Hodgson comments make Liverpool's Sterling an unfair target (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

Another day, another club vs. country row. Raheem Sterling is being pilloried by many England fans, as well as some sections of the media, for having the temerity to admit to his coach he was feeling tired. He did not refuse to play for England, he merely informed Roy Hodgson how he was feeling and left the rest up to him. Hodgson sensibly elected to go with the in-form Adam Lallana instead against Estonia but less sensibly then threw his teenage star under the bus by informing the media that Sterling had "complained" of feeling tired.

Hodgson could have handled this situation with a lot more common sense and ensured that Sterling would not be thrown to the wolves in the manner he has been, but the course of action chosen by the England coach suggests that this is perhaps the reaction he wanted. Sterling is merely collateral damage, the child being used to score points by parents going through a messy divorce.

Perhaps Hodgson believes that Brendan Rodgers advised Sterling to complain of tiredness? It wouldn't be too big a leap to come to that conclusion, given the ongoing problems between Liverpool and England since Daniel Sturridge was injured while training on what was supposed to be a scheduled rest day. Liverpool had every right to be angry over that, but for his part, Hodgson is surely now entitled to ask why Sterling is so jaded just two months into the new season.

Rodgers claimed earlier in the season that he needed to be careful with his teenage superstar and he put his words into practice by resting him against Aston Villa. Since then, however, he's ignored his own advice and basically run the youngster into the ground. Playing him in every Premier League game is understandable; sending him out to play in two Champions League games as well as 120 minutes in the Capital One Cup against Middlesbrough is not.

Sterling has not been at his best in recent weeks, and him being left out of the team would not have exactly been earth-shattering news. Had Hodgson simply stated he felt Sterling would be more useful coming off the bench late on when Estonia's legs were beginning to tire, nothing more would have been said about it. Instead, he went public with what should have been a private conversation between manager and player, and Sterling is now dealing with the fallout.

The row has been nothing short of ridiculous, but this kind of situation always leads to the same overly simplistic judgements being made. "He's 19, how can he be tired?" they say, but it misses the point entirely. Even worse are the comparisons with "regular" jobs. Only this morning I heard an outraged England fan on the radio pointing out that if he can do his milk round for "three hundred quid a week," then who is Sterling to complain of being tired when he's being paid millions? Where to even start with that nonsense?

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