Ben Jacobs’ latest column for GiveMeSport was spent highlighting how much playing for Chelsea meant to Raheem Sterling.
Much like the apologetic Instagram post following the bizarre win over Leicester in our last game, it shows a real intent from Sterling to try and stay on the good side of the fans, and not to start resenting them for their frustration at him.
That can only be a positive thing, and the faith that Mauricio Pochettino shows in his selecting him must be driving him on too.
“[Sterling] relishes the Chelsea project and thinks that it will pay off sooner rather than later, and he wants to be a part of that. So there’s no problem between Sterling and Chelsea. The challenge for Sterling is just to try and get the fan base back on side. And obviously, to do that, he has to start scoring.”
There’s also a claim that Sterling turned down a move to Saudi Arabia last summer, and that his attitude hasn’t changed. Given he’s locked in on his mega-deal at Chelsea, those fans wishing he would just take the move abroad may have to get realistic that he’s staying around.
And given he knows he’s staying, his clear desire to endear himself all around becomes natural.
Besides the wage issue, there’s no reason not to want Sterling to be remain at the club, not least because he can provide some veteran leadership. But, given that he’s clearly past his prime, it’s critical that he embraces this leadership role and understands that it’s not about him being “the man.” For example, he could/should have deferred to Palmer to take that last penalty—an action that would have given Palmer a confidence boost AND resulted in a goal. Instead, he’s time an again behaved rather selfishly (and/or hasn’t given consistent effort) and that’s simply got to change if he’s to remain at the club.