Raheem Sterling is in a funny position in this Chelsea team, much as he was last year.
He’s one of the older and by far one of the most experienced players in the team, yet a large portion of fans (and that includes match-going as well as internet) are tired of him, and he’s usually one of the first to be dumped out of the team when Blues fans are drawing up their fantasy XIs for the season.
But new coach Enzo Maresca doesn’t have a huge number of options on his left wing, and having worked with Sterling at Man City and seen what damage he can do when used correctly, the Chelsea boss will be desperate to try and recreate that.
Sterling’s quotes on the club’s website on working with the new manager reveal something about the connection between the two:
“I’m focused on really trying to help the team in all the ways I can, not just on the ball but off the ball as well,” said Sterling, clearly meaning the sort of intense pressing the boss has introduced which the team don’t have quite have down yet.
“That’s very important as a collective. We need to do that to win football matches. We have got some great players and we just need to gel that all together. I do see great potential in the team.”
The older head speaks
Sterling has played in some great teams of course, and has thoughts about how this one can improve:
“Yes, the group is young, but with the players we have we have to mature really quickly, and I think we are. At times you can see the good football we are playing, we just need to simplify certain things and the results will come our way to definitely compete,” he mused.
Interesting to wonder what he means by “simplify.” We’ve seen a lot of mistakes playing out from the back this summer, under Maresca’s instructions. Could Sterling be telling the new guy to ease them in more gently?
