STAMFORD BRIDGE — Raheem Sterling closed his eyes and let out a roar. It was one of those full-bodied screams, mouth as wide as possible, trying to let all of the anger out of him.
It had been one of those weeks for the Chelsea forward. Left out of another of Gareth Southgate’s England squads leaving his hopes of playing in Euro 2024 virtually over, then, on Sunday, insisting on taking a penalty ahead of the guy who hasn’t missed one all season, then missing it.
And still Sterling’s week was about to get much worse. It was the 44th minute of the FA Cup quarter-final against Leicester City and Sterling was through on goal – the perfect chance to make amends for the penalty. And he fluffed it. Shaping the ball around the advancing goalkeeper, he shot well wide of the post. So Sterling roared.
Confirming the utter uncertainty around what player Sterling has become, moments later he displayed the brilliant flashes of his ability, breaking through Leicester’s back line with a clever darting run, heading the ball into space, reaching the byline, squaring for Cole Palmer – who he had taken the penalty from – to tap in.
Several Chelsea teammates seemed to make a point of running up to Sterling and congratulating on him his contribution. And a minute later he was confidently bustling again, hustling Wout Faes into a mistake that almost led to Conor Gallagher adding a third.
The half-time whistle blew and Jesus Perez, the Chelsea assistant manager, made a beeline for Sterling, placing a reassuring arm around the player’s shoulder, the pair deep in conversation as they left the Stamford Bridge pitch and headed down the tunnel. Who knows what Perez said, but it probably went along the lines of: maybe leave the penalties to Palmer.
All had seemed well for Sterling and Chelsea at that point, but it was about to get much worse still. Conceding two goals early in the second half – within 11 minutes of one another no less – against a Championship side can have that effect.
By the time Palmer placed the ball for a free kick right on the edge of Leicester’s penalty area (after VAR had overturned a penalty call), the atmosphere was strained, to say the least, and Sterling was becoming a target for frustrations.
Palmer was poised to shoot – the Chelsea fans clearly wanted him to – but Sterling went for it instead, producing one of the worst free kicks you will ever see, the ball probably not yet landed by the time you read this.
Chelsea fans booed him badly – a small but meaningful group chanting, “Get him off!” Soon after, when Mauricio Pochettino chose to substitute Mykhailo Mudryk for Carney Chukwuemeka instead of Sterling, the Chelsea fans turned on the manager, chanting that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. A fan behind the Chelsea dugout shouted, “Get f***ing Sterling off!”
Pochettino eventually obliged in the 86th minute, replacing Sterling with Noni Madueke. The fans started jeering loudly but, fair play to Sterling, he made sure to applaud them as he walked off the pitch and some of the supporters returned the gesture.
Afterwards Pochettino trod a fine line between not criticising his own fans and not hammering his player.
“We need to accept the situation,” Pochettino said of the toxic reaction towards Sterling. “The feelings weren’t good for him.
“Fans are entitled to show their emotion. For us we try to emphasise with our fans not to criticise. They want the best for our team and players. But we are in a project. We need support and to really believe. We are trying to build something.
“They need to trust me to manage in the way I think is the best way for the club.
“We need to respect their opinion as much as they need to respect my decision.”
He added: “[Sterling] has an unbelievable CV. He’s played in big teams. An experienced player. Today he missed a penalty and some chances, but we’re going to support him.”
Nonetheless, it is a nasty position to be in when your own fans boo you and don’t want you in the team and Pochettino finds himself in a difficult, delicate position with a player who expects to start every game.
Sterling was the first marquee signing of the Todd Boehly-Clearlake Capital era when he arrived for £47.5m from Manchester City as a Premier League title winner. He did well at City but Pep Guardiola appeared unfazed by his departure and after he left City they won the Treble.
After Pochettino took him off against Leicester, Chelsea scored two goals in stoppage-time to make it through to the semi-finals. The goals came from Madueke and Carney Chukwuemeka, the two substitutes, two young players who are pushing hard to keep Sterling out of the team.
A bad week might be about to get worse.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/8uDqBaN
Post a Comment