Jamie Carragher gives thoughts on Raheem Sterling’s statement just before Chelsea vs Man City

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Despite Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat on the opening day of the season to Manchester City, a lot of the talk was about a player who wasn’t even in the matchday squad.

Eyebrows were raised when Raheem Sterling’s name was nowhere to be seen in Enzo Maresca’s squad for the first fixture of the season.

Sterling’s camp put out a statement an hour before kick-off to state they were seeking clarity over the situation ahead of the new season.

• READ MORE: Enzo Maresca was not happy with Chelsea fans during first half of defeat to Manchester City

The timing of this was quite clearly poor, and will likely have been frustrating to see for Enzo Maresca after he made the tough decision to drop him from the squad.

Jamie Carragher was a pundit who despite being very critical of the way the club is being run right now, but he could not defend Sterling and his camp for what had happened.

Carragher criticises Raheem Sterling statement

He took to Twitter to say: “Massive fan of Raheem as a player & a lad. Not a fan of the Chelsea set up with owners etc… But this statement is ridiculous! As a camp………..! We look forward to gaining clarity…….!! No need for a statement, especially an hour before kick off!! Just play better.”

It has been reported for a while now that the decision makers at Chelsea are keen to move Sterling on this summer, with his wages seeing that prove quite difficult.

Pedro Neto pushing to start

The Blues have strengthened out wide this summer with the addition of Pedro Neto, who made his debut off the bench yesterday in the defeat at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea fans believe Neto should be a starter from the next game onwards, with his ability out wide originally bringing a spark before Manchester City killed the game off.

Sterling meanwhile could find it quite difficult to convince the boss that he should be considered for another appearance soon after how his side dealt with being left out yesterday.

There were no minutes given to Mykhailo Mudryk and Noni Madueke yesterday, with the duo seeming to be ahead of the England international in the pecking order right now.