Topic: Raheem Sterling

[Schmidt]

That sounds like the kind of thing that a player might like some support from the stands over - assuming he didn't deliberately miss the penalty and free-kick.  What do we know though, eh?

I remember their supporters being supportive of Torres when he was there even though he barely mustered a handful of good performances in his first season.  I guess it's easier to be supportive of an underachieving player when the team is doing well despite them.  Or maybe it's because a section of their fans never warmed to Sterling for some reason 

I think with Torres they just didn't want to admit they'd given us £50 million for a broken player.

[alonsoisared]

I still maintain that he's genuinely shit. A waste of talent. He was so good when he broke through with us, but all of that was gradually put to the side or coached out of him. His best quality was his ability to receive the ball with his back to goal, turn and run at defenders. He also had a very decent cross on the occasions he played on the wing, that would've been pre 13/14. Over time he seemed to solely become a tap in merchant- arrive on the back post enough times and you'll score a fuck load of goals in that city team. Even then, he has a remarkable tendency to fuck it up from five yards out.

Really weird player who I feel could've been so much better. Nobody ever sorted out his shooting, nobody ever got to the bottom of his decision making in the final third or his genuinely shocking looking technique.

[disgraced cake]

I still maintain that he's genuinely shit. A waste of talent. He was so good when he broke through with us, but all of that was gradually put to the side or coached out of him. His best quality was his ability to receive the ball with his back to goal, turn and run at defenders. He also had a very decent cross on the occasions he played on the wing, that would've been pre 13/14. Over time he seemed to solely become a tap in merchant- arrive on the back post enough times and you'll score a fuck load of goals in that city team. Even then, he has a remarkable tendency to fuck it up from five yards out.

Really weird player who I feel could've been so much better. Nobody ever sorted out his shooting, nobody ever got to the bottom of his decision making in the final third or his genuinely shocking looking technique.

My feeling since he left Liverpool has always been that he only had a really good three months with us in February/March/April 2014. Not to say he was shit or anything because he was only really young but those where the only ever times I thought he played to the best of his abilities. Before that, liked the look of him, had clear potential but wasn't really judging him on how many goals he could chip in with at that age. In his last season it was tough all round on the club but I saw nothing I was really excited about. Like I say, if we had the exact same youngster coming through now I'd praise him for the talent but I was fine with him going and just wish the money would have been spent a bit more successfully than on Benteke.

I never saw him do anything for City other than scoring tap ins from six yards out at the furthest. How many players could do that over the course of a season though? His late 20s have ended poorly for him with Chelsea and I can see him tailing off even further beyond 30. I hope Chelsea struggle to get rid of him too.

[Schmidt]

You're both mental. He scored so many taps ins because of his elite movement and positioning, allied with his speed and strength. At his peak he scored/assisted close to a goal a game, and was extremely robust.

[GreatEx]

Yep. A lot of "pace goals" bitterness in some of these posts.

[thaddeus]

You're both mental. He scored so many taps ins because of his elite movement and positioning, allied with his speed and strength. At his peak he scored/assisted close to a goal a game, and was extremely robust.

I've always said his movement off the ball was his best asset.  That he had pace to go with it made him such a threat.

I think there's a strong argument that he was micro-managed at Man City to the point that he became an extremely effective cog in a machine but lost some of that instinctive appreciation of space and movement off the ball.  Or maybe he just regressed to the mean of being a one goal in four games wide forward.

I would have loved to see him managed by Klopp to see what he could have done but that ship has sailed in more ways than one!

[Terry de Niro]

He would be a far better player if he took them high heels off.

[RyanBabel19]

The maddest thing for me, when he broke through I remember how good he was at playing with his head up, such an intellegent young lad who avoided just running down blind alleys… somehow he know plays with his head down a ridiculous amount. I’ve seen multiple situations where all he has to do is look up and square it and he opts to hit a bad shot straight at the keeper instead

[alonsoisared]

You're both mental. He scored so many taps ins because of his elite movement and positioning, allied with his speed and strength. At his peak he scored/assisted close to a goal a game, and was extremely robust.

