England manager and ex-Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson has called on Raheem Sterling to grow “thicker skin” following the Three Lions’ 0-0 stalemate with Ireland.
Sterling was subject to jeers and verbal abuse throughout the game in Dublin, and this seemed to have a negative impact on the Liverpool youngster’s performance.
The 20-year-old has had an eventful last couple of months, to say the least, and fans all over the Premier League recognised it and let their feelings be known to him, and now it seems that the Irish faithful have strong feelings about the saga.
The situation as it stands is that Sterling has told Liverpool he wants to leave, but the Reds are determined to keep one of their brightest young prospects.
Sterling’s controversial agent, Aidy Ward, has had perhaps more of a say in this than Sterling has, with constant press leaks to try and find his client a better deal elsewhere.
Hodgson, when asked about Sterling, said: “He’s going through a bad time publicly. You can’t expect people to just shrug off the criticism he’s been receiving, not least from the local media in Liverpool.”
“He does ever so well and tries to shrug it off, let his football do the talking. He needed this game to realize that, if he is going to get it out of his system, he’s going to have to work harder still and get a thicker skin than he has at the moment.”
