Raheem Sterling

[JaneB]

Raheem Sterling ups his return from injury | News | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club (chelseafc.com)

[My Blood Is Blue]

With all the excitement over Felix and Mudryk, I almost forgot about Sterling.

Does he start ahead of Felix or Mudryk? I think he may struggle. 

[Bob Singleton]

10 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

With all the excitement over Felix and Mudryk, I almost forgot about Sterling.

Does he start ahead of Felix or Mudryk? I think he may struggle. 

Assuming a 4-2-3-1, and assuming Havertz plays as a (false) 9, then I can see Mudryk on the left, Felix as the 10 and either Sterling or Mount on the right

[chara]

Step up or step out time for Raheem....no more somewhat living off his name...and I do wish him well.

[xceleryx]

6 hours ago, Bob Singleton said:

Assuming a 4-2-3-1, and assuming Havertz plays as a (false) 9, then I can see Mudryk on the left, Felix as the 10 and either Sterling or Mount on the right

I think this is the way. Sterling likely ends up being the main right sided option, with maybe a little interchanging with Mudryk or whoever else ends up on the left. 

[Michael Tucker]

1 hour ago, xceleryx said:

I think this is the way. Sterling likely ends up being the main right sided option, with maybe a little interchanging with Mudryk or whoever else ends up on the left. 

To me, this all seems way too much like moving the deckchairs on the Titanic!

Get the first 11 selections right, and the shape right, and get the players revved. 

[xceleryx]

5 minutes ago, Michael Tucker said:

To me, this all seems way too much like moving the deckchairs on the Titanic!

Get the first 11 selections right, and the shape right, and get the players revved. 

Well I mean it kinda is moving the deck chairs, although it's more for actual purpose than just the sake of it. 

With the signings we've made there's going to be a bit of shuffling about while we find the right combinations.

[Michael Tucker]

11 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

With the signings we've made there's going to be a bit of shuffling about while we find the right combinations.

One has to ask if we haven't found the right combinations by now, what in hell's name have we been  doing?

[xceleryx]

3 hours ago, Michael Tucker said:

One has to ask if we haven't found the right combinations by now, what in hell's name have we been  doing?

I mean we've literally just acquired several new players for these wide positions, only one of which has played minutes (not counting Joao Felix as a wide player btw). With Sterling having also been injured, we've yet to set any other combination besides 30 minutes of Mudryk on the left and Ziyech on the right, the latter a player that may not even be here by the end of the month. 

So unless we're meant to have conjured up chemistry and balance out of thin air, I'm not too sure what you're expecting. 

[Rob B]

16 hours ago, Bob Singleton said:

Assuming a 4-2-3-1, and assuming Havertz plays as a (false) 9, then I can see Mudryk on the left, Felix as the 10 and either Sterling or Mount on the right

Yep this is how I see it too.  

Mudryk for me is comfortably first choice on the left.  Felix surely has to play given the amount we paid for him in such a small amount of games, which leaves Sterling and Mount battling for the last place behind the striker. 

The other option that wouldn't surprise me is a 4-3-3 with Mount in midfield,  Mudryk on the left,  Sterling on the right and Felix as a false 9.  

For all of the hype, I'm not sure Madueke will play all that regularly this season.  At just 20 years of age, I see him in the Chukwuemeka category as one for the future.  Some great options now though and means we have less problems to address come the summer. 

[jasonb]

You never know Sterling might play down the middle with Felix on the right and Mudryk on the left. 

[Bison]

Didn't look interested yesterday and was competing with Pulisic for the worst player on the pitch.

I don't see much value in keeping him considering where we are as a club but he's the highest paid player and has 4 years left on his deal. If he's this bad now then good luck to us in two years time. 

[xceleryx]

18 minutes ago, Bison said:

Didn't look interested yesterday and was competing with Pulisic for the worst player on the pitch.

I don't see much value in keeping him considering where we are as a club but he's the highest paid player and has 4 years left on his deal. If he's this bad now then good luck to us in two years time. 

He wasn't great was he. 

That being said, I do think he can be a serviceable player for us in a more functional side. We saw glimpses of it under Tuchel, who had a clear plan on how he wanted to use him. And if we sent him back to City he'd likely slot in just fine once again. The issue is that he's a complimentary piece and we're needing something more beyond that. 

[Bison]

46 minutes ago, xceleryx said:

He wasn't great was he. 

That being said, I do think he can be a serviceable player for us in a more functional side. We saw glimpses of it under Tuchel, who had a clear plan on how he wanted to use him. And if we sent him back to City he'd likely slot in just fine once again. The issue is that he's a complimentary piece and we're needing something more beyond that. 

I would want a hell of a lot more than serviceable from the highest paid player at the club.

He's also in a physical decline; he has lost a lot of pace and the injuries are becoming more frequent.

[thevelourfog]

I have never particularly rated Sterling as a player. Hoped he'd do well and on paper he was a clear improvement on what we had last summer so was wanting to be wrong. Seems I wasn't.

What is a real disappointment though, imo, is I get no sense of him being a leader. Certainly not from what I can see on the pitch, and he's not coming across to me as having that role in less visible spaces. He's one of the few guys at the club to have won multiple titles. He's one of the most capped, one of the ones who has been to the most major international tournaments. He's up there with the most career appearances. He's the highest paid player. He should be picking people up, raising standards. Instead he's shrinking. Talent and ability aside, that isn't good enough.

