Raheem Sterling

[G]

Apart from comparing him to some of the best strikers in the world, hard to argue with what **** off Phil says in that. He's not a striker and never will be and he really hasn't done enough to justify the wage he's turned down or the one he's looking for and I think only city with their need for English players would be daft enough to pay the top whack it would take to get him this summer. I think they have other more concerning areas to work on first though.

[shanks69]

caught a bit of the sunday supplement this morning and they were all saying sterling was in the wrong and saying he was stupid to do the interview.

[Exiled_red]

I think it's fairly clear that he/him agent wants a move, the interview was basically preparing the ground for a departure. However like many people have said I don't think a move would be good for his development. With us he is getting regular games and had according to reports been offered a good wage. If he really is just a boy that wants to play football he won't be happy sitting on the bench, but I don't see any of the top 4 clubs in England making him a regular starter on current form, nor can I see a move to one of the top clubs in Europe offering him a deal and giving him regular games. He has great potential but he needs regular games to achieve it. IMO he would be a fool to try and move on now. If in 2-3 years he has reached his potential and is frustrated that we aren't winning trophies then that is probably the time to move on (even in 3 years he'll still be very young). If he is determined not to sign a contract and will try to force a move we should just try and get as much as we can for him.

[RedReet]

He won the penalty which I have seen given as an assist by some staticians. Anyway, whilst I'm clutching at straws, the entire team only managed two shots on target with one being a dead ball 12 yards out. Sterling had four attempts on goal with two blocked. He had a number of successful dribbles and take-ons and was an important player for us in the first half when we had them on the counter.

But I digress. Other figures to fit the narrative:

Sterling:

0 Saves
0 Corners taken
0 Headers won
0 Substituted slow walks
0 women impregnated

Really is the shadow of the player he once was.

[DannyMan2006]

He's digressed since Sturridge came back on the scene.

I said it a while back, in the 3421 he doesn't suit any position. He did well at striker when taking into consideration he can't finish. But he doesn't seem to produce either behind the striker or out wide. At the tip of the diamond was his best position in the 41212.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I think it's fairly clear that he/him agent wants a move, the interview was basically preparing the ground for a departure. However like many people have said I don't think a move would be good for his development. With us he is getting regular games and had according to reports been offered a good wage. If he really is just a boy that wants to play football he won't be happy sitting on the bench, but I don't see any of the top 4 clubs in England making him a regular starter on current form, nor can I see a move to one of the top clubs in Europe offering him a deal and giving him regular games. He has great potential but he needs regular games to achieve it. IMO he would be a fool to try and move on now. If in 2-3 years he has reached his potential and is frustrated that we aren't winning trophies then that is probably the time to move on (even in 3 years he'll still be very young). If he is determined not to sign a contract and will try to force a move we should just try and get as much as we can for him.

Well if it is not about the money, then he should have no problem handing in a formal transfer request if he wants to leave.

[Roboklopp]

He's digressed since Sturridge came back on the scene.

I said it a while back, in the 3421 he doesn't suit any position. He did well at striker when taking into consideration he can't finish. But he doesn't seem to produce either behind the striker or out wide. At the tip of the diamond was his best position in the 41212.

Regressed surely?

[Doc_Piptorious]

Regressed surely?

maybe he meant what Sterling said in the interview.

[McDermotX]

Nice

Zidane, who is in charge of the European champions’ B team, says they are watching the England international who is stalling on signing a new contract at Anfield.

“We know who Raheem Sterling is, and of course we are monitoring him as a player," Zidane said..

“There are very few players in the world who can improve the Real Madrid squad, so it is going to make sense we monitor the progress of the best young players in the world.

“We monitored (Gareth) Bale for over a year, the same with Isco and also (Raphael) Varane.

“We monitor many of the best young players in Europe, then if we feel they have something to offer Real Madrid we will contact their club and try and make the next step.”

The England star caused controversy last week when he admitted turning down a recent £100,000-a-week contract offer but he remains tied to the Anfield club until the summer of 2017.

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers insists Sterling is not for sale.

http://www.football365.com/news/2155...-On-Real-Radar...

That'll be 50m please !

[Doc_Piptorious]

I see that Sterling's agent appears to have been busy again.

Adrian Durham with a piece that comes across as very Sterling/Agent friendly and it is a piece that encompasses the qualities needed to be a Daily Mail article.

Raheem Sterling would only be earning the same as useless Mario Balotelli if he signed new £100,000-a-week deal at Liverpool... and that's the real issue here

Raheem Sterling is currently earning less than half Mario Balotelli's salary
Even signing new £100,000-a-week deal would only take him to parity
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has insisted Sterling will put pen to paper
But he has assumed he'll stay at Liverpool when he has other ambitions
Sterling should be playing in the Champions League
And Liverpool, seven points off fourth place, may not be able to offer that


Raheem Sterling is earning less than Mario Balotelli. In fact he's earning less than half of what Balotelli is on at Liverpool. Puts a few things into perspective doesn't it?

