RAHEEM STERLING has been flying this season.
A Premier League goal every 94 minutes speaks for itself and it’s becoming clearer by the day that Manchester City have a player on the verge of becoming world-class.
I am consistently amazed at the negativity and vitriol that surrounds such a talented young player.
A quick search of his name on twitter or even a quick ask around the pub and you’ll find the same complaints… ‘No End Product…Can’t Finish…Too Greedy’ amongst the usual buzzwords.
Late winners against Feyenoord, Huddersfield Town and Southampton and suddenly Sterling has earned nine points in just eight days for his club and I don’t really see what else the boy needs to do to answer his critics.
It’s clear to see that he’s added goals to his game (13 in all competitions, in fact) and gained the composure in the penalty area needed to find the net when his team needs him most.
With every match he looks more and more like the £44m player we were promised he would
become.
In fact, Sterling looks almost a completely different player than the boy who returned from Euro 2016 just 16 months ago.
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Raheem Sterling was made a scapegoat by the press and whilst I won’t pretend that Sterling played well in France, I will say that as a nation I think we often forget just how young some of these players are.
He was just 20 years old at the Euros and yet suffered relentless criticism.
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Whilst Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Marcus Rashford are all growing into world-class talents, they are still very young and will have things to improve on and occasional dips in form.
If we rely on them to produce results too soon it is our own fault if we are disappointed.
If we’re serious in this country about developing young players we should be prepared to protect young players from public criticism at such a crucial stage of their development.
One man who understands this, and is in my opinion the man to thank for Sterling’s transformation is Pep Guardiola.
Before leading his first coaching session, it is understood Guardiola called Sterling to reassure him of his abilities following his disappointing international performances.
He’s consistently talked Sterling up in press-conferences and been quick to take the pressure off him when he’s come under fire.
Guardiola has moulded his formation to make the most of the pace of Sterling and Leroy Sane and allow two of the league’s youngest players to flourish as seemingly, two of the first names on the team sheet.
With 12 straight wins in a row, it seems to be working.
It’s so exciting to see a young English player being allowed to develop properly and Manchester City are reaping the rewards.
If his country can get behind him and Sterling can keep his form in the run up to the World Cup, maybe England will reap them too.
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