I know you must be right yet somehow I still don't believe it completely? Put him in any other team than peps city and he'd have been bang average. As we're seeing at Chelsea. He's only 29, he ought to be in the prime of his career and carrying teams given his profile and standing within the game. He's not even making England squads.

[Chris~]

I know you must be right yet somehow I still don't believe it completely? Put him in any other team than peps city and he'd have been bang average. As we're seeing at Chelsea. He's only 29, he ought to be in the prime of his career and carrying teams given his profile and standing within the game. He's not even making England squads.

He's played something like 600+ games, don't think it's that surprising a winger with that many games at a high level isn't in his prime at 29 in a midtable side

[WhereAngelsPlay]

He would be a far better player if he took them high heels off.

 

[alonsoisared]

He's played something like 600+ games, don't think it's that surprising a winger with that many games at a high level isn't in his prime at 29 in a midtable side

it depends what you're judging him against. He is supposed to be elite, at 29 he absolutely should still be at his peak unless he's had a raft of injuries I've missed. He's never been on Mo's level, who is far outperforming him at 2 years his senior, never as good as Mane. Saka is already a better all round player IMO. At city id say he was never as good an all round player as Sane. In the end he couldn't get guaranteed games at what, 27?

Like I said, I think this is just one of those "unpopular opinions", I must be missing something with him. I just think he had great raw materials which were coached out of him, and he worked under a world class manager who found a way to make him incredibly effective. His technique is terrible, I wouldn't trust him 1 on 1 ever, he routinely went into hiding in the biggest games against us, I just don't get him!

[Mister Flip Flop]

Do the majority of players who have played under Guardiola display many leadership traits?  They play for a manager who quite literally micro manages them as they play, and gives them very little freedom.

He's not a leader at all.

Although he won lots at City, I personally think he would have developed into a better player had he stayed at Liverpool/ gone to a different team.

Winning stuff at Abu Dhabi means nothing. A single league title or champions league would mean more to any footballer at Liverpool than 10 titles with them. He'll keep himself sane with all his money but deep down he knows the score as all Abu Dhabi players do. Think he will be one of the one's cleared out in Chelsea's comng firesale to be honest.

[Chris~]

it depends what you're judging him against. He is supposed to be elite, at 29 he absolutely should still be at his peak unless he's had a raft of injuries I've missed. He's never been on Mo's level, who is far outperforming him at 2 years his senior, never as good as Mane. Saka is already a better all round player IMO. At city id say he was never as good an all round player as Sane. In the end he couldn't get guaranteed games at what, 27?

Like I said, I think this is just one of those "unpopular opinions", I must be missing something with him. I just think he had great raw materials which were coached out of him, and he worked under a world class manager who found a way to make him incredibly effective. His technique is terrible, I wouldn't trust him 1 on 1 ever, he routinely went into hiding in the biggest games against us, I just don't get him!

Why does he need to be at his best at 29? Not every player ages the same or has their peak at 29. Mane was playing for Bayern but basically done at 30. Torres had been finished at the top level for years by he time he turned 29, same with Rooney, Gerrard's best seasons were before he turned 29. . I'm sure plenty would say at some point they were elite/world class/very good etc.

If his technique was terrible he'd have not lasted at all with Guardiola given how involved he was. I think you probably should just accept you were missing something.

[alonsoisared]

Why does he need to be at his best at 29? Not every player ages the same or has their peak at 29. Mane was playing for Bayern but basically done at 30. Torres had been finished at the top level for years by he time he turned 29, same with Rooney, Gerrard's best seasons were before he turned 29. . I'm sure plenty would say at some point they were elite/world class/very good etc.

If his technique was terrible he'd have not lasted at all with Guardiola given how involved he was. I think you probably should just accept you were missing something.

Fair point on his age, it's more for me that his overall play hasn't dropped for any reason, he's not had injuries, he's not lost pace, he's just not playing in a team built around getting to the edge of the six yard box and pulling it back for him to tap in. To do that he obviously needed elite movement, but the top players I mentioned before I think can and have easily adapted their games to fit into different systems and continued to look world class.

I'm happy to accept I've missed something but I'm also happy to slag him off as I think all Liverpool fans should feel entitled to do...the rat