Raheem Sterling

[Bender]

He's tired leave him alone.....

[Shaggy]

James Pearce @JamesPearceEcho
Rodgers: "It's been grossly unfair how Raheem has been criticised for something he did not say. He's back here in a secure environment."

[RedReet]

Hope he puts 3 past QPR, plays the full 90 mins, then does a lap of honour at the end to prove how fit he is.

[Fosterbloke]

I hope he plays, scores a goal and goes to sleep in the centre circle.

[RedReet]

[baitman]

I hope he plays, scores a goal and goes to sleep in the centre circle.

Some sort of sleepy yawning goal celebration.

[DeanoUK]

Maybe he should pretend to snort the goal line, in some vain reference to a pick me up. Oh wait, this has been done before...

[Daniel 7]

Nah, he was eating the grass

[Roboklopp]

Always eating the grass.

[muddym2002]

Glen Johnson: Raheem Sterling was too honest when he told Roy Hodgson he was tired

Glen Johnson reckons that honesty is not always the best policy in football.

As the club versus country row between Brendan Rodgers and Roy Hodgson about how best to handle Raheem Sterling shows no sign of abating, Johnson believes the teenager will have learned a valuable lesson about how the game works.

Only Hodgson and Sterling know exactly what was said in the conversation that saw the Liverpool forward left out of the England team that faced Estonia in Tallinn last weekend.

But Johnson feels Sterling has been both misquoted and misrepresented after admitting to Hodgson that he was not in the best physical condition for the Euro 2016 qualifier.

“Raheem was asked a question and he gave an honest answer,” said Johnson. “Now, it seems, he is getting punished for it.

“You learn very quickly in football that you can be too honest sometimes.

“Raheem didn’t say he was tired, as has been claimed. He was asked a question about how he was feeling and he has said that his thighs were tight. There is a big difference between having aching muscles and actually saying to the manager ‘I’m tired, I can’t play.’

“Anyone with half a brain would know that’s not the case. Raheem would play every week if he could.

“But you are never 100 per cent, certainly not when you are playing games every four days. You are going to play with knocks and pain and aches. And then your body gets used to it.

“In hindsight, the whole thing could have been handled better. Instead, it has just added fuel to a situation.

“I think both the club and the country have a duty to support Raheem – and to support all young players.”

Sterling took to Twitter in an attempt to justify the decision to start him on the bench in Estonia.

Johnson knows from his own experience that sometimes it is better for players to keep their counsel.

He said: “I’m on Twitter myself and I’ve put a couple of messages on there that I have been asked to delete – and I’m 30!

“I still stand by what I said – I wouldn’t have written them if I didn’t – but someone with a bit more intelligence than me advised me to take them down.

“People want to see players on social media so they can see what they have to say.

“Then as soon as they say something, it all blows up. You can’t win.

“The younger lads will have some fun on Twitter. They talk to people they don’t know and think they are just having a bit of relaxed banter, like all 20-year-olds. I guess you just aren’t allowed to do that kind of thing anymore.”

Johnson revealed that Sterling has been taking some stick from his team-mates since returning to Anfield.

“Just a bit of banter,” insisted the England full-back.

But as Liverpool enter a week that could help define their season, they will need the teenager to be at his brilliant best as Rodgers prepares to face a trip to QPR and the Champions League visit of Real Madrid.

“We’ve had a difficult start to the season but this is a big week for us,” said Johnson.

“There would be no better time to start a good run – and from my own point of view I’m looking at it as a fresh start as well after getting back to fitness.

“Last season was the best we have played for a while, but we only had the Premier League to concentrate on.

“We always believed we could put in the same performances this season – and we still think like that.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/glen-johnson-raheem-sterling-honest-4459991

[RedReet]

Johnson.

[JohnDoe]

I simply do not understand how Rodgers watches what Sterling does on the pitch every week and decides to put him on the right when we're lacking threat up front.

He's absolutely fantastic at tearing teams apart running behind defences.

[Red_Polo]

Yeah I'd be interested to see him as one of two up top.

[Chris]

I simply do not understand how Rodgers watches what Sterling does on the pitch every week and decides to put him on the right when we're lacking threat up front.

He's absolutely fantastic at tearing teams apart running behind defences.

Yeah he's by far the closest replica we've got of Sturridge, just look at his Southampton goal.

[cream]

Viktor Fagerström @ViktorFagerLFC 2h2 hours ago
BR on Roy meeting Sterling: "Sterling is having a shower. So I don’t think he’ll see him. Not unless he’s in the showers there with him!"