IT was curious to listen to Raheem Sterling yesterday.
Curious to hear him describe England duty as a haven of happiness, despite the comedown from Friday’s gloomy draw with Scotland.
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And curious to hear him suggest he was dissatisfied with a lack of game time at club level — despite starting 28 times in Manchester City’s title-winning campaign and in the Champions League final as well as the Carabao Cup final.
While Harry Kane’s form and club future are a source of national debate, Sterling faces similar issues.
There are suggestions that City could be willing to sell the winger, who was unhappy at being benched by Pep Guardiola for both legs of his club’s Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Sterling scored just ten times in the Premier League last season — half his haul from the previous campaign and well down on the 2018-19 season, when he was crowned Footballer of the Year.
And as England prepared for their final Euros group match against the Czech Republic tomorrow night, Sterling was asked about an interview he gave last month where he stated that he was “nowhere near the level I know I can be”.
Asked why he felt that had been the case, Sterling replied: “It is just happiness — just being happy, enjoying my football and that is what I am doing being here with the national team.”
Then Sterling was asked whether he had not been happy in recent months.
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And he responded: “If you’re not playing, you’re not happy. That’s me, that has been me since I was a kid. If I am playing football I am really happy — if I’m not, I’m not happy.”
Sterling is perhaps more important to England than to City right now. He has started both games at the Euros – scoring the only goal in either match, in that opening victory over Croatia.
Yet many would prefer that Gareth Southgate went with Jack Grealish.
Sterling has been critical of England’s performances in both matches — claiming they did not keep possession well enough against the Croats and that they did not show enough “personality” against the Scots.
And Sterling, 26, was certainly in tune with the mood of the nation when he suggested that England need to show more positivity.
He said: “I feel like, for me and Phil (Foden) and the other wingers, the more we can get on the ball at the edge of the opposition box, be a threat there, it will be better for us because those are the positions we want to be in.
“At the same time, we have to understand that this is international football and teams are more robust, they sit in, defending for their lives.
“We’ve just got to use the ball better and try to get the players on the ball in the right positions so we can harm the opposition.”
As for Kane, who has looked sluggish in both matches at the Euros, Sterling is adamant that the captain will come good if he receives better service.
Sterling said: “He hasn’t scored in two games. That’s not that serious. I’m sure when we need him most, he’s going to score. That’s not a question in my mind.
“We, as a team need to produce more for him — more crosses into the box.
“He’s a player who knows he can score in every single game and he will be the first to be disappointed but at the same I know when it’s crunch time Harry will be there.”
Sterling insists there is no sense of panic inside the England camp, despite a grim display in the 0-0 against Scotland.
He said: “I myself was very disappointed in the changing room on Friday but then one more day goes by and you realise it is not the end of the world.
“You have got four points. It is tournament football, you can’t expect everything to go our way.
“I feel the fans have an expectation of us, with the players we have in the squad and rightly so.
“But as you can see from different games in the tournament, it is tricky in international football.
“As a team we were disappointed not to win but we have a massive game on Tuesday against the Czech Republic and it’s a game we need to win.
“I just feel there’s more of a panic on the outside than inside the building.
“We don’t want any negativity creeping in and performance levels dropping and confidence dropping — and that’s all that would do.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
