Is Sterling the best english player at the moment?

His pass to Gundogan yesterday is so defining for him as a player. His passing, finishing and technical ability are far below the rest of the attacking players for City (KDB, Mahrez, Aguero, Silva *2).

If he gets the service and in situations where he is allowed to utilise his mobility and pace, then he can have an incredible output. But he is not an efficient player, similar to Jesus.
 
ExecutionerWasp001 said:
A world class player could be put into any team & their quality would shine through. Sterling has been playing in the worlds most expensive squad where everyone has peaked. KDB & Aguero are the 2 World Class players that City have. This is proven by the fact that they are still putting in the performances they are known for while everyone else isn't. World Class players don't lose form for long periods & are able to elevate those around them.
Click to expand...
Interesting definition of world class. Milner and Henderson world class then. Maguire is pretty much performing at the same level too. World class I finally know why we got him ;). Not sure he elevates the likes of Lingard though so maybe not.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Probably alone in this, but I thought it was a penalty after the penalty. Lloris doesn't get the ball and gets Sterling... if that was us I'd be screaming Pen.

Also probably lucky to have not been sent off (though I can sort of see why he wasn't) but yeah, he seems too in his own head at the moment... over thinking everything and not playing his natural game.
Click to expand...

I agree, I thought it was another penalty too. He's an excellent player, he's just in terrible form.
 
Vault Dweller said:
I agree, I thought it was another penalty too. He's an excellent player, he's just in terrible form.
Click to expand...

Thought he dived before the contact. Very stupid to do that.
Had they not got the first one then I think he might have got it.
Feels like the referees try to cover themselfes by balancing the errors they do at times.
 
Paul_Scholes18 said:
Interesting definition of world class. Milner and Henderson world class then. Maguire is pretty much performing at the same level too. World class I finally know why we got him ;). Not sure he elevates the likes of Lingard though so maybe not.
Click to expand...

Don't know why you would think i'm equating Milner, Henderson & Mcguire as World Class.
 
ExecutionerWasp001 said:
A world class player could be put into any team & their quality would shine through. Sterling has been playing in the worlds most expensive squad where everyone has peaked. KDB & Aguero are the 2 World Class players that City have. This is proven by the fact that they are still putting in the performances they are known for while everyone else isn't. World Class players don't lose form for long periods & are able to elevate those around them.
Click to expand...

Every world class player loses form except Messi and Ronaldo. 4 months ago everyone would say that Sterling walks into any team in the world.
romufc said:
He's definitely not world class. He is a good goal scorer however; he doesnt offer anything else to the game.

Put him in any other team and you will see him struggle. World Class players bring other players standards higher.

City have KDB, Aguero and the like to help Sterling and make him look a better player than he is.
Click to expand...


Viewing him as a good goal scorer only is laughable. Until last season everyone used to say he had everything bar finishing. Now he’s been reduced to only being a good goal scorer as he’s improved his finishing. His movement is arguably the best of any winger in the world. His passing is good too. He’s a very intelligent footballer. He would start for basically any team in the world. Anyone saying otherwise is just speaking purely off his form over the last couple of months.

The flip side is, KDB and Aguero have Sterling to make them look better also.
 
Spiersey said:
Every world class player loses form except Messi and Ronaldo. 4 months ago everyone would say that Sterling walks into any team in the world.


Viewing him as a good goal scorer only is laughable. Until last season everyone used to say he had everything bar finishing. Now he’s been reduced to only being a good goal scorer as he’s improved his finishing. His movement is arguably the best of any winger in the world. His passing is good too. He’s a very intelligent footballer. He would start for basically any team in the world. Anyone saying otherwise is just speaking purely off his form over the last couple of months.

The flip side is, KDB and Aguero have Sterling to make them look better also.
Click to expand...

His movement is good, the good thing is it fits Cities style. He most definitely wouldnt start for Liverpool, Madrid, PSG. Even a fully fit Barca.
 
He's so wasteful.

Don't think he'd ever get 20 goals in a season outside of a Guardiola team.
 
If he wasn't English I doubt Pep would have him feature as his regular. I swear sometimes I feel like Pep plays him a lot to appease British media or something.

He is easily the worst attacking player I see during City games yet he somehow always play and finish games while the likes of Aguero and others have to be rotated and replaced. So odd.

Only good thing about him is his movement. Poor finisher, poor build up play, he loses the ball often if he tries to attempt anything other than a simple yard pass. He's been terrible yet still somehow feature heavily.
 
When he's bad he's really really bad.

And he's been bad since Christmas.

The whole Covid-19 situation has probably saved him from having yet another terrible international tournament for England because if Euro 2020 was happening now as planned he'd be stinking out the place.
 
