Sterling work (ESPN article)

[MOGLET]

I think he is quite strong on the ball. Don't get brushed a side easily, despite his size.

 

That's one of the things that's impressed me most about him and I said that a few times last season.

 

He very rarely gets knocked off the ball and he doesn't lose it often at all. I'm not naming people but he got some unfair criticism on here last season. He's still a kid, he didn't turn 18 until December.

 

He'll be a very good player.

 

 

Is this the same Sterling who lost possession and was knocked off the ball more than anyone else when he played?

 

Apologies, I thought we were talking about Raheem Sterling, I must be watching his brother.

 

Not saying he isnt a prospect, or that he isnt any good, but he does need more time before we can say he is a starter.

[Guest LFD]

Well I have to disagree with you then Moglet.

[Newport]

Is this the same Sterling who lost possession and was knocked off the ball more than anyone else when he played?

 

Apologies, I thought we were talking about Raheem Sterling, I must be watching his brother.

 

Not saying he isnt a prospect, or that he isnt any good, but he does need more time before we can say he is a starter.

 

I agree with this. I've seen nothing from Sterling that will convince me he, at this moment, is a better option than Downing. The antipathy some people have for Downing is ridiculous.

 

Sterling was thrown out into deep waters when he got his chances las season and despite showing glimpses of future greatness, he's very far from being a finished product.

 

He has his weaknesses and unless his passing and decision making is improved I can't see him as a top level Premier League footballer. So far he's been lucky because of his physical gifts. But he still has to prove himself as a player.

[The_Goat]

Stuart Downing is no more that 6-7 out of 10 player. Each game he will trott out, do nothing special but not a disaster either. He is at his ceiling level and will never improve on it. If your happy with that pick downing. We have plenty of options now in his position and his place in the side is up for grabs. I think if Sterling has come back stronger and hungrier he deserves his chance to stake a claim.

 

Keep him, let him fight for his place.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I agree with this. I've seen nothing from Sterling that will convince me he, at this moment, is a better option than Downing.

 

Really, mate? If you've seen nothing from Sterling to convince you that he's a better option than Downing, I'd say you need to pop down to Specsavers! He's a goal threat, for a start. He's able to beat a man, which Downing barely tries, much less succeeds at doing. He's also improving almost every time he's on the pitch. He has hunger, and a pair of balls between his legs.

 

The antipathy some people have for Downing is ridiculous.

 

Why is it ridiculous? He offers very little and when he scored his first league goal for the club, after well over a full season, his first reaction was to turn to the Kop and tell them to shush. I find it hard to believe there's anybody left to defend him.

[MLB]

Sterling and Ibe both starting the friendly today.

[diamondjoe]

Gotta give Sterling time to develop. Look at Bale, he was shit for spurs really until he developed physically, same goes for Ronaldo at united. We won't see the best of him for 2-3 seasons. Can we/he wait that long though?

[Sugar Ape]

 

Really' date=' mate? If you've seen nothing from Sterling to convince you that he's a better option than Downing, I'd say you need to pop down to Specsavers! He's a goal threat, for a start. He's able to beat a man, which Downing barely tries, much less succeeds at doing. He's also improving almost every time he's on the pitch. He has hunger, and a pair of balls between his legs.

 

Why is it ridiculous? He offers very little and when he scored his first league goal for the club, after well over a full season, his first reaction was to turn to the Kop and tell them to shush. I find it hard to believe there's anybody left to defend him.[/quote']

 

Got to agree with this.

 

Re Sterling, People do realise you aren't the finished article when thrown in a struggling team as a 17 year old, right? Talking about his passing and decision making, fucking hell! The latter comes with time and he doesn't give the ball away often as it is, and he'll no doubt improve on that as well with experience.

 

He's going to be boss.

[Newport]

Really, mate? If you've seen nothing from Sterling to convince you that he's a better option than Downing, I'd say you need to pop down to Specsavers! He's a goal threat, for a start. He's able to beat a man, which Downing barely tries, much less succeeds at doing. He's also improving almost every time he's on the pitch. He has hunger, and a pair of balls between his legs.

 

 

Why is it ridiculous? He offers very little and when he scored his first league goal for the club, after well over a full season, his first reaction was to turn to the Kop and tell them to shush. I find it hard to believe there's anybody left to defend him.

 

I don't disagree with some of these points and I don't see Downing as a player for the coming years, and I don't even think it's any point in comparing the players. I just think people are overexaggerating the impact Sterling had on the team last season and what is the best for him the coming season. Sure, he can beat a man, but can he make the pass to create the opportunities for other players? I didn't see much of that. He had a couple of assists, but he still lack a lot of the experience needed to make the best decisions and I think we should aim higher than using another season trying to blood youngsters. Therefore I see the opportunity of sending him out on loan because I don't think it's fair to him to keep him at the club if he isn't guaranteed a first team spot. And in my opinion he isn't ready to be a regular starter.

[Batigol]

Ideally Downing would be fucked off and Sterling could play understudy to a decent winger. It's a strange situation to have your £20m senior player no better then your inexperienced youth.

[Jarvinja Ilnow]

Fair point.

 

Aye, he's no Jordy Brouwer

[The Guest]

Is this the same Sterling who lost possession and was knocked off the ball more than anyone else when he played?

 

Apologies, I thought we were talking about Raheem Sterling, I must be watching his brother.

 

Not saying he isnt a prospect, or that he isnt any good, but he does need more time before we can say he is a starter.

