The Times has an alternative, more balanced view this morning.... (lifted from the SSN facts thread)
The tendency in the past few years has been to characterise Manchester City as some sort of graveyard for English players. It is a perception that will probably be given another airing this week as Raheem Sterling prepares to complete a £49 million move to the Etihad Stadium from Liverpool that will make him the most expensive English player in history.
In truth, it is a largely unfounded view that has gathered momentum the more it is lazily cited but one that hardly stands up to even vague examination.
Joe Hart joined City as a 19-year-old from Shrewsbury Town and has thrived in the nine years since, establishing himself as first choice for club and country and one of Europe’s leading goalkeepers.
James Milner made 201 appearances over five seasons during which time the midfielder won two Barclays Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup, which is probably far more than he can expect to win at his new club, Liverpool. Another midfielder, Gareth Barry, was an unqualified success. Eyebrows were raised at the £24 million City paid Everton for Joleon Lescott in 2009 but the centre half would come to justify the fee.
Micah Richards was an integral part of the first Premier League title-winning team in 2012 before the defender’s City career was derailed by a succession of injuries. Similarly, Jack Rodwell was rarely fit, a cycle of injury problems rather than a lack of opportunities to blame for the midfielder making ten starts in two years.
Scott Sinclair, the winger, did not play because he was not good enough and should never have been signed from Swansea City. Comparisons could easily be drawn with the predicament of Victor Moses at Chelsea, only Sinclair’s status as an Englishman ensured his exile was worthy of far greater scrutiny than the Nigeria winger’s battle against obscurity at Stamford Bridge.
Wayne Bridge and Nedum Onuoha served a purpose before improvements were found as City’s ambitions grew. Richard Wright is a third-choice goalkeeper. As for Adam Johnson, Roberto Mancini, Manuel Pellegrini’s predecessor as manager, had no doubts about the England winger’s talent and was desperate for him to deliver, but the player’s failure to apply himself properly off the field proved an enduring frustration and had inevitable consequences on it.
The point is nationality has no bearing on whether a player will succeed or not at City but application and attitude does. Sure, as a high-profile Englishman in a team blessed with too few of them Sterling will be under frequent scrutiny. Yet it is the combination of an exorbitant fee and a sullied reputation that have actually served to ramp up the pressure and leave this gifted 20-year-old with a lot less room for manoeuvre than he might ordinarily have experienced. Sterling has got his move but at what cost?
The task facing Sterling at City does not exactly mirror that of Johnson. The former Middlesbrough player, albeit two years older than Sterling when he moved to the Etihad, cost only £8 million from the Teesside club and was gradually introduced into the first team. At £49 million, there will be no hiding place for Sterling. His age will buy him some time and offer hope of a long, fruitful career at the club but at that price City and their fans will expect consistency, not one good game in five.
Nonetheless, Johnson’s plight is a cautionary tale for Sterling and there have been enough indiscretions in the latter’s recent past not to dismiss the theory that he could be more trouble than he is worth. Mancini with Brian Marwood, now the managing director of the City Football Academy, and the support staff at the club spent hours trying to counsel Johnson about the importance of conducting himself in the right way as well as reaching out to those close to him, but lifestyle issues persisted. Mancini would complain publicly about Johnson’s drinking habits. When Johnson was charged in April with three offences of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and one of grooming, the disappointment was felt keenly at City.
Sterling has had his brushes with the law. He was cleared at Liverpool magistrates court in September 2013 of common assault on a former girlfriend, a few months after a charge of common assault on a different woman was dropped just as the trial was due to start.
In April, he was photographed allegedly smoking a shisha pipe and inhaling nitrous oxide for recreational purposes and that is before we get to his ugly contract stand-off with Liverpool, the undignified attempts to agitate for a transfer and the dubious advice he has received from his agent, Aidy Ward, who has been rebuked by Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager.
Pellegrini may not be too concerned, though. It was in March that the City manager spelt out his longing for another “crack” player — a game-changer — and in Sterling he believes he has found one. It will certainly be interesting to see where and how the Chilean deploys his impending arrival. If he opts to start Wilfried Bony up front with Sergio Agüero, Sterling may be used primarily out wide, but it would be no surprise to see the player form part of a three-man attack with Agüero and David Silva.
English football needs Sterling to succeed, but his nationality will not be a factor if he falls short.