Watch people slaughter because his shot hit the bar, and ignore everything he has done the previous few years.
 
He's lucky he's had the chance and pleasure to play for Pep where he gets served 10 chances per game to mask his abominable finishing. The fact that he's only scored 1 goal in 2020 playing for that City team which hand him countless chances every single game is an indictment to his poor finishing ability.
 
He's a strange one, gets a good number of goals and assists each season but if there isn't a lot space to run into, he looks void of ideas.

I've seen him score harder chances than the 1vs1 tonight, when you look at the 'keepers positioning, it's a terrible finish by Sterling. The Pulisic goal was very similar, Sterling just had to roll it down the side of the 'keeper or square it.
 
padr81 said:
I still stand by this when people were saying he'd get 40 goals.

Its not just a United thing, he's miles off the ball since November. He starts every season amazing and he is a top player but he always dips mid season, he'll get slightly better towards the end but won't score another 10. Its been the same 3 seasons in a row. I'd like to see a breakdown of his contribution by month under Pep.
Click to expand...

Said this in January, his output pre-December and post-December are shockingly different.
1 goal in his last 10 appearances (though one of them was only for 4 minutes). Hasn't had an assist since October.
 
Sterling off late seems to be lost. I feel that Sterling is lucky that the Euros are not this summer as it would have been difficult for the manager to start him in the starting 11 ahead of the likes of Sancho & Rashford. If Sterling keeps his mediocre form carrying on to the next season, then he will be benched for the Euros.
 
He has great pace and world class movement but after that everything else is average. Unfortunately for him his finishing has went from average to bad in 2020.
 
Without Sane they have to use inverted wingers so all his tap-ins are gone now.
 
Last edited:
In a Pep team that will pass and pass, the fact he didn't square it to Jesus was unforgivably bad. He's always had that greed in him. He's a cut below Rashford and Sancho again, be interesting to see if he can pick it back up again next season.
 
He may have impressive stats season over season but every time I have watched him in a big game, he has always let the team down.
 
How do people think he compares to say peak Pedro?

Both their best came under Pep, but if you look at their international record it's not that far apart.

Sterling has 12 in 56 (1 in 5) for England, while Pedro has 17/65 for Spain (1 in 4). Pedro just edges it in scoring rate. 1 in 4 goals is probably a truer reflection of both their goalscoring ability, which was elevated playing for Guardiola teams. Pedro never replicated that scoring ability elsewhere and neither will Sterling in my opinion.
 
Skills said:
How do people think he compares to say peak Pedro?

Both their best came under Pep, but if you look at their international record it's not that far apart.

Sterling has 12 in 56 (1 in 5) for England, while Pedro has 17/65 for Spain (1 in 4). Pedro just edges it in scoring rate. 1 in 4 goals is probably a truer reflection of both their goalscoring ability, which was elevated playing for Guardiola teams. Pedro never replicated that scoring ability elsewhere and neither will Sterling in my opinion.
Click to expand...

I think he's a better player than Pedro but its a fair comparison. I think Pedro is much more composed and a better finisher. If Sterling had those traits to go with what he has he'd be a phenomenal player. The system helps his goal tally for sure. There is an amazing footballer in Raheem but he still can't kick a football. He's a winger who hasn't had an assist since October... The amount of final balls he under hits is crazy. He's blessed with both the movement and finishing skills of Cavani. He'll always score goals, always get in good positions but I'm not sure he'll ever finish the amount he should.

Pep also needs to look into how he always looks like a potential BDO winner in the first 3 months of the season and goes missing afterwards. 3 seasons in a row, we hear the same thing "Raheem is the best player in the league" than comes December and 2 months later "Sterling really is struggling on this 8 game drought"
 
DWelbz19 said:
Ever since that Joe Gomez incident, it’s all gone a bit pear shaped for Sterling. Karmic forces at play.
Click to expand...
Heh.

About a year and a half ago I’d have had him down as one of the best in the league and easily one of City’s most important players, but he’s such a profligate forward. Might just be one of those *weird feelings in football* but he seems so wasteful in the bigger games especially.
 
flappyjay said:
He has great pace and world class movement but after that everything else is average. Unfortunately for him his finishing has went from average to bad in 2020.
Click to expand...

People say he has fell off in 2020 when really he just went on a run of no league goals in 5 league games in 2020. if you go back to December then its no goals in 6. One of those games he played 1 minute. he was also out for 3 weeks with a hamstring injury. scored on his return from lockdown vs Arsenal but now hes shit......
 
