Fantastic piece of text written by him, here. Well worth a read. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/raheem-sterling-england-it-was-all-a-dream
It's a real shame the way he gets treated by the media. It's also a shame that a lot of people won't read through that whole article. Hope he scores a hat trick on Sunday to shut everyone up.
Support him as a man, and hate the media coverage, but he fully deserves to be dropped Sunday because he was unquestionably awful all game against Tunisia. Personally think its because the system England play doesn't suit him, and suits Rashford far better. We've spent a lot of years squeezing a lot better players than him into the wrong positions and I'm hoping Southgate might have learned that lesson.
I wasn't expecting much but that was a really interesting and touching read. It doesn't change the fact he's been cack for England recently but it's good to see these people are human after all.
When I was teaching in London, I came across so many with stories like that. Youngsters who didn't easily fit into a seat in a classroom, let alone into a curriculum. But it was as much a joy to watch some flourish, as it was a pain to watch some turn to gangs, into trouble with the law and worse. Amongst those who did succeed (and we had about the best football squad around) were Clinton Morrison, Nathan Ellington, Jason Roberts, Jody Morris and the best of lot was Courtney Pitt. He was head boy at the school and was on Chelsea's books, captain of our first team and looking the most complete player. When Graham Rix went from coaching Chelsea's youngsters to being manager of Portsmouth, he took Pitt with him and then it all started to slide. He moved on to Luton and Coventry, Cambridge United and then non-league. He was just a lovely lad in every way and one of the best athletes I have known. I don't know what has become of him, but hope that he found success somewhere in some career which fits his personality.
Thanks for that. I read this one by Lukaku just before Belgium’s first match which reduced me to tears. https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/romelu-lukaku-ive-got-some-things-to-say
Very well written. Good guy & good footballer. I'm not sure he fits the England system we are playing, but he may prove me wrong. Quite a few of the boys in the first match looked nervy. Hopefully they'll settle in to the tournament in the next 2 group matches. He certainly doesn't deserve the scapegoating.
Scapegoating??? Is valid criticism of a terrible performance not allowed anymore? He didn’t contribute to any constructive passages of play. Hope he improves if given another chance but he’s by no means a scapegoat.
If you quoted my entire post it pretty much agrees with yours, other than the scapegoating bit. He was probably England's weakest performer, but there were a few that looked a bit nervy & missed clear cut chances. I just don't think it's helpful to single him out, when quite a few were poor. I also said i think we'll grow into the competition. We got the 3 points. Argentina, Germany, etc didn't.
Was his performance really terrible? If you look at the great chances & set pieces we nearly scored from early on he was involved in a lot of the build up play. Folk get carried away with subs performances as well, it’s much easier when you’re coming on with fresh legs against a side that’s defended non-stop for 70 minutes. There’s a reason Rashford can’t get a game over Lingard at Man Utd & a reason Loftus-Cheek can’t get a game at Chelsea where as Sterling, Lingard & Alli are all regular performers for top 4 clubs. All 3 have far better movement & link up play than Rashford & Loftus-Cheek, I’ll agree Sterling & Lingard need to work on their finishing but both will get far more chances than Rashford for example because they make much better runs & get in the right positions more often
Don’t know what it is with Sterling. As a manager must be so frustrating as he defiantly has the speed and ability as somethings he does can make you think wow then the next thing he does may be a basic and he’ll **** it right up. If could get him consistent and performing each game he could light up the tournament but how? Do you take a chance Incase he does the magic thing that wins the game or do you go with a grafter who’ll put the effort and get you goals but may not have as much natural ability as in say Vardy? Personally I’d play Vardy and go to blow Panama in the first 20 mins to possibly get a couple of goals then look at bringing Sterling on when pressure off and hopefully he’ll not have to try too hard and play a more natural game. Think a goal will do him a world of good
Lukaku seems like a genuinely nice guy summed up during yesterday's game where he went down in the box and the first thing he did while still on the floor was put his hand up and signal to the ref that it wasn't a foul.
If we take a "horses for courses" approach, Sterling would be on the bench today for me. Panama will probably defend deep and look to frustrate. Sterling is at his best when he is on the counter or playing against a high defensive line. Now, if we can get in front, then Sterling could be the ideal sub to throw on against a tired team that have to attack in order to stay in the World Cup, which should give him the space and chance to counter that he thrives on...