The devaluation of Sterling?

[ILD]

I don't overly like Sterling at RWB. Is he there to do a job for us or is Rodger's looking to keep him there for a while? Ibe is injured, that's fair enough but Lazar has played there on numerous occasions for us this season. Playing Sterling at RWB has some advantages. He has the opportunity to run from deep positions and he's technically at attacker when we have the ball. It also enables us to play the triumvirate of Coutinho, Lallana and Sturidge up front but at what cost to Sterling's own performance? It's frustrating seeing him so far from the opposition's goal at times.

When Ibe returns I presume Lallana/Sturridge will lose out to Sterling in certain games.

Is anyone on here a fan of Sterling at RWB or willing to make a case for it?

 

[SummerOnions]

There's no case for it when he's shown he's so much better elsewhere. You wouldn't put Sturridge or Balotelli there

The issue for me is that Rodgers is not forcing players to fit into this formation, which is the opposite of why he brought it in in the first place

We need a new formation if he wants to play all of these players

 

[RedStar]

There was an opportunity to get at United by having Sterling play further forward and run at Jones who he would have twisted inside out, playing him at right wing back limits the damage he can do in the final third by forcing him to start from so much deeper. That said he had one of those games yesterday where he displays frighteningly poor decision making, much like the game at Old Trafford where he was embarrassingly bad, nearly everything he touched turned to shit

 

[Mystic]

He waits for things to happen far too often. That can be improved. Remember Rush talking about how Dalglish told him to run into space and the ball would be there for him, and when he didn't do it Dalglish gave him the most ferocious rollicking and after that he became much more active rather than reactive. Well with Coutinho and others in the team, Sturridge can and should gamble much more often and attack space, but he doesn't. He'll do it every now and then, but if nothing comes of it you can almost see him thinking, 'Sod that, I'm not running on spec all the game!' What he relies on is playing deeper and waiting for a pass to feet, and then either running past a defender or looking for a one-two, but that's easier to defend and it's also a reason why we seldom have any players inside the box when we attack. They're all hanging back. Sturridge has spent his whole career insisting he needs to be the number nine, the centre forward, the main man. So he needs to assume that responsibility and work as hard, and think as hard, as such a player is obliged to do.

Whilst I agree with all of that and it's a great post, I think you misread Sterling for Sturridge in the title!

 

[gkmacca]

You're damned right! Sorry!

 

[gkmacca]

Sterling doesn't seem to know what he wants to do with the ball. He had periods like this when he was in the reserves. He'd get stuck in the groove of doing a few feints and stepovers, then it was if his brain froze and he'd stall. I don't think it's physical fatigue, but he looks mentally shot at the moment. His agent is fast assuming Paul Stretford-like notoriety as someone who constantly distracts his clients, and I fear he really has been seriously unsettled by this transfer talk.

 

[ILD]

There's no case for it when he's shown he's so much better elsewhere. You wouldn't put Sturridge or Balotelli there

Yeah but Sterling can operate in a few positions and still help the team out. It's totally different playing Sterling RWB than putting Balotelli or Sturridge there.

Sterling isn't poor at RWB but I think it's a waste of his talents and I agree that he is better elsewhere.

 

[jexykrodic]

Perhaps he just can't handle star billing, he wouldn't be the first.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

I reckon he's just shattered. He's played a lot more than he should have this season, and had a lot more responsibility on him, because our only other decent attacking option is injured most of the time.

He had a bit of a burst after his mini-break, but it's looking like it's catching up again.

I don't expect much more from him the rest of the season, we'll need the others to step up a bit.

 

[ctlovesred]

Cue Ibe.

 

[Oncy]

Little twat has just put in his best performance in months and he had to fucking do it in front of 300m people worldwide.
Thats his agent adding another 10k a week.
Wankers.

 

[ILD]

Can some hero get me some Sterling highlights please?

 

[Oncy]

Can some hero get me some Sterling highlights please?

They wouldnt suit you mate.

 

[ILD]

hahahahha

 

[FoxForceFive]

Little twat has just put in his best performance in months and he had to fucking do it in front of 300m people worldwide.
Thats his agent adding another 10k a week.
Wankers.

Eh?

 

[FoxForceFive]

Ah. Forgot England were playing.

Can't be watching them whilst that cunt is in charge.

Every time I see his morose saggy face it makes me sad & angry all at once.

 

[Leo]

Did he need ten chances before he scored it?
Mors wants to know.