Raheem Sterling

I don't get Sterling at all honestly.

You would think if your trying to strong arm the club you wouldn't be so careless with what your doing, either that or maybe people are just searching for extra controversy since there contract saga.

That's definitely a possibility, mr. Sterling is still a very young man though, and as such prone to the lapses in judgment common amongst people his age. He hasn't fully matured as a person or a player... which is not a criticism by any means, so things like this aren't hugely surprising.

That said, if you're going to demand the wages of a fully developed, matured professional player then you damned well should be expected to act like one. He's doing himself no favors at the moment.

RedOranje wrote:That's definitely a possibility, mr. Sterling is still a very young man though, and as such prone to the lapses in judgment common amongst people his age. He hasn't fully matured as a person or a player... which is not a criticism by any means, so things like this aren't hugely surprising.

That said, if you're going to demand the wages of a fully developed, matured professional player then you damned well should be expected to act like one. He's doing himself no favors at the moment.

Funny thing is, he clearly isn't mature enough to see that.

Funny is one way to describe it, I suppose.

Funny from an outsiders perspective.

He's 20, I don't expect 20-yo pro athletes to keep from doing any of the 20-yo stuff just because they're pro athletes. Good on those who don't do any of that stuff, but it's too much to expect it as a rule. And anyway, Sterling is obviously in great physical condition, I don't think there's a worry here.


But what I wanted to talk about him is his dribbling. I find it very difficult to know whether his dribbling is 6.5/10 or 8.5/10. So to speak. Is he average or very good at it.

I think most people's perception is that Sterling is a good dribbler. However, this Newcastle game reminded me of his shortcomings in dribbling. He quite often takes a heavy touch when dribbling and the ball goes too far, either to a defender or out of bounds. And, to me, he's not very good at chancing direction when dribbling. The pace and agility are obviously there, but he seems to lack technique to really twist and turn the defender with his dribbling. It's mostly just a quick burst of acceleration that either takes him past the defender (like when he scored the goal against Newcastle and Taylor was left standing) or then doesn't get him anywhere.

So, I'm having trouble knowing what is Raheem's level at dribbling. Is it more down to his quickness or is he technically very good at it, too? I honestly am not sure, because my recollection of his dribbling is that he occasionally does great dribbles, but also quite often gets nowhere with it.

Can't dribble or finish yet.

He has an awful shot. Unbelievable how many times he scuffs shots. Really needs to improve that because he will never be world class with that weak ass shot.

He's 20, I don't expect 20-yo pro athletes to keep from doing any of the 20-yo stuff just because they're pro athletes. Good on those who don't do any of that stuff, but it's too much to expect it as a rule.

I agree, but as a general perception.

If a 20-year old loves maths, painting he/she wouldn't do something that would hamper those. On the other hand, if a 20-year old is asked do something that he doesn't like (run the family business while he/she wants to be a singer); he/she is more than likely to do stuff that would hamper the things bestowed upon him/her. Football wasn't forced upon Raheem, he choose that. So why do stuff that's going to ruin your career???

Yes, 20-year old kids are likely to have exuberance that will nudge them off the track once in while. I remember Gerrard used to be very indiscipline on the field. One season he got 5-6 red cards and LFC was fined for that. Then, you may have those occasional speeding tickets or bar-brawls.

But what Raheem has done isn't like those.

Sterling definitely is not a consistent dribbler like other players but mind you, he is still one of the top dribblers in PL, already at this age. As Marty said, the Newcastle goal was more about sudden change of pace. He uses that more often than only dribbling imo.

All said, we have to keep Sterling for one more season no matter what. I would take the risk to lose him for lesser fee with one year left on his contract. I think even with 1 year we can get a hefty amount given the competition between clubs who will want to have him. Also, in case if he starts the next season firing on all cylinders, by January we can offer him a bumper mega deal.

Sterling's strength in dribbling is not his control or his touch but, as mentioned, it's his speed and agility. He is very hard to keep up with if he suddenly changes direction and you don't anticipate it because his acceleration and pace are on another level to 99% of players. His job to make his dribbling and speed a consistent threat is learning when to use it and when to be a bit smarter. He can take some nice shots too, but I wouldn't say that he's going to ever be the most clinical of finishers. He is going to be a player that can draw others to him, penetrate deep and then sometimes be a goal threat but more often be able to create the space (or an opening) for someone else to score.

There's no question this guy is a world class talent but at this point he doesn't have the consistency to be considered world class, and doesn't deserve a wage package associated with that. If he wants to refuse 100k/week because he thinks he can get more that's fine, but he probably isn't going anywhere this summer regardless (although to be honest I would sell him if he really doesn't want to play here anymore as long as a 50m+ offer came in for him).

Honestly though as annoyed as I am with the childish antics and greedy refusals (srsly Coutinho is on 75k and is the focal point of our team, older, and more proven) I would still prefer he signed a contract and stayed. Sakho - Can - Henderson - Coutinho - Sterling is a really lovely base for a powerhouse of a team moving forward.

Situation is taking a decidedly odd bent now with a third leak of photos in just about as many days. That's 3 separate leaks to three different papers in less than a week with content largely, perhaps even ENTIRELY, months old, at least. Meanwhile the Echo reports refer to this as a "vindictive" effort by some unnamed or unknown party to "unsettle" Sterling.

While I'm generally not one for conspiracies and whatnot the grouping seems too close to be coincidence. Ex-friend(s) looking to get a bit of revenge after being cut out of Sterling's life, perhaps?

Yeah i doubt you're off Red, these aren't just random photos, someone close to the Lad is releasing them, at least his learning that he'll need to pick his friends wisely now.