Raheem Sterling

I thought England's attitude would determine the game's outcome. In the first half Sterling was absolutely integral to every England attack and his running and dribbling put Sweden firmly on the back foot. No other England player took the game to them like Sterling did, no disrespect to Kane but he barely got involved as he seemed to drop quite deep. Yes, Sterling could have scored but not many others influenced the game like him. Overall, I thought Trippier was also superb, and there were no real weak players. Your thoughts?

Kane was dropping deeper because of the daft formation, I thought Dele was still a bit of a ghost, Lingard and Tripper were the best of the attaching lot for me. For all Stirling's running and dribbling there didn't seem to have much of plan of product for it. England managed 2 shots on target the whole game despite controlling the game and having nearly 60% of the ball. 2 nice goals scored but again one was yet another set piece.

Like you I applaud the attitude of the team and despite a few wobbles the goalkeeper, defence and midfield all done a good job.
 
Kane was dropping deeper because of the daft formation, I thought Dele was still a bit of a ghost, Lingard and Tripper were the best of the attaching lot for me. For all Stirling's running and dribbling there didn't seem to have much of plan of product for it. England managed 2 shots on target the whole game despite controlling the game and having nearly 60% of the ball. 2 nice goals scored but again one was yet another set piece.

I’m happy if we are this rubbish in the semi and still win 2-0!!
 
Maybe it's because you are 'staff' but for everyone else there is a phrase before you post which says 'criticise the post not the poster'. I'm afraid I have never seen you actually respond to a post that you don't like, your preferred option being personal abuse. I am, according to you, 'arrogant and unintelligent'. Meanwhile, you have not made a single response to any of the points I have made. So be it.

As an aside, you took great offence at a City fan describing posts as being of a Daily Mail standard, so much so that you keep repeating it. On another thread a United fan described anti-Sterling posts as being worthy of the Sun, I trust you took similar offence at that? Clearly not.

Finally, you accused BluemoonOutcast of making an accusation of racism. Your accusation was clearly erroneous and pretty shabby to be honest. Nowhere have I seen you have the balls to apologise.

It wasn't shabby and erroneous, he knew what he was talking about and so did you. I've no inclination to apologise to people who trivialise racism just because a player of the club they support has been criticised on a rival forum.

If an United fan did say that then he's as wrong as both you and Bluemoon outcast, I didn't read that post neither I don't need to justify my actions to you. You're free to think whatever you want.
 
Kane was dropping deeper because of the daft formation, I thought Dele was still a bit of a ghost, Lingard and Tripper were the best of the attaching lot for me. For all Stirling's running and dribbling there didn't seem to have much of plan of product for it. England managed 2 shots on target the whole game despite controlling the game and having nearly 60% of the ball. 2 nice goals scored but again one was yet another set piece.

Disagree about Lingard, i thought he was largely anonymous today. However, and I assume you are English, the positive for me, is that England were largely dominant and have now beaten two decent sides in knock-out games. Alli might not have been great but Southgate has a first eleven that seems to be performing.
 
Take a breather for two days
It wasn't shabby and erroneous, he knew what he was talking about and so did you. I've no inclination to apologise to people who trivialise racism just because a player of the club they support has been criticised on a rival forum.

Absolute fecking bollocks. You are an arsehole completely lacking in self-awareness.
 
Bullshit. Again you're changing, you said the player who scores the goals offers more.

Show me where I said that. Now. Quote the post.

And Sterling was literally the only dangerous player, as I said earlier I should have offered from open play.

You don't know what 'literally' means. We have already established that.

When I posted in Alli was anonymous as I posted at half time, when you started your argument. Would you say Lingard offered nothing? I'd say in the second half he was probably our best player at least of the front 5.
In fact many posters in this thread said the exact same thing I did about Sterling first half.

Again your back to talking about goals. As I said earlier, John Stones has more goals than Messi in this WC, also Rakitic, Willian etc... has he offered more in an attacking sense? No he hasn't.
Goals aren't the simple measure of who offers what, if they are we would have all kinds of rubbish views like the above about Stones and Messi. If they are Paul Scholes and Iniesta had shocking careers as attackers... you know its not that simple, its just another stick to beat Sterling with.

Sterling has had a terrible world cup, but first half today he was Englands only attacker who performed and the only threat (from open play if it makes you feel better). 2nd half he was very poor in comparison and others stepped up (mainly Lingard, Trippier and Alli. Kane was pretty anonymous)
Everything in this garbled mess is irrelevant. Just give up like you said you were going to, FFS.

Again, you said something stupid, you were called out on it. You have since spun, backtracked, lied, and everything in between. Suck it up and move on.
 
There's no point moving into a goalscoring positions if you can't score. Sterling has been crap this WC.
 
