Sterling’s contract - three year extension confirmed

[dave_blue12]

Bollocks...I highlighted the part you are ignoring! What does “perform at the highest level” mean in a team that is about ball possession and technical ability?



Errrrrrr....yes he does! Being “the best in his position” actually MEANS he is the most technically gifted in that role!



What a bunch of absolute bollocks!

Depends on your definition of technical ability.

If your definition is the ability to control and manipulate the ball then the guys with the best technical ability are probably freestylers who make a living from amazing ball control. They are not, however, footballers.

Playing football involves a whole lot more than controlling the ball, though a good level of control is, of course, necessary. An understanding of time and space is way more important than ultimate ball control.

There are many examples of players who had fairly basic ball skills but they had fantastic careers because they understood how to play the game. In short they knew where to be and when to be there and what to do next. In the City context I would say the Edin Dzeko fits that bill. He could easily play CF for Real Madrid.

It's a long time ago and I didn't play at a particularly high level but the opposition players who frustrated me most were those that always seemed to have time and space and didn't lose the ball. Often their skill levels were no better than anyone else playing but they looked much better because they had a better understanding of the game. As a high energy midfielder these guys pissed me off no end. Funny enough I also played with a guy who had amazing ball skills but no fucking clue how to play the game. At the level I played at he was a weapon but man was he frustrating to play with.

As for Sterling, his ball control is of a high enough standard which added to his game understanding makes him an outstanding player and anyone who doesn't think so clearly doesn't understand football. Thankfully the people who run our club do.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Depends on your definition of technical ability.

If your definition is the ability to control and manipulate the ball then the guys with the best technical ability are probably freestylers who make a living from amazing ball control. They are not, however, footballers.

Playing football involves a whole lot more than controlling the ball, though a good level of control is, of course, necessary. An understanding of time and space is way more important than ultimate ball control.

There are many examples of players who had fairly basic ball skills but they had fantastic careers because they understood how to play the game. In short they knew where to be and when to be there and what to do next. In the City context I would say the Edin Dzeko fits that bill. He could easily play CF for Real Madrid.

It's a long time ago and I didn't play at a particularly high level but the opposition players who frustrated me most were those that always seemed to have time and space and didn't lose the ball. Often their skill levels were no better than anyone else playing but they looked much better because they had a better understanding of the game. As a high energy midfielder these guys pissed me off no end. Funny enough I also played with a guy who had amazing ball skills but no fucking clue how to play the game. At the level I played at he was a weapon but man was he frustrating to play with.

As for Sterling, his ball control is of a high enough standard which added to his game understanding makes him an outstanding player and anyone who doesn't think so clearly doesn't understand football. Thankfully the people who run our club do.

I was with you all the way to the penultimate sentence. He isn’t outstanding...yet. He is playing in a team that is bringing out the best in him, but he himself isn’t outstanding yet. If he was, then he rally would be the top, top player that some here think he is.

 

[Callum Ramsey]

Bollocks...I highlighted the part you are ignoring! What does “perform at the highest level” mean in a team that is about ball possession and technical ability?



Errrrrrr....yes he does! Being “the best in his position” actually MEANS he is the most technically gifted in that role!



What a bunch of absolute bollocks!

At this point we're going in circles as others have tried to explain it to you but you still manage to miss the point. I will try to only answer your first point. A team that is supposedly about ball possession mainly constitutes of players with good understanding of time and space, ball control(especially in tight spaces), first touch and passing ability over mainly short distances. Sterling is arguably better than sane in all of those, so if you want a player for a possession based team sterling is the more technically suited for that team than sane is and seeing as only 3 players(de bruyne, otamendi, fernandinho) have had more minutes than him in the 2 seasons pep has been at the club then its fair to assume the manager and his staff think he is of the sufficient technical ability for a possession-based team that requires it.

So you really shoot yourself in the foot with your first response. On one hand you seem to be arguing that sterling is not of the technical ability to perform at the highest level for a team that is all about ball possession and technical ability when in actual reality he has been a key member of such a team over the past 2 seasons and you could argue his best performances have often been in the champions league at the highest level. So which is it, you can't seem to separate your opinion/bias from the fact which countless others have been trying to point to you but you're so stuck with your 'he's poor/average technically' mindset that you can't recognise that maybe you are wrong and he is not really as poor technically for a possession based pep side as you think he is. This will probably be my last response to you as I'm almost certain you will totally overlook or miss the point again but I tried

 

[Sir Joe Aguero]

I was with you all the way to the penultimate sentence. He isn’t outstanding...yet. He is playing in a team that is bringing out the best in him, but he himself isn’t outstanding yet. If he was, then he rally would be the top, top player that some here think he is.

