The Raheem Sterling conundrum
Has there been a more polarising figure than Raheem Sterling during the 2018 FIFA World Cup?
The reaction to Raheem Sterling’s performances at the World Cup provides a snapshot of football’s most endearing and at once frustrating conundrum: by what do we measure individual success in a quintessentially team context?
Is a one-dimensional player who scores with ruthless efficiency ‘better’ than the influential player who does everything but score?
In a results-based business the former is far more valuable in a quantifiable sense, as goals are what separates the winners from the losers. Socceroos fans yearn for a goal-scorer. The world’s best clubs can afford to stockpile them.
But what happens to that player when his supporting cast can’t provide the opportunities? Herein lies the difficulty in trying to establish whether Raheem Sterling has had a good World Cup or not. Generally, your answer will come down to your own view on what constitutes a successful player.
For instance, were one to judge Sterling on goals-scored, not only has Sterling’s World Cup been a dismal failure, but his past three barren years at international level have been. A proven scorer for Manchester City last season, on this KPI alone, Sterling appears to suffer from an inability to translate his efficiency at the national level.
However, to write off Sterling’s contributions based on the cavern in his goals-for column is to ignore his overall impact. Not only does the fleet-footed attacker strike uncertainty in his opponents, he disrupts defensive formations, makes smart runs into spaces that create opportunities to score.
He did it 18 times for Manchester City last season, and rather than losing the ability to play in an England shirt, he hasn’t been able to produce a tangible return on his greater body of work. He’s made the cake, but neglected to ice it.
Angled runs between the lines, willingness to take players on and intricate passing movements are what makes Sterling such an invaluable attacking threat. At just 23 years-of-age, the player has time to develop the last aspects of his repertoire at international level. Consider that over the last three seasons at City he has scored 6, 7 and then 18 goals.
His craft is a developing one. Yet despite being a skilful, attacking player, Sterling has become something of a polarising figure, sparking heated online debate between those who value goals above all else, and those who can see his immense value to the most successful England team since 1990.
Instead of canning the player for not scoring, we should be celebrating his contribution to a team that is still figuring out how best to arrange its collective parts. His lack of goals should fill fans with optimism about what he could yet become, not make him the butt of scorn. Consider how warmly Sterling would be received had he not only done what he does every game, but capped it all off with a bag of goals? He'd surely be gushed about in the same revered tones Kylian Mbappe.
