Jenks
Senior Member
The original talk from the German media was that Guardiola was behind both the Sterling and De Bruyne signings. Recently it's come out of City that Guardiola has told Sterling to ignore the criticism and that as long as he works hard for him then he'll fight his corner, and that he is a big part of his plans.
True, but he was much older, and at 19/20 Sterling was miles ahead of where Robben was at that age. The raw materials are there and the criticisms about having a football brain are misplaced, the only thing I see stopping Sterling from progressing is his mentality and work ethic. If he can improve his finishing then he'll easily be scoring 20 goals a season from a wide position, because his movement is very good and he gets loads of chances.
True, but he was much older, and at 19/20 Sterling was miles ahead of where Robben was at that age. The raw materials are there and the criticisms about having a football brain are misplaced, the only thing I see stopping Sterling from progressing is his mentality and work ethic. If he can improve his finishing then he'll easily be scoring 20 goals a season from a wide position, because his movement is very good and he gets loads of chances.
Frankly he has even now lost a lot of that speed. At the Euros he couldn't go past players when he was one on one with them.
He will have to seriously adjust his lifestyle if that is what it is causing it or I doubt he will last long there.
Andrew M
New member
Sterling miles ahead? Did you not watch the 04/05 season when Robben was 20 at Chelsea? He was fantastic and nominated for PFA young player of the year.
Sterling is is a pretty decent player who needs to improve decision making under pressure. Nothing more.
BenRobbins
New member
I suppose City fans are hoping Pep could have a similiar impact on Sterling like he did with Coman last year. Only problem is i think Coman may be a lot more talented than sterling.
Be interesting to see how it goes.
Be interesting to see how it goes.
Jenks
Senior Member
I remembering him being frustrating to watch and not many Chelsea fans caring about him leaving after getting progressively worse each season after that. Sterling was meanwhile winning the European Golden Boy award. I will concede though that "miles ahead" was probably an overstatement. The tools are there (minus the finishing that needs a lot of work) and the rest will be down to his mentality and work ethic. It would be crazy to write him off so soon.
Co0ter
Senior Member
His decision making is almost as horrific as his finishing.
The only issue Chelsea fans had over Robben was his injury record but they were still gutted when he left. I lived in London at the time so knew a fair few of them. Talent wise Robben has always been on another level.
That Chelsea team with Robben and Duff on the wings is still my favorite.
Jenks
Senior Member
If he showed more talent then it must have been shown in flash more than anything else, because in his three years at Chelsea he scored and assisted fewer goals per game than Sterling has done in his last three years. Sterling being someone's who's main weakness is his finishing too.
My memory of Robben was that he'd score a top class goal every now and then but for the most part would be very frustrating to watch, like a rich man's Andros Townsend. He didn't really take off as a player until he went to Madrid.
My memory of Robben was that he'd score a top class goal every now and then but for the most part would be very frustrating to watch, like a rich man's Andros Townsend. He didn't really take off as a player until he went to Madrid.
I'm not sure about the stats. He just looked fantastic every time I saw him and as I said I knew a few Chelsea fans who thought the same.
Sterling looked great when he had Suarez alongside him but he has definitely gone backwards. He doesn't look as fast now. I think it's his lifestyle.
Jenks
Senior Member
I think it's more the style of play. It's a much more disciplined and reserved role at City. He basically just stays out on the wing and maybe the odd inside run but only on the break. The best he's looked at City in my view is when he's play slightly centrally just off Bony. There could be a lifestyle issue though because Pep made a statement that sort of hinted that he needed to focus on the way he lives as well as his game.
I wasn't even aware Pep had said anything. I was just going on the pictures of him partying with laughing gas and the fact he has noticeably lost a yard of pace without getting any serious injuries to cause it.
If there's one thing you can be sure of it is Pep will get him fit. If he doesn't work he will be gone although at this point I wouldn't be surprised if his career follows a similar path to Shaqiri.
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