Tugay One Cup
Well-Known Member
I just wonder exactly what it is about Raheem Sterling that turns so many people into such snarling dickheads.
He's been a fantastic servant to the club, has as big a trophy haul as any of our other players, scored loads of goals and got loads of assists, is well liked by his teammates and has always done his talking on the pitch. Compared to some of the other legends like Yaya, he's an absolute angel. In fact, even without comparing them, he's been a fantastic professional.
All of his achievements seem to be acknowledged in a begrudging way. Any time the lad gets praised, certain sections of the fanbase feel a really weird compulsion to have to try and top it by giving even more criticism. If you say that you'll remember him as a club legend, you'll get people telling you why you're wrong and listing a bunch of criteria which many other club legends don't tick. If you praise a performance, they'll criticise the opposition. If you praise a particular passage of play, they'll tell you why they think it wasn't as good as you believe.
I honestly don't think I've seen such unachievable standards set for a player of ours, even for those much more talented than he is. We've been far more forgiving towards players who have done far less with far more to offer.
That's all before we even get onto the insinuations about his character, despite there being no evidence to back it up.
His detractors amongst our supporters have an answer for everything, even if they're just the same circular, meaningless comments repeated again and again, to the whoops and hollers of others who share their disdain.
It's not about whether people rate him or not; I get why he's divisive as a footballer and I get just as frustrated with him as any right minded City supporter during matches but I simply don't get why so many of us are so proud of not rating him and will scream about it until they're blue in the face.
I'd like to think that he'll be remembered much more fondly a few years after he's left because I genuinely think he deserves better from us.
He's been a fantastic servant to the club, has as big a trophy haul as any of our other players, scored loads of goals and got loads of assists, is well liked by his teammates and has always done his talking on the pitch. Compared to some of the other legends like Yaya, he's an absolute angel. In fact, even without comparing them, he's been a fantastic professional.
All of his achievements seem to be acknowledged in a begrudging way. Any time the lad gets praised, certain sections of the fanbase feel a really weird compulsion to have to try and top it by giving even more criticism. If you say that you'll remember him as a club legend, you'll get people telling you why you're wrong and listing a bunch of criteria which many other club legends don't tick. If you praise a performance, they'll criticise the opposition. If you praise a particular passage of play, they'll tell you why they think it wasn't as good as you believe.
I honestly don't think I've seen such unachievable standards set for a player of ours, even for those much more talented than he is. We've been far more forgiving towards players who have done far less with far more to offer.
That's all before we even get onto the insinuations about his character, despite there being no evidence to back it up.
His detractors amongst our supporters have an answer for everything, even if they're just the same circular, meaningless comments repeated again and again, to the whoops and hollers of others who share their disdain.
It's not about whether people rate him or not; I get why he's divisive as a footballer and I get just as frustrated with him as any right minded City supporter during matches but I simply don't get why so many of us are so proud of not rating him and will scream about it until they're blue in the face.
I'd like to think that he'll be remembered much more fondly a few years after he's left because I genuinely think he deserves better from us.