The 2012/13 season has been a strange one. The new manager in place, Brendan Rodgers, has instilled a new, technical passing game – often referred to as ‘tiki-taka’. Consistency has been hard to come by for most of the season, too, as Rodgers coaches his system to the squad. The club have also had to rely on one main striker, Luis Suarez, due to a poor summer transfer window. This paved the way for some of the club’s promising, but untested, youngsters to stake a claim in the team. Raheem Sterling was just one of a number of players to make the step up. The Jamaican-born winger made his debut for the club as a 17-year-old under Kenny Dalglish, but it was this season that his potential was expected to shine through. Has he made the impact that was expected of him? I think we need to talk about Raheem.
We’re now into February and Sterling is 18 years of age. An adult in the Liverpool first team, with a huge reliance thrust upon him due to circumstances out of his hands. His talent and ability is as clear to see as the stars in the sky on a cool summer’s night. His pace is electric and his feet are just as quick.
He took defenders by surprise in the first few months of the season, notching up more ‘dribbled past’ statistics than any other player in the league. With each skip and turn around a defender, the plaudits were heaped onto his young shoulders. Greatness was on the horizon, surely?
His England call-up soon followed, courtesy of former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson. It was fully deserved at the time, as his performances kept him in the Reds’ starting eleven every week. He even scored his first goal, against Reading at Anfield – a lovely moment for him and his adoring family.
But six months since the season started, his honeymoon in the first team is over. His form since his contract extension in December has dipped ever so slightly and he now has a fight on his hands.
His performance – or lack of – against Oldham as Liverpool lost angered Rodgers who swiftly criticised the club’s younger players. I’m sure Raheem felt the full force of his fury that evening.
However, his dip in form must have been expected. An 18-year-old playing in his first professional season in the Premier League can’t be expected to play 32 games by February and still be skipping past defenders with ease, can he?
Sterling is a special talent but he must be wrapped in cotton wool, bubble wrap and plenty of blankets. Such a talent cannot be allowed to slip through Liverpool’s grasp because of playing too many games. Emiliano Insua, another youngster who was played too many times in his first full season, left the club and has rebuilt his career. He now plays for Atletico Madrid after starring for Sporting Lisbon in last season’s Europa League. It was a mistake letting him leave, just as it is to make Raheem Sterling play so many games.
We all understand that the young winger had to play most games prior to January as there was simply not enough cover to provide him the rest he so needed. Now the surge in form of Stewart Downing, the arrival of Philippe Coutinho gives him, and Brendan Rodgers, the chance. Sterling must not be overplayed. A good rest will do him the world of good.
If he continues to play every week then he could notch up 50 appearances this season, and that would not be good for his small legs. At such a tender age, and with his whole career ahead of him (hopefully at Liverpool), he must be cared for and given the time off he needs.
He has looked leggy and slow for several weeks. Now is the time for Rodgers to rest him. Not drop him, rest him.
Let the media talk, leave them to question whether he has been dropped for poor performances because when he comes back into the team, he’ll be just as energetic as he was on the first day of the season and he could add to his two goals and two assists.
A good rest and an arm around his shoulders is imperative for this young boy’s career. Failure to do so will leave the club feeling plenty of regret.