He is a weird player for me, gets into such good positions, but always fecks up one vs one, he was the primary reason for our win against City last season. He buries one of the several chances he got game would have been over. Amazing that he has scored so many goals, City create a lot of chances...
 
Sterling stretched them and had them shitting their pants all game. If he wasn't playing England would have looked a bit toothless. He also linked up and held the ball well as well as carried it. He got into positions a bit like Park Ji Sung at PSV days
 
Sterling is a great dribler, inconsistent finisher but good poacher, hence he has to be played further up the pitch, not sure he’s the best as second striker in 3-5-2... strangely a position which suits a lot of attacking players but for me he’s just a winger or wide forward making runs, taking on players
 
I thought his overall game today was decent to be honest. Best he's played in the World Cup.

His finishing is absolutely appalling though, we're getting into Welbeck at his absolute worst territory here.
 
Show me where I said that. Now. Quote the post.

  1. You: What the hell are you watching? :lol:

  2. Me: Instead of laughing tell me whose been better or offered more. Kane did nothing, Lingard nothing, Alli nothing. Laugh all you want, easily Englands best attacker and the best on the pitch today.
  3. One of you tell me, who has offered more, who has made more chances, whose contributed more in an attacking sense?
  4. You: The player who actually scored, perhaps?
  5. Me: So Harry McGuire has been Englands best attacker, ffs... clutching at straws there much.

  6. You: It's a goal more than Sterling has contributed.
There it is in black and white, you saying exactly what you've been denying afterwards. You flat out said it. Which is why I went with the rather silly Messi/Stones comparison because the player who scores is not always the best attacker or the one who offers most to the attack.

You don't know what 'literally' means. We have already established that.

Everything in this garbled mess is irrelevant. Just give up like you said you were going to, FFS.

Again, you said something stupid, you were called out on it. You have since spun, backtracked, lied, and everything in between. Suck it up and move on.

I've done none of those things, also it was no garbled mess, my ten year old could probably read and understand it.
I'll clarify it for you.
  • You spouted shite about Alli being more effective. Alli scored the goal after my post and your response.
  • You keep banging on about goals and assists. As I said in, and it's not fecking rocket science, a player doesn't need goals and assists to offer good attacking contibutions. If they did someone like, Iniesta would be regarded as a poor player.
The bolded bit in the bottom, thats you. See the top of this post and first quote.
You keep believing Harry McGuire offered more to Englands attack then Sterling... and I'll leave you with Gary Nevilles words.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11429283/neville-sterling-criticism-disgusting - Gary Neville talking sense on the issue.
 
His lack of composure in front of goal will be the difference between England winning the next match or loosing it.

Its hard to tell whether he is lacking in confidence, ability or is just a bit dim when you look st what he does in front of goal.

For me, the good things that he has done, which is make some runs and stretch some really average defences could have been done by Rashford, who would have also had a better chance of scoring than him.

Remember he isnt playing in midfield or on the wing, he is playing as a second striker and he is neither scoring or assisting, or even creating chances at all when he plays. We persisted with a player like that for years with Heskey, and it always without fail came round to bite us on the arse.
 
I thought his overall game today was decent to be honest. Best he's played in the World Cup.

His finishing is absolutely appalling though, we're getting into Welbeck at his absolute worst territory here.

Welbeck is currently a better option than Sterling. I would have backed Welbeck to have put away at least one of the chances Sterling had today.
 
  1. You: What the hell are you watching? :lol:

  2. Me: Instead of laughing tell me whose been better or offered more. Kane did nothing, Lingard nothing, Alli nothing. Laugh all you want, easily Englands best attacker and the best on the pitch today.
  3. One of you tell me, who has offered more, who has made more chances, whose contributed more in an attacking sense?
  4. You: The player who actually scored, perhaps?
  5. Me: So Harry McGuire has been Englands best attacker, ffs... clutching at straws there much.

  6. You: It's a goal more than Sterling has contributed.
There it is in black and white, you saying exactly what you've been denying afterwards. You flat out said it. Which is why I went with the rather silly Messi/Stones comparison because the player who scores is not always the best attacker or the one who offers most to the attack.



I've done none of those things, also it was no garbled mess, my ten year old could probably read and understand it.
I'll clarify it for you.
  • You spouted shite about Alli being more effective. Alli scored the goal after my post and your response.
  • You keep banging on about goals and assists. As I said in, and it's not fecking rocket science, a player doesn't need goals and assists to offer good attacking contibutions. If they did someone like, Iniesta would be regarded as a poor player.
The bolded bit in the bottom, thats you. See the top of this post and first quote.
You keep believing Harry McGuire offered more to Englands attack then Sterling... and I'll leave you with Gary Nevilles words.

