I have always thought there was a big difference between pre and post lyon miss Sterling. Pre lyon miss Sterling was brilliant. But after that he opened the door and Foden displaced him in the starting 11.
Even when we played you in the CL final and Pep showed the ultimate faith in him by shelfing our system by taking off Rodri/ Fernandinho for Sterling in the big game.. he never raised his game.
We did get the purple patch as well where his cross to Gundo vs Villa started the epic turnaround in the 22 finale but honestly with his tendency running into goal posts and knock himself out.. that might have contributed to Pep losing all his hair and deciding to move him on!
When you say Raheem Sterling "never raised his game" in the Champions league final against Chelsea....
You do realise that Sterling was played on his weaker left side,by Pep...
And was marshalled superbly by Reece James..in my opinion the best Right Back in the World...when fit..
To understand Football you have to take into consideration being asked to play on the left in the biggest game of his life,by a manager who ..had his reasons to do so.
If you watch the footage of that champions league match,early doors Sterling does as much as he possibly can to get round James,but James followed him adroitly,every twist and turn ,and put in strong clean, tackles... every time ..,even in the 6 yard box when sterling drifted in on his stronger right foot .James was there to block,at risk of giving away a penalty. It was,in my opinion...A fascinating battle between two Great players,but Sterling was hampered ...by having to attack from the left...not his natural ,instinctive game. He still ran at James at full pelt multiple times going inside and out to the dead ball line but James had the pace dexterity and the perfectly timed robust challenge. Every time.
When Pep first came to City,Sterling had been in a wretched run of form with fans on his back under Manuel...playing on the left
Pep turned up, and in a pre season friendly ,away ,put Sterling on the right...
The players relief was instantly tangible..He could now express himself and attack on his stronger side,he played well in that match and carried his good form on into The season..scoring a lot of goals for City,important goals ..
Sterling did his absolute best for City v Chelsea champions league final ,he just had a very very good player marking him. That happens...at the highest level of football.
Just as an aside...think back to the European cup between Forest and Hamburg...the media asked Clough before the game about the danger of Manny Kaltz..arguably the best Right Back in the World at the time...
Clough said something like we have a young man by the name of John Robertson......Robertson was a truly two footed player. He played left side and created numerous goals for forest by swinging accurate crosses from the left dead ball line,with his left foot...but in the European cup final,he surprised Kaltz by cutting inside and swerving a great shot into the far corner with his right foot...his favoured foot.
John Robertson was an amazing player,the exact opposite of Sterling in every way... When he took penalties, he used his right foot,for example the one he stuck away at the Stretford end in the league cup final replay against Liverpool. Right foot.
Pep would have loved to coach John Robertson. A true versatile wing wizard.Sterling didn't have the confidence on his left side but had blinding pace..
Difficult to say who was the better player tho....all things considered.
