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Ibe sounder than a pound (Sterling), says Reds legend

Former Reds striker John Aldridge says Liverpool need to sell Raheem Sterling as soon as possible, and suggests that in Jordon Ibe they already have a superior replacement.

 

“I think Brendan Rodgers should let Raheem Sterling leave for Manchester City now,” he told Kicca. “The sooner he leaves the better for all involved. All this transfer talk is making a mockery of Liverpool Football Club.”

 

Sterling seems almost certain to leave Anfield this summer and it appears the Reds have already spent a chunk of the expected fee on Brazilian Roberto Firmino, but Aldridge says Sterling’s natural successor is already at the club. 

 

“Raheem is obviously a hugely talented player but Liverpool have a top replacement in Jordan Ibe. I’ve been watching Jordan play since he was 15. He’s a terrific player and has bags of potential.

 

“In fact I think he’s got as much if not more potential than Raheem and will go on to be a better player. On top of that, he’s a big strong lad who is very direct with a great shot on him.”

 

Ibe has made a promising start to life in Liverpool’s first team and was one of the few bright spots last season, but he is yet to find the net and will need to address that if he's to make the same sort of contribution as Sterling, who is good for around a dozen goals a season. Even at youth level Ibe has never been a prolific scorer and it's clearly an area the teenager is looking to improve as this summer he reported back to training early in order to get some extra work in on his finishing with Kenny Dalglish and Alex Inglethorpe.

 

 

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Ibe and that's not nothing to do with who Raheem will be playing for next season.

 

Ibe is stronger, taller, faster, got a better shot on him and looks more likely to knuckle down and improve his game.

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Ibe may well go on to be a really good player but if you compare him and Sterling at the same age Sterling was a fair bit ahead of him.

 

Ibe is still without a goal or an assist for us albeit in not many games.

 

Sterling had established himself and done some damage at the same age, Sterling is exactly a year older so Sterling at the end of the 2013/14 season is the comparison to Ibe at the end of last and Sterling is ahead hands down.

 

Who has the higher ceiling remains to be seen.

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Can't really say, think it's putting too much pressure on Ibe to be saying stuff like that. Ibe's biggest asset so far seems to be that he's not a twat and doesn't have FIIIIVE kids to feed!!!

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Sterling has become persona non grata. When he was playing with Suarez he looked brilliant. For far too much of this past season he didn't look like anything special - no shot, no trick, kept falling over too easy. So we're all frustrated with him and wanting the whole sorry saga to be over, but the truth of the matter is that he is a good player who could go on to be world class. 

 

As for Ibe, we all like what we see. When he came back from his loan he made a real difference. When he got injured it negatively affected our top four chances, which is a high complement to pay to a youngster who is breaking through. He is stronger than Sterling, good at dribbling, and can definitely shoot better. They are both fast so I don't want to say he is faster than Raheem, but I prefer Ibe's directness.

 

The club should continue to hold out for the fee we have set. There's no pressure on us to do anything. Aldo is speaking like a fan (and that's fine) but I'm sure our thinking is that if we wait a bit longer, we will get the extra 10M from Man City, or another deal will come along that might suit us. We're in a good position and should not be rushed. Sterling can continue to enjoy the "loss" of 100K+ each week the longer this drags on. 

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Sterling is a better footballer though. Ibe needs space for him to attack, the games he started as a winger, he was relatively ineffectual. Sterling is mycg more comfortable operating in 'heavy traffic'. Look Sterling is s great talent, he's not the finished article with some glaring weaknesses, but all this talking down of his talent is a bit embarrassin making us look small time. Aldo should really know better.

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Personal opinion. I think Ibe can become the better player.

Has all the attributes to get there. The only one i dont know yet because of his age and limited appearances, is does he have the inner drive to get to the very top. The hunger to succeed. If he has that i think he will surpass Sterling.

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I think Sterling will end up the better of the two but I hope I'm wrong, I knew Sterling would be something special first time I seen him when he was 15, I've never thought that watching Ibe.

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Disagree with Aldo that it's 'making a mockery' of the club.  Most of the fans seem to be past giving a shit and the majority of the media coverage I've seen is portraying Sterling as a money-grabbing little turd and his agent as a sub-moronic jizzmop, so whose opinion are we supposedly worried about here?

 

Most of the footy fans I've spoke to about this at work etc aren't Liverpool fans and the only thing most of them think would put the club in a bad light is if we sold him but for much less than we said we wanted.  Since that doesn't look to be happening, we're going to come out of it smelling of roses from a PR perspective no matter what we do.  From a football perspective we either keep him and his ability in the team, or get a fuckload of money to spend.  Not really seeing a downside there.

 

TL;DR Fuck him.  Sterling not Aldo, obviously.

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City: How much for Raheem?

 

Liverpool: £50m, mate.

 

City: Would you take £40m?

 

Liverpool: Nah.

 

How does Aldo look at that exchange and think, "Right, they're making a mockery of the club, got to get shut of Raheem sharpish to maintain our decency."?

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When Ibe was re-called from his loan at Derby they were in an autmoatic promotion spot; in the end they didn't even make the play-offs, not saying it was all down to him but he was very effective there.

Sterling's best games for LFC were generally with the SAS on the pitch and those two were so good that even Flanagan became an attacking threat.

Just sayin'

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I think Sterling will end up the better of the two but I hope I'm wrong, I knew Sterling would be something special first time I seen him when he was 15, I've never thought that watching Ibe.

 

Sterling looks a much better all round footballer than Ibe from what I've seen, which obviously has been more of Sterling.  Ibe has some better attributes than Sterling in that he's more direct and powerful, but he's more or less a traditional winger whereas Sterling could play anywhere across the attack, as demonstrated by the fact that he was even our best CF last season.  Obviously Sterling needs to seriously work on his finishing.  Don't know about Ibe's finishing. 

 

People seem to be forgetting, probably because he wants to leave, that Sterling wasn't only good with Sturridge and Suarez but was carrying the team in the first half of last season. Ibe has played a few games, I can think of a couple of good/promising performances.  Ibe now is basically what Sterling was before Rodgers took over. 

 

He may well go on to be better than Sterling, and I'm sure people on here have a better knowledge of his game than I do, but I don't see it myself. 

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I'd like see Aldo more involved with the club. He can start by helping to convert Ibe into a striker - somebody that quick and hench belongs up front.

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Ibes ovverrated thus far hes had about two good games an lost his plaice. In a really shit team.

Actually, he had surgery and couldn't play until the last two games of the season, and he was still regaining match fitness, hence the sub appearances.

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Ok, I dislike Sterling, intensely, but you can't deny that currently he's a top prospect, and a decent player. At this moment he's way ahead of Ibe in terms of experience and development.

 

That being said, I think that there's some problems with his game which will be very difficult to iron out, such as his shooting, physicality and decision making.

 

Physically Ibe is the better of the two, has a cracking shot, what seems to be a better mentality, and is more direct.

 

Both players are blessed with good acceleration and pace, and I think it's debatable who has a higher ceiling between the two, but Ibe could just shade it, as I believe he has the build and mentality to be the better player. Here's hoping he is.

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Ibes ovverrated thus far hes had about two good games an lost his plaice. In a really shit team.

 

Wow. How many players were shite game in and game out and never lost their place?

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