Raheem Sterling | Arsenal Player (on loan)

My take.
To get Legend status, it takes more than being a good player or an important one.
Otherwise Yaya would be a Legend.
Sterling isn't a City Legend, but absolutely a "City Great".
 
David El Mago Silva said:
The main reasons I think he could struggle initially at Chelsea:
  • Playing as a centre forward isn't his natural game and exposes some of his deficiencies.
  • They get their width from the wingbacks so it's not easy to see where he fits in.
  • I don't think the pressure of being "the main man" will help him.
The only way I can see it changing is if Tuchel switches to a back four. That's when they'll see the best of Sterling, especially if they get a genuine centre forward for him to play off.

The expectation of being the new big name signing should diminish as soon as they sign another big player. That will help him as I don't think Raheem thrives when everyone is looking to him to be the game changer all the time. He's better at being the support act so to speak, like he was with Aguero.
Click to expand...

I think he'll do really well in a 343 or 352 as soon as he has a partner up top who'll run channels and stretch the pitch. Aubameyang looks like it's happening and I suspect that will work quite well.
 
SWP's back said:
Yes obviously, if a player has a high xG and averages above it then they’ve done very well. That’s not happening right now though.

Nor does he average above his xG since his form fell off over two years ago.

View attachment 53642
Click to expand...
I like that in the sense I know you to be in the Sterling negative camp but are bringing data to the argument.

If you've not tried it, FBref is more robust for xG than the instant understat algorithm.
Sterling fares very well compared to the other big hitters (and Jesus) for the last 4 seasons- +5.5 from 52.5 npxG as per the table. Sterling was -1 on fbref last season and -1.4 in 20/21. So yes the last 2 have been his poor years but at the moment it's so marginal it's just variance - Kane, Mane, Salah etc suffer the same whilst Son is a freak and Gabby was very poor.


4 Yrs.jpg

I disagree with you about his form in 21/22. Up to the November international break he had only started 4 out of 11 PL games and 0 out of 4 CL group games. After the international break and up until late in the season his form was generally good. In fact, I go as far to say he contributed more to the PL win than any of the he other 4 in in the front 5 rotation albeit not at previous levels.

My opinion will be torn to shreds by many on here so I'll try and back it up.


1. the best manager in the world picked him more than the others despite the fall-out. Sure, still rotated in the league but got the most minutes of the front 5.

2. his stats were good - using understat (its easier to filter than fbref) here are the top 6 scorers in the league since November. Not bad eh? -1.35 under npxG but fuck me look at Salah and Kane.

4under.jpg

3. For a variety of reasons I store lots of football and City data including amongst other things the results of the Bluemoon Man of the Match poll. The results of a broad spread of Bluemoon posters reflects a more positive narrative about his form in 21/22.

Total Votes for the season where registering 10 or more votes in a game and figures in brackets are for MOTM and 2nd place ie Bernie MOTM 9 times and 2nd 5 times:

3456 - Bernardo (9+5)
2892- KDB (8+2)
1655 - Rodri (3+5)
1394 - Sterling (5+3)
1133 - Gabby (2+1)
1105 - Gundog (3+2)

The scores above can mask the shit games. So another way of approaching the data for consistency is looking at the games where a player has 10 or more votes. For the last 75% of the season (when Sterling a regular starter again) there were just 4 players who had managed that more than 10 times. Closest was Cancelo with 9 times.
14- KDB
13- Bernardo
12- Rodri
12 - Sterling

I'm obviously a Sterling fan boy.The positives outweigh the negatives. Unsurprisingly I'm a fan boy of the rest of them who have made big contributions. He has a total respect from me for the brilliant contribution he has made over the last 5 years of our domestic domination. But I'm glad he's gone and he can fuck off with his recent comments but ultimately I don't care about them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.