 

Sterling lost possession and was knocked off the ball more than anyone else when he played?

 

Are you on crack?

 

It was the main point everyone was making when he broke into the side. His decision making was great for his age as was his ability to not be knocked off the ball despite the size and strength of a small child. Of course he is going to be knocked off it sometimes but to suggest that was a problem worth even mentioning shows how fucking blind you are.

 

The criticism actually started coming when half way into the season he started taking less risks. He wasn't running at his man often enough and was playing the simple ball to retain possession. As usual though it becomes open season and people like you starting inventing other shit like this to beat players with rather than what actually was the problem.

 

For me it's the classic case of wingers and Anfield. It's been that long since we had a great one there's thousands of know-all wankers in the stands that can't contain themselves when one doesn't skin his man every single time. We end up scaring wingers into attempting things because they can already hear the groans coming. Older and more experienced players than Sterling have fell into that trap, Downing being one of them. It was no surprise to me to see it happen with Sterling.

 

He was getting dogs abuse in some games. How often do you think players like Ronaldo or Nani lose the ball or give it away. Lots is the answer, even now. The thing is they were doing it when they started as well. If you want your wingers to be good, then within reason, they have to have no fear of giving it away. Hopefully Rodgers will drive that into Sterling.

 

He needs to be a starter this season more than Downing because we are a side trying to develop for the future. If we want Sterling to turn into the standard of one of those players he has to be playing a fair time at this age. If Downing was any good there would be an argument against it. He isn't, he's painfully average.

[MOGLET]

Sterling lost possession and was knocked off the ball more than anyone else when he played?

 

Are you on crack?

 

It was the main point everyone was making when he broke into the side. His decision making was great for his age as was his ability to not be knocked off the ball despite the size and strength of a small child. Of course he is going to be knocked off it sometimes but to suggest that was a problem worth even mentioning shows how fucking blind you are.

 

The criticism actually started coming when half way into the season he started taking less risks. He wasn't running at his man often enough and was playing the simple ball to retain possession. As usual though it becomes open season and people like you starting inventing other shit like this to beat players with rather than what actually was the problem.

 

For me it's the classic case of wingers and Anfield. It's been that long since we had a great one there's thousands of know-all wankers in the stands that can't contain themselves when one doesn't skin his man every single time. We end up scaring wingers into attempting things because they can already hear the groans coming. Older and more experienced players than Sterling have fell into that trap, Downing being one of them. It was no surprise to me to see it happen with Sterling.

 

He was getting dogs abuse in some games. How often do you think players like Ronaldo or Nani lose the ball or give it away. Lots is the answer, even now. The thing is they were doing it when they started as well. If you want your wingers to be good, then within reason, they have to have no fear of giving it away. Hopefully Rodgers will drive that into Sterling.

 

He needs to be a starter this season more than Downing because we are a side trying to develop for the future. If we want Sterling to turn into the standard of one of those players he has to be playing a fair time at this age. If Downing was any good there would be an argument against it. He isn't, he's painfully average.

 

 

No, but I would like some of whatever you are taking that makes you see him as this starting 11 player who doesnt lose the ball much.

 

Not losing the ball is not what makes a good winger, not losing it, and using it to good effect does.

 

I didnt invent seeing him lose the ball a lot, he managed that himself.

 

Also, I never mentioned Downing, I just said Sterling is not yet good enough.

 

 

Back to the crack.

[No2]

Sterling is made of granite. He will tear the place up next season, starting with Stoke. Ibe is no where near ready, physically he's ready to rock and roll but his decision making is that of a kid his age. A loan to the championship for him will sort him out.

[ODZ]

There is no way I'd loan out our best winger. Kid deserves to play in the first team, I'm not impressed at all with any of the other players competing with him for a place bar Coutinho, who's boss and needs to play in the middle IMO.

 

Downing is a waste of space in the squad. Not because he's useless, but because there is absolutely no future for him at the club long term. We are rebuilding, and if we want to build new foundations for the club, we better start giving Sterling more playing time and for that matter, Ibe. Downing isn't going to be here in a couple of years anyway, we're wasting playing time on the guy when we should be giving experience to someone who's going to be our best player in a couple of years.

[johnsusername]

He was quite exciting when he first started and was one of the few players who actually ran at and attacked the other team. But last season I just thought a lot of our counter attacks ended at his feet when he couldn't work out whether to pass or take on a player - he'd just stop and shuffle his feet over the ball while the opposition got back into position. Maybe he was thinking too much.

 

I know he's only young, but if you're a first team player you have to take first team criticism.

[Jairzinho]

He was quite exciting when he first started and was one of the few players who actually ran at and attacked the other team. But last season I just thought a lot of our counter attacks ended at his feet when he couldn't work out whether to pass or take on a player - he'd just stop and shuffle his feet over the ball while the opposition got back into position. Maybe he was thinking too much.

 

I know he's only young, but if you're a first team player you have to take first team criticism.

 

I think a lot of that would have come from Rodgers trying to make him a more rounded, mature player. He played with complete freedom, but also complete naivety, when he played his first few games. He was extremely exciting but at times, predictably considering his age, would be miles out of position, or make a really poor decision. He has now been given a lot more to think about, and this will make him often frustrating to watch. It'll take time no doubt.

 

Difficult to get the balance right. I'd agree that he probably needs to guided slightly more back towards the daring talent we first witnessed.