Joey Barton has questioned whether Raheem Sterling would have made it as a footballer if he wasn’t so quick.
The Manchester City winger is set to come back into the England team for their Euro 2016 round of 16 clash against Iceland on Monday, but Barton believes he’s lucky to be in the squad for the tournament.
Writing in his column for L’Equipe, the new Rangers midfielder was very critical of Sterling’s ability as a footballer and claims that if he wasn’t so fleet of foot, he wouldn’t have a whole lot to offer.
“Raheem Sterling has been poor for two years now.”
“Unfortunately, he has not been coached well enough. If you take away his pace, he is really weak, very limited technically.”
“With his final ball, he is imprecise or clumsy. Without his pace, would he be a professional? If he weren’t so quick, he would not be apt to do the job. And to think he cost £50m!”
Fans ain't happy https://t.co/RU1diw5su2
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 17, 2016
Sterling hasn’t exactly lived up to the €60m transfer fee Manchester City splashed out on him last summer. Barton believes that his inclusion in the England squad is an indictment of the poor quality of the Three Lions’ attacking options.
“I am really perplexed to see him in the national team after the season he has had. With France, Germany, Belgium or Spain, he would never be picked.”
“For England, he is a starter and that says we are not that well stocked in the attacking department. I don’t want to write him off completely because he is still young.”
Well, he is only 21, probably a bit early to send him off to the glue factory just yet.