[chara]

I realise my much self admired 🫠reference to his decision making as being that of a trapped wasp was in fact a slur on any trapped wasp..they always have a sting in their tail...unlike Raheem who neither floats or stings.

I recall a particular period he somehow was picked every game for England (Euro finals I think) or so it seemed when given any situation he invariably made the wrong decision...at Citeh it always looked to me as if he had no decisions to make thanks to the "system".

Another disappointing "star" transfer on a far too long list.

In truth is anyone really surprised ?

[Mark Kelly]

17 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

I have never particularly rated Sterling as a player. Hoped he'd do well and on paper he was a clear improvement on what we had last summer so was wanting to be wrong. Seems I wasn't.

What is a real disappointment though, imo, is I get no sense of him being a leader. Certainly not from what I can see on the pitch, and he's not coming across to me as having that role in less visible spaces. He's one of the few guys at the club to have won multiple titles. He's one of the most capped, one of the ones who has been to the most major international tournaments. He's up there with the most career appearances. He's the highest paid player. He should be picking people up, raising standards. Instead he's shrinking. Talent and ability aside, that isn't good enough.

Personally , I've no time for him as a footballer, but let's not forget he's been on the end of two previous media stitch. ups , one for having the temerity to be black.

[thevelourfog]

3 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

Personally , I've no time for him as a footballer, but let's not forget he's been on the end of two previous media stitch. ups , one for having the temerity to be black.

I think he's been on the end of more than two, and all of them for being black.

Do you mean while here, though? If so I've missed them, and if not I'm not really seeing how it relates to what I said. In some ways I'd almost expect the experience of being on the end of criticism to be another string to a leadership bow, another area where he's been through challenges other players haven't. But as it is, he's just disappeared.

[Mark Kelly]

23 minutes ago, thevelourfog said:

I think he's been on the end of more than two, and all of them for being black.

Do you mean while here, though? If so I've missed them, and if not I'm not really seeing how it relates to what I said. In some ways I'd almost expect the experience of being on the end of criticism to be another string to a leadership bow, another area where he's been through challenges other players haven't. But as it is, he's just disappeared.

No , what I meant is they're clearly trying to intimate that the player in their in all likelihood ,fabricated article is him,  when it may well not have been. 

The rest I agree with you he hasn't stood up and he hasn't led from the front like you'd expect a senior player to do.

[xceleryx]

6 hours ago, thevelourfog said:

I have never particularly rated Sterling as a player. Hoped he'd do well and on paper he was a clear improvement on what we had last summer so was wanting to be wrong. Seems I wasn't.

What is a real disappointment though, imo, is I get no sense of him being a leader. Certainly not from what I can see on the pitch, and he's not coming across to me as having that role in less visible spaces. He's one of the few guys at the club to have won multiple titles. He's one of the most capped, one of the ones who has been to the most major international tournaments. He's up there with the most career appearances. He's the highest paid player. He should be picking people up, raising standards. Instead he's shrinking. Talent and ability aside, that isn't good enough.

Surely this was never a realistic expectation to have of Sterling though based on watching him? He's never been that player you've described, be it at club or international level. I never saw him as a signing that was going to walk through the doors and suddenly raise those around him, toe the attack, or lead us through those tougher moments. Just because he's been prolific at Man City and won titles doesn't equate to leadership. I thought he'd improve us in the sense of giving us a player that could score goals and offer a bit more final product, much like he did at City, but I suppose that was also highly optimistic to expect given the state of the supporting cast around him. He's always felt more of a complimentary piece to a unit, rather than "the man". 

I do wonder just how he'd have faired had Tuchel been here all season though. 

End of the day though he's not been good enough. I think he can still turn things around should he remain, but it'll take getting more cohesive pieces around him to truly maximise what he can offer.

[thevelourfog]

3 hours ago, xceleryx said:

Surely this was never a realistic expectation to have of Sterling though based on watching him? 

Not realistic to expect a senior, experienced player joining to have any kind of galvanising impact? A strange take, imo. Not all leaders are blood-and-thunder types.

[xceleryx]

1 minute ago, thevelourfog said:

Not realistic to expect a senior, experienced player joining to have any kind of galvanising impact? A strange take, imo. Not all leaders are blood-and-thunder types.

I agree, they aren't. It's more that there's not really been a time where I've watched Sterling and associated leadership qualities as being part of his overall package as a player either.

[My Blood Is Blue]

Never rated him, in fact quite the opposite. I knew exactly what we were getting when we signed him and it’s actually turned out worse than I thought.

He clearly regrets his decision to come here and has no interest in helping to turn this around. The problem for him (and us) is that no decent side is going to sign him, especially on the wages he’s on.

[Mark Kelly]

26 minutes ago, My Blood Is Blue said:

Never rated him, in fact quite the opposite. I knew exactly what we were getting when we signed him and it’s actually turned out worse than I thought.

He clearly regrets his decision to come here and has no interest in helping to turn this around. The problem for him (and us) is that no decent side is going to sign him, especially on the wages he’s on.

His biggest issue is the belief , like Lukaku that he is better than he actually is. 

He probably believes we're letting HIM down. 

[ROTG]

14 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said:

His biggest issue is the belief , like Lukaku that he is better than he actually is. 

Apart from Kane - which other British CF / wingers over the previous 5 seasons haves scored as many goals and assists as Sterling - For his CV and Age the money paid was good business, also when coached by TT in his first 6 PL games returned 3 goals and one assist. Thereafter team GB and lets play Sterling at WB