And I'd say the blind praise for his performances and complete denial that he (so far) from his time at Liverpool, City and England combined looks like anything other than an average pacey winger, is verging on Dzeko Bosnia fanboy status.
There is no agenda against the bloke. He's getting criticism where Aguero, Toure and others are too. There's no arguing he gives us something 'different' but so far the negatives of that 'different' are far outweighing the positives.
Again with the age argument, it's just a shame that Jo, Boyata and Savic didn't receive the same kind of support. Nobody seemed arsed when they were getting slated on a daily basis.
I sincerely hope he turns it around and starts to justify his lunatic transfer fee (admittedly not his fault), but until he does, then he'll get the criticism he's due. It's hardly unsubstantiated.
Being an extremely cynical person, I appreciate the importance of criticism. I also know that criticism is useless when you can't apply basic logic.
Firstly, let's get this over with, Jo is shit, Boyata was given six years to prove himself and the sale of Savic was, in my opinion, a pretty big mistake. What does this have to do with Raheem either way?
The "average pacy winger" argument doesn't hold up because, as far as I'm aware, none of these average pacey wingers England have had over the last two decades has been our best performer at a major international tournament other than Raheem. Lennon, SWP, Walcott etc have not been a part of an attacking lineup that has taken their clubs as close to winning the league as Sterling when he was at Liverpool. Say what you want about Suarez being as good as he is but there's a reason that the kids gave Liverpool's former front three one of those silly abbreviated names. Sterling was a vital part in dragging the team up the table that season.
No, the negatives don't outweigh the positives. He's scored, assisted and shown that he will continue to get in those positions and, with some work on his positioning and final ball, he will become more clinical. Yes, he's missed some chances but at least he keeps his chin up and keeps working for the next opportunity. On top of that he's playing in a team where the two main strikers are in terrible, wasteful form and he still works his socks off defensively.
And to say there's no agenda against him is bollocks. Nobody is saying the illuminati are doing it because Brendan Rodgers is a lizard who shot JFK and helped cover up 9/11. The fact is that Sterling will now forever be seen in an unfavourable light by a club with a huge influence over media portrayal. They want him to fail. Tabloids will use it as an excuse (and already have) to pry and make unfair accusations about his character. Agreed?
He'll get no "blind praise" from me, as will none of the other players. But forgive me for not throwing my toys out of the pram because the majority of our team hasn't provided you with the displays you wanted over the last four games.