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11429283/neville-sterling-criticism-disgusting - Gary Neville talking sense on the issue.
I didn't think you could dig yourself into a bigger hole. You proved me wrong. Jesus f*cking christ.... :lol:

I asked you to provide me with the quote that YOU said that I SAID. You haven't done so. Because you lied. I didn't say it. And that's the second time you lied. You spin bullshit like its your job. And if you aren't lying, you're back tracking.

One of the most embarrassing exchanges I've ever had with someone online. Tell me again how that guy who didn't score and who didn't assist a goal, contributed more to England's attack than the players who actually scored?
 
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I thought his overall game today was decent to be honest. Best he's played in the World Cup.

His finishing is absolutely appalling though, we're getting into Welbeck at his absolute worst territory here.

I agree with this, I actually thought this was his best performance in the WC but he wasn't the best outfield player for England today.

He does need to score more goals though, its puzzling that he can't seem to finish these chances for England considering some of the finishes for City last season.
 
I agree with this, I actually thought this was his best performance in the WC but he wasn't the best outfield player for England today.

He does need to score more goals though, its puzzling that he can't seem to finish these chances for England considering some of the finishes for City last season.

I think it’s because the chances are coming to him more when he has to make a decision on how to finish, he is more central now and getting the chances a striker would finish on instinct rather that getting in the end of a ball in a more scorable one touch finish. I like sterling wide and coming in, when he is central tou can see him thinking, do I try a finish or do I pass.
 
I think it’s because the chances are coming to him more when he has to make a decision on how to finish, he is more central now and getting the chances a striker would finish on instinct rather that getting in the end of a ball in a more scorable one touch finish. I like sterling wide and coming in, when he is central tou can see him thinking, do I try a finish or do I pass.

Could be, this is the same problem with Jesse btw. Instinctively he's a good finisher but is pretty average when he has to think about it.
 
So you concede that I didn't actually say that and you made it up. Thanks.

Now, you, on the other hand, said Sterling was literally the only danger England have offered. :lol: Despite the fact that someone else actually scored.

You also asked who offered more in an attacking sense than Sterling (0 goals, 0 assists). Both Maguire and Alli offered more because they actually scored. Which is the entire point of attacking.

You said something stupid, you got called on it. Suck it up and move on.




Just because this is getting really tiresome to read, here is you saying that goals = more of an attacking contribution.

Sterling was his usual self again today, good movement good threat, terrible end product, it just shows more for England because England don't create as much as City.
 
He was making good runs today, his finishing is pub standard though. Needs to improve against Croatia, or England may go out. Now it is the time to be clinical or go home.
 
I thought there was a number of times where he should have run the channels today, but didn't, and the BBC pundits showed some instances of previous games where he seems to be on the shoulder but then pulls back, forcing the ball carrier to go sideways to him. He's a frustrating player to watch, as he's one of the fastest forwards around, but seems to rarely utilise that. He could have most defenders on toast, but chooses against it.

He seems to have little confidence in his finishing. Always look to take 2 or 3 touches, instead of even attempting to slot past the keeper. I'm not Rashford's biggest fan but I think he'd have done a lot better in those positions today.
 
reminds me of Welbeck in how he manages to bollocks up so many good positions, his technique just seems to go out the window - was a big threat today but what's the point if you always feck it up
 
It's amazing that England have made it as far as they have with a passenger in the team. He's done absolutely nothing all tournament.
 
He just doesn't seem to have much football intelligence, at least in an England shirt. He always seems to make the wrong decisions for the final ball - his end product has always let him down except for this season under Pep. I think Southgate is loyal to him though and he will start against Croatia. To be fair to him, I thought he played his best game of the tournament yesterday and perhaps against Croatia we will see the best of him.
 
His finishing is appalling. However, he does get himself into those situations more than Kane, for example who has actually been a little below par throughout the tournament. Thought he was decent yesterday but he's playing as a striker and we're lucky his missed chances haven't cost us thus far.
 
His finishing is appalling. However, he does get himself into those situations more than Kane, for example who has actually been a little below par throughout the tournament. Thought he was decent yesterday but he's playing as a striker and we're lucky his missed chances haven't cost us thus far.

Kane seems to be copying Rooney by dropping deep and trying to influence the play, Sterling has been much better in his movement but abysmal in his finishing. Lukaku has been the perfect balance, he will drop deep at certain times but will bomb forward as soon as the ball leaves his feet, he's always looking to be in the box for that final touch.
 
Why was Rashford deemed not to have taken his chance when he missed one chance in a dead rubber vs Belgium when he was playing with the second string too?

There was nobody in the media saying he got into the positions and got behind them when nobody else did etc and rightly so. He should have scored that game.

But Sterling has literally had 4 90 minute games with Kane and done nothing. His pace worries teams but we're missing a trick not giving Rahsford more of a chance.
 
It wasn't shabby and erroneous, he knew what he was talking about and so did you. I've no inclination to apologise to people who trivialise racism just because a player of the club they support has been criticised on a rival forum.