He doesn't look out of place in a team including Aguero, Silva, KDB, Kompany, Sane, Bernardo. He was maybe our most important player last year in terms of points won, winners scored, G+A and the general mentality of our team. Take out those last-minute winners and we'd be around the 85 mark, instead of the greatest League season England has seen.

He's a top top player already.

 

[Tom_mcfc]

I was with you all the way to the penultimate sentence. He isn’t outstanding...yet. He is playing in a team that is bringing out the best in him, but he himself isn’t outstanding yet. If he was, then he rally would be the top, top player that some here think he is.

That’s where people move the goalposts on sterling. I’m in agreement he benefits from playing in a world class team whilst also having attributes that allow him to benefit I.e his movement. When you criticise him for England people say it’s because of the players around him why he doesn’t perform which completely confirms that point.

People defend his missed chances with the easy way out of “everybody misses chances” that’s right but no other player misses the absolute howlers on a regular basis like Sterling. That’s where people question his technical ability however you’re not allowed to say it. I do think from what we’ve seen already this season that it’s improved, his goals and that hit at Burnley have been the kind of things we’ve been missing on a regular basis from him.

In terms of his contract it’s worrying nothings signed or sounds close to being resolved.

 

[mosssideblue]

At this point we're going in circles as others have tried to explain it to you but you still manage to miss the point. I will try to only answer your first point. A team that is supposedly about ball possession mainly constitutes of players with good understanding of time and space, ball control(especially in tight spaces), first touch and passing ability over mainly short distances. Sterling is arguably better than sane in all of those, so if you want a player for a possession based team sterling is the more technically suited for that team than sane is and seeing as only 3 players(de bruyne, otamendi, fernandinho) have had more minutes than him in the 2 seasons pep has been at the club then its fair to assume the manager and his staff think he is of the sufficient technical ability for a possession-based team that requires it.

So you really shoot yourself in the foot with your first response. On one hand you seem to be arguing that sterling is not of the technical ability to perform at the highest level for a team that is all about ball possession and technical ability when in actual reality he has been a key member of such a team over the past 2 seasons and you could argue his best performances have often been in the champions league at the highest level. So which is it, you can't seem to separate your opinion/bias from the fact which countless others have been trying to point to you but you're so stuck with your 'he's poor/average technically' mindset that you can't recognise that maybe you are wrong and he is not really as poor technically for a possession based pep side as you think he is. This will probably be my last response to you as I'm almost certain you will totally overlook or miss the point again but I tried

The basis of your argument is that you believe you are correct, whilst others believe their argument to be correct.

Personally, I think sane trumps sterling for ball control in tight spaces and first touch

Bottom line is it is only opinions which are all equally as valid

 

[mosssideblue]

He doesn't look out of place in a team including Aguero, Silva, KDB, Kompany, Sane, Bernardo. He was maybe our most important player last year in terms of points won, winners scored, G+A and the general mentality of our team. Take out those last-minute winners and we'd be around the 85 mark, instead of the greatest League season England has seen.

He's a top top player already.

Sorry but to say Sterling alone got us those points in a team game is nonsense

 

[Sir Joe Aguero]

Sorry but to say Sterling alone got us those points in a team game is nonsense

I mean, he scored quite a few goals, in the last minute of a game we'd of dropped points in otherwise. He did.

 

[mosssideblue]

I mean, he scored quite a few goals, in the last minute of a game we'd of dropped points in otherwise. He did.

Of course he scored them but without his team mates he wouldn't of. Its a team game and always will be

 

[Callum Ramsey]

The basis of your argument is that you believe you are correct, whilst others believe their argument to be correct.

Personally, I think sane trumps sterling for ball control in tight spaces and first touch

Bottom line is it is only opinions which are all equally as valid

No the players and managers who play and understand the game will all tell you that sterling is better at playing in small spaces than sane, that is not just an opinion.

There's an interview with xavi where he states exactly that I will link below when asked about players who can play in small spaces.