Chelsea attacker Raheem Sterling has received some fairly harsh criticism after his performance in the opening Premier League fixture.
The Blues kickstarted the new league season with a 1-1 draw at home to Liverpool, with the level of the team’s performance encouraging a lot of supporters during Mauricio Pochettino’s first match as head coach.
It was a surprise team selection when Pochettino moved away from a back four that has been settled in pre-season, which included a frontline of Raheem Sterling and Carney Chukwuemeka behind Nicolas Jackson.
We were fairly encouraged by what we saw from Sterling, 28, in an attacking role against Liverpool. In particular, he linked up superbly well in wide areas with right wing-back Reece James.
However, the England international still has some strong critics.
ESPN pundit Craig Burley didn’t hold back with his assessment of Sterling after the display against Liverpool.
Burley told ESPN: “I think in the final third, he’s completely lost it now.”
Similarly, Steve Nicol later added in the same video: “My goodness, he (Sterling) has fallen off a cliff in the last 18 months.”
We didn’t really like too much of what we saw from Sterling during a quiet pre-season, but the effort and application against Liverpool looked much more like the player he can be.
The speedster showed some great moments with the ball at his feet, including a couple of intricate passes and moments of intelligence.
Signed for £50million (Daily Mail) from Manchester City last summer, Sterling is now a senior presence in a very young and inexperienced group. It would be great to see him lead from the front with his performances on a consistent basis.
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