits the same issues for England, in terms of general paucity in his play, so it must feel like a delicate balancing act for City at this juncture in his career?