To be fair he often has no right to get into those positions, it's his awareness and pace that gets him there that very few others have in their locker.
He'll never be a Messi as someone claimed earlier as he's not a natural finisher, that can't be coached, you either have it or you don't although you can be coached to reach a sufficient level.
I think some people tend to only notice when he messes up and don't see the brilliant things he does.
As for our best player this season, he's definitely in the conversation, he effects games, he forces the issue with his positive running, there's been a number of games that it's been his contribution that has made the difference, for example Hull away, Arsenal at home.
His numbers back it up too, don't understand why the PL don't credit a player winning a penalty as providing an assist, a free unchallenged shot from twelve yards is as good an assist as you can provide. Think how many penalties he's been denied too, for example Everton, that game completely changes if he's given the penalty he should've got, that would be his contribution again effecting the outcome, the Spurs game, need I say more.
He frustrates me too with his lack of confidence in front of goal but when the rest of his contribution is factored in I can see we have a gem.
The thing with his shooting is that it can be coached. We're not looking for him to have the innate ability to bang it in from 30-40 yards or curl it in from the outside of the box. We just need him to have more composure when 5-10 yards out. The number of times I've seen him mishit the ball or mistime his shot when a decent connection results in a goal is significantly higher than it should be for a professional footballer.
I don't buy into this "it can't be taught" statement when it comes to the issue with Sterling.
Firstly, let me state that I rate him hugely. His development has been outstanding under Pep and he's thrived from a manager telling him not to worry about losing the ball, just fight to win it back when you do - but not to let that fear change your natural game and sterilise your attributes. It's a great thing to say to a young player like Sterling and gives him huge confidence.
His assist for Defoe on Sunday was brilliant. Yes it was poor defending and only Lithuania but the fact is that very few other English players have the ability to do what he did. It wasn't just the pace, it was the strength to hold off the defender and the confidence to exploit that space. Last summer in the Euros, Sterling would have looked to pass the ball rather than make that move because his confidence was rock bottom.
His mentality is incredible. He was thrown under the bus by Rodgers, who allowed the public into his contractual situation and turned Anfield on his back. That then led to him being booed when playing for England time and time again and being publicly bashed for just about everything he did. He couldn't even buy him Mum a house!
Now he's a huge loss to City whenever he's out of the side because as people have rightly commented, his positioning is incredible. His movement off the ball is fantastic and he's a new player. He'll get better at finishing. I know City spend a lot of time practising the whipped ball in from wide positions and finishing the move off. I think it's just a case of spending time in training practising that over and over.
I remember Aaron Ramsey suddenly scoring for fun a few seasons back and he said it just came from someone saying to him in training he had much more time than he thought. To take a breath, to relax, to stay composed and to pick his spot. I’m sure we’ve all had it when playing ourselves, you get played through on goal and the adrenalin pumps and you snatch at the ball and blaze it over when it’s easier to score. I think it’s the same thing with Sterling, he just rushes things. On the flip side, his goal against West Ham at home earlier in the season was hugely composed and incredibly difficult to finish so he’s got the ability.
He probably could have had three or four more this season but he’s on an upward trajectory and that’s the main thing. Sometimes he passes when he shoots and vice versa. It’s a split second decision and I think Pep’s very much behind the idea of drawing the keeper out and passing to a team mate because I’ve seen Aguero do it at times when he would never in a million years do that in seasons gone by.
