He’s reached another level this season.
Raheem Sterling didn’t have the best of debut seasons at Manchester City. During the 15/16 season under Manuel Pellegrini he only managed to score 6 goals in the league, and struggled to sustain a run of form.
But City knew he would improve once Pep Guardiola arrived, which is why they were more than happy to pay the £45m fee for the winger.
This season, his second under Guardiola, we are seeing the fruits of their labour. Raheem Sterling has scored 17 goals in all competitions this season, 13 of which have come in the league.
The 23-year-old has spoken about how he has undergone this transformation from tricky winger to ruthless goalscorer, explaining that:
“I’ve probably had better seasons dribbling, but this is the most efficient I’ve been and that’s exactly what I want to do. There is no point dribbling if you are not helping the team,” Sterling told the Daily Mail.
“It is definitely my best season in terms of goalscoring. Who wouldn’t enjoy this? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’ve always wanted to improve on and get better at.”
Pep has brought the best out of Sterling as many hoped he would, extracting end product and efficiency from the supremely talented winger, and Sterling is clearly grateful.
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It shows the value of coaching, actually working with what you have and improving them. Jose Mourinho’s outburst last week about not having enough money to spend basically conceded that his coaching and managing counts for very little – he just wants and needs a bottomless pit of money to throw at the problem.
Pep spends money too, but he then moulds players. He makes them better. He actually works with them on the training field and tells them exactly what he wants.
And Guardiola is pleased with Sterling’s output this season, too. Speaking to the press, he said:
“What I like the most is he knows when he has to dribble and when he has to pass the ball.
“And now he’s enjoying scoring goals.”
Sterling’s decision making, regarding dribbling and when to release the ball, as well as making runs to get into goalscoring positions is the key area of improvement we’ve seen since Guardiola became City boss in 2016.
England boss Gareth Southgate will be hoping he will also benefit from this improvement come the summer at the World Cup in Russia.
