Jermaine Beckford believes Raheem Sterling would not be happy with how Graham Potter has often used him at Chelsea.
Ben Chilwell’s injury is a big blow for Chelsea, who have already had to deal with plenty of injuries in the last few weeks.
If Potter decided that Kalidou Koulibaly is not ready to start in Sunday’s clash against Arsenal, Marc Cucurella will likely fill the left centre-back role, which makes Sterling a strong candidate for the left wing-back position.
Sterling previously insisted that he is happy to play wherever the manager needs him (via 90min), but according to Beckford, the winger is likely not enjoying it.
“You’re talking about putting an offensive player, a forward, into a wing-back position,” the former Jamaica international told Premier League Productions (via Optus Sport).
“Speaking from my own perspective [as a forward], I’ve played in left midfield before. While it’s not a wing-back [position], it took me out of my comfort zone.
“I did the job that I felt I could do, but my natural instinct — and Sterling would be the same — is to be on the front foot would not be defensive-minded.
“[I was thinking] as soon as we won the ball back, I needed to be on the front foot to get forward as quickly as possible.
“He wouldn’t be happy with playing that wing-back position, especially with the world cup around the corner.”
To be fair, when playing as a wing-back, Sterling still operates farther forward than what most would expect.
Potter also explained that he did not ask Sterling, as well as Christian Pulisic, to defend against opposition wide players despite playing as wing-backs.
Although, despite having less defensive responsibility, this role does not allow Sterling to make runs into the opposition box as often as he usually does. This might have hindered his performance lately.
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