Liverpool Football Club have made some poor decisions in terms of signings and contracts since Luis Suarez departed, and those mistakes look set to cost them their place in the top four.

For Brendan Rodgers' sake whoever is in charge of sorting out Sterling's new contract this summer needs to get it right. If they think they can afford to lose Suarez, Gerrard and Sterling in the space of 12 months they are very much mistaken.

Sterling's agent has been accused of giving him bad advice. Apparently what people want his agent to tell him is that he's not particularly good, he's too young to earn big money, and he should sign whatever contract Liverpool offer him because he should be grateful just to even be there.

The advice the agent gave was to turn down the contract offer and focus on football until the summer. Sounds reasonable to me.

The big problem here is not the tired old narrative of a young greedy footballer. It's that Liverpool, through Rodgers, have repeatedly told the press and the fans that there would be no problem and Sterling would sign the new deal.

In the middle of December, Rodgers described Sterling as 'a talisman' and told us he was confident he would stay.

At the end of January, Rodgers told us the contract would be 'concluded imminently'.

Last month he described the new offer to Sterling as 'incredible'.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers has always insisted that the Sterling talks would be concluded soon.


Rodgers has said things there he had no right to say, but those assurances he gave have now served to make Sterling and his agent out to be the bad guys.

The astonished response of hypocritical ex-pros and pundits stuck in an era where the maximum wage still exists was blown up beyond proportion.

'How dare this greedy young man who's won nothing, scored less goals than Jon Walters (who thought that one up?) turn down this incredible offer from this great club. He should be grateful to be at such a club.'

This was the standard response from people out of touch with the modern game.

The 'incredible' deal was actually an offer which put Sterling on a par with Balotelli.

Liverpool Football Club should be embarrassed by that offer to Raheem Sterling, a player who kept quiet last summer when he watched Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Balotelli all walk through the door and sign deals worth more than double what he was on.

He then stayed quiet while his performances were being scrutinised more than most in the absence of Suarez and Sturridge, with Lallana injured at the start of the campaign and with Gerrard fading fast.

Meantime Rodgers said there would be no issue with Sterling signing again, so when it turned out there was a problem, Sterling was instantly the bad guy, along with his agent.

Now the message from those who want to bring Sterling down is that he's not very good. 'He's not good enough to move to a bigger club' (since when were Liverpool a small club by the way?)

'He would be stuck on the bench if he moved.' 'Coutinho is better.' 'Let him go, Jordan Ibe is coming through.' If people want to believe all that it's up to them, but it won't alter these facts:

Raheem Sterling is a very good player
He's been performing at a high level consistently for two seasons
If a club is prepared to pay £50m he would play regularly for them
There would be no shortage of clubs wanting to sign him – Real Madrid have already said they are monitoring his situation
Rodgers says they won't sell this summer, but it's more bluster I'm afraid. Common sense dictates they can't afford to let his contract run down to its final year. The situation needs to be addressed
Sterling wants to play Champions League football. What's so wrong with that?


Gerrard knows all about contract situations not being addressed, and that's why he said two months ago that the club need to sort out the futures of Sterling and Henderson 'before it's too late'.

It was an important message from the captain that got lost in all the negative spin aimed at bringing Sterling and his agent's credibility down.

The last two defeats have brought the debate back to where it should be: the mistakes made by Rodgers and Liverpool.

Ramping up the hate towards a young English player who wants to play in the Champions League and wants to earn significantly more than a total waste of space like Mario Balotelli will hopefully now be seen for what it is – a way of deflecting from the real issues at Anfield.

What's really disappointing is that a young talented player has had to put up with all this criticism. It's classically English I'm afraid. Those critics should be ashamed of themselves.

Seriously - imagine if Real Madrid do want Sterling this summer, as Liverpool prepare for a Europa League campaign. Would it be good advice to turn down that move?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ssue-here.html

[dom9]

Who is this no mark?

[Doc_Piptorious]

Who is this no mark?

Bit harsh to call me that, Dom old bean

[The Birdman]

I've posted this before but it's all driven by Aidy Ward.
He is leaving ISM this summer and setting up his own business, if Sterling and Berahino both get moves this summer he'll stand to make huge amounts (Bale's agent got £10m for his move to Madrid)

That money not only sets him up personally but sets his new business off on solid financial footings.
He can then go to the next young player and make his sales pitch - I got Berahino a move here and got him X, got Sterling a move there and got him Y, sign for me kid and I'll make you a superstar.......
If Sterling stays he might make £1m out of a contract renewal, go for £50m somewhere and Ward will make at least 5 x that amount as his part of the deal.

The fuss over the last week or so has come from City or Chelsea (or whoever but they are the most likely) whispering in his ear about how much they'll pay him to engineer a move for Sterling away from Liverpool, hence the interview, hence the leaks, the articles that will continue to come out.

The thing is every journo has come out in support of the club, every ex player has come out in support of the club and when Scholes and Neville are saying stay at LFC you know the PR stunt went badly wrong.

[Norbs]

Then he can retire

[dom9]

Bit harsh to call me that, Dom old bean

Well, somebody had to.