Paul_Scholes18 said:
Interesting definition of world class. Milner and Henderson world class then. Maguire is pretty much performing at the same level too. World class I finally know why we got him ;). Not sure he elevates the likes of Lingard though so maybe not.
Click to expand...
You see world class is a term that always annoys me in football. By the very definition Maguire is world class because he’s played against the worlds best in world cups etc already and let’s face it is one of the worlds best centre backs at this time. You can’t name many CB’s better than him so he is by the very definition world class.

Plenty of players can easily do a job at the highest level. I wouldn’t call most of them great players though. Maguire isn’t a great player for instance De Bruyne is though for example. Or Van Dyke obviously too.

Messi & Ronaldo are two of ‘the‘ greats etc. In my book Messi is the greatest.

A fair few players are world class though in every generation! Rant over
 
Eddy_JukeZ said:
They should slaughter him.

Because he had Jesus wide open.

Click to expand...


I'm glad someone posted this picture. I was going to say that he should have passed it. He even takes a look and decides not to. That was a real game changer. City would have been up a goal and the game would have likely played out differently. Now City has to give Liverpool a guard of honour. Better them than us...
 
Skills said:
Pedro never replicated that scoring ability elsewhere and neither will Sterling in my opinion.
Click to expand...

This is what I think. I had a discussion with a mate about Sterling and he mentioned he is the first name on the England team sheet. Obviously, I disagreed because I do not think Sterling offers much when you need creativity.

Under Pep he is brilliant when they are playing well. Doubts if he can replicate things.
 
People may think I am defending Raheem purely because of my Jamaican heritage ;) But I do feel he gets hyperbolic criticism. All this "playing for a Pep team and should score way more" well he got chances playing for Brendan Rodgers also because he has world class movement.

Also according to the EPL official website, these are the attackers who missed more big chances than Raheem this season,;

Tammy Abraham - 30% more
Firmino
Jesus
Chris Wood
Mane/Vardy/McGoldrick have missed the same as Raheem.

Sterling has hit the woodwork the 3rd most.

In 2019, all these players missed more big chances than Raheem;


Aubameyang
Callum Wilson
Gabriel Jesus
Jamie Vardy
Marcus Rashford
Mohamed Salah
Romelu Lukaku
Aleksandar Mitrovic
Ashley Barnes
Alexandre Lacazette
Harry Kane
Sadio Mané
Lucas Moura
Sergio Agüero
Andre Gray
Raúl Jiménez
Joshua King
Álvaro Morata
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Roberto Firmino

Raheem not even in the top 20 for big chances missed but don't let facts get in the way of old troupes.
 
He's a good player that has periods of being ridiculously good but I don't think he should be the main attacker for a top team. Pep has made him City's most important player in the front three and he just isn't good enough to have such a responsibility.

I look at Sterling as a player who would be great in a system to complement better players. That's what he was in 2017/18, tbh he had a lot more responsibility in their 18/19 title but I don't think he has the quality to maintain that over a long period. If he has a better player than him on the other wing he would look so much better for it.
 
Nope. It's Kane and it has been for six years now. Sterling has had a few purple patches that have, at times, coincided with lapses in Kane's form, allowing Sterling to be briefly better on form. Though comparing the two is mostly worthless anyway since one is a winger/SS for one of the league's dominant teams and the other is an all-round CF for a team in disarray.

percentage_of_xg_overunderperformance.png
 
1966 said:
Nope. It's Kane and it has been for six years now. Sterling has had a few purple patches that have, at times, coincided with lapses in Kane's form, allowing Sterling to be briefly better on form. Though comparing the two is mostly worthless anyway since one is a winger/SS for one of the league's dominant teams and the other is an all-round CF for a team in disarray.

percentage_of_xg_overunderperformance.png
Click to expand...

Those charts dont mean shit though other than how clinical one person is. The fact Sterling is so poor at putting the ball in the net, shows how good his movement and positioning is in getting there in the first place from the wing. It shows one facet of the game.
 
Currently best English player?

Hmm, he's certainly exciting to watch - good on the ball and finds himself in some great positions

...but the one thing that has always let him down, and I believe will continue to let him down, is his shooting ability.
 
padr81 said:
Those charts dont mean shit though other than how clinical one person is. The fact Sterling is so poor at putting the ball in the net, shows how good his movement and positioning is in getting there in the first place from the wing. It shows one facet of the game.
Click to expand...
I wasn't posting that as if it were some kind of conclusive proof, especially since I said that it's impossible and pointless to directly compare them.

I like Sterling. I think he's world class. I just think that Kane - in whatever capacity you can directly compare them - is the (slightly) better footballer overall and has been the best English player for most of the last decade (with Sterling in second for a lot of it).

I don't want to put one player down to build another one up. I was trying to highlight just how brilliant Kane actually is as a striker by posting the xG chart. I feel like Kane is underrated these days, rather than Sterling being overrated.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.