Chelsea have been working with an extremely young squad of players at Stamford Bridge this season, albeit there’s a few sprinkles of experience. It may be one of the reasons why Blues head coach Mauricio Pochettino has struggled for any consistency from his team.
TalkSPORT pundit Darren Bent has now made an interesting comment about Blues star Raheem Sterling.
Sterling, 29, has had a couple of weeks during the international break to click the restart button and refocus.
There’s extra responsibility on the attacker as a senior member of the group to lead by example, but his own individual levels have been way down on his best since the turn of the year. Speaking via ESPN this month, Mario Melchiot said Sterling’s not performing right now like he can.
Let’s hope he’s back with a bang at Stamford Bridge, starting this weekend at home to Burnley in the Premier League.
Bent has admitted it’s “mad” that Sterling is only aged 29, suggesting everyone views him as much older.
Also, he does still think there’s a path for the £50m man (BBC) back into the England national team squad if he sorts out his club form.
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“You know what’s mad, he’s only 29 years old. The way people talk about Raheem Sterling, you’d think he was 34,” Bent told talkSPORT.
“I don’t think it’s all over for Sterling (his England career). But he’s got six goals in the Premier League this season, three assists… He hasn’t had a good season Raheem Sterling. Too indecisive at times….
“If you look over his career, he can catch fire really quickly.”
Raheem Sterling has crammed a lot in for a 29-year-old
Sterling has been playing at the top level for over a decade now across spells with Liverpool, Manchester City and now Chelsea.
The winger’s played 373 Premier League matches in total, scoring 121 goals and making 86 assists.
On top of that, he’s got 20 goals in 82 senior caps for England.
The four-time Premier League winner doesn’t get the respect he fully deserves.
Chelsea need more leaders
It’s been apparent all year that there’s not many outstanding leaders in the Blues group.
We think Sterling can lead by example with his performances, but he’s got to rediscover the kind of consistency that’s completely gone missing of late.
There’s still a chance to salvage a poor season if the squad unites for the final couple of months.