If an United fan did say that then he's as wrong as both you and Bluemoon outcast, I didn't read that post neither I don't need to justify my actions to you. You're free to think whatever you want.

I'd just like to jump in here to defend myself a little. My post made absolutely no reference to race, nor was the post racist in any way. Minutes after England triumphed over Colombia the Daily Mail published an article bashing Sterling when the rest of the country was celebrating. When I came on here and saw Sterling getting some heat I saw comparisons, that's all. I do not require an apology, nor do I think I deserve one, but please don't call me a racist.
 
I'd just like to jump in here to defend myself a little. My post made absolutely no reference to race, nor was the post racist in any way. Minutes after England triumphed over Colombia the Daily Mail published an article bashing Sterling when the rest of the country was celebrating. When I came on here and saw Sterling getting some heat I saw comparisons, that's all. I do not require an apology, nor do I think I deserve one, but please don't call me a racist.

I never accused you of being a racist. I said that by comparing us to the that vile piece of shit newspaper just because some criticised Sterling, you're trivialising racism. Check the posts again and you won't find any mention of me calling you a racist.
 
Yeah Southgate should gamble on Rashford for a WC semi and drop the guy who's been doing the job he needs consistently.

What job is this. No one has explained what sterling has done in any game that actually helped the team.

Missing sitters and not playing a pass when a team mate is in a good position doesn't help the team. Even if another player wouldn't have made the run in the first place
 
What job is this. No one has explained what sterling has done in any game that actually helped the team.

Missing sitters and not playing a pass when a team mate is in a good position doesn't help the team. Even if another player wouldn't have made the run in the first place

Yeh but he runs around a lot and gets in to “good positions.” 10/10 performance yesterday, those are some world class positions he’s getting himself in to before failing completely and ruining any attack.
 
I'm happy with him overall. His movement, understanding of the game and work-rate are pivotal to this side. He can drop-deep and run at the opposition, he can pick up pockets of space outwide, he can make runs in behind, he can create space for others like Alli and Lingard to make runs or drop defenders in-field and open space outwide for Tripper to get balls in to the box.

It's just unfortunate that the end product isn't there at the moment. Wish he would have stuck away a chance yesterday, even the offside one. Wouldn't have counted but probably would have done his confidence the world of good. Unfortunately he can't finish his dinner at the moment and takes too long to make a decision and pick a pass.

At this stage of the tournament, that's a bit worrying. Chances are going to come fewer and far between now, and we really need to start taking them. I do wonder if maybe Lingard might be better in that position, has the same movement, work-rate, intelligence but is normally more clinical in the final third albeit not as good a carrier of the ball. Or at the very least, I think we need to start using Sterling in a way where he can open up space for the midfield runners like Lingard and Alli to get in to the final third more because they are more likely to take their chances.
 
Why was Rashford deemed not to have taken his chance when he missed one chance in a dead rubber vs Belgium when he was playing with the second string too?

There was nobody in the media saying he got into the positions and got behind them when nobody else did etc and rightly so. He should have scored that game.

But Sterling has literally had 4 90 minute games with Kane and done nothing. His pace worries teams but we're missing a trick not giving Rahsford more of a chance.

Agreed. I genuinely can’t understand Southgate’s logic. Rashford is a greater goal threat and would link up better with Lingard, too.
 
Southgate would be stupid to drop him or any other current starter. The idea that Sterling is doing nothing is silly and is much the same argument that was made for Jesse Lingard during his first season under Mourinho (and pretty much every first team season he had before this one just gone by).

Given the system England play any half decent manger would not be looking at the one aspect that he has failed at which is finishing and dropping him on this basis alone unless they felt they had a player who could offer the same positives he offers without the one negative.

There is no other player in the squad with the same versatility to fit into that system as well as Sterling does, Rashford cannot operate as effectively behind Kane as Sterling, neither can Vardy so the system would have to be tweeked slightly with both those player playing more often as strikers closer to Kane throughout the game which defeats the point of the current setup and it is the system itself which has been the star for England at this world cup, more so than any one player.

I was going to go into more detail about Sterling's flexibility and movement but I found a Video that almost perfectly breaks down my thoughts on the subject:



PS allow me to say I do not believe what the videos is insinuating about agenda's applied to most on here I simply believe most aren't understanding the greater picture in terms of how the system works and how you cannot just replace Sterling with any player especially a striker and expect it to work as effectively.

Yes you would absolutely want more composed finishing from a player playing at the highest level, however that is something you would consistently work toward on the training field with a view to getting that extra 10% you want out of the player, Southgate however being a decent coach/manger would understand that the other 90% of what he is getting is not something he can get from any other player in his squad whilst keeping the same system, and as I've said before it is the system England has played which has been the real star of the tournament as performances go.
 
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