Manchester City

Manchester City: Pat Nevin on Raheem Sterling

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Image for Manchester City: Pat Nevin on Raheem Sterling

Former Chelsea midfielder Pat Nevin has been speaking on a recent installment of the OTB Football podcast, where he claimed Raheem Sterling is trying too hard to improve his recent slump in form.

The Manchester City winger scored his first goal since February last time out but was unable to prevent the Cityzens from succumbing to their fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign.

Although Sterling has still recorded healthy numbers this season, scoring 14 goals and providing 11 assists in all competitions, he has found himself starting on the bench in City’s last five Champions League encounters.

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With a place in the final now secured for Pep Guardiola’s men, everyone is playing for a place in the starting XI for the showpiece event, but Nevin thinks the 26-year-old is trying too hard, and Saturday’s encounter was a prime example of that.

He said: (14:19) “He just kept on getting more frustrated and more petulant and more angry and trying harder and not just playing his normal game. And the reason why he’s trying harder, it’s the classic one, even the very best players do it if they’re not in the team, they try too hard and do things they shouldn’t be doing, and he’s right in that cusp…

(15:10) “So, I don’t think he’s in a good place at the moment because of where he is, because he knows out of four, or five, or six, he’s probably number five or number six in that group now. And he’s doing the wrong things to get out of it.”

Will Raheem Sterling leave Manchester City this summer?

Yes

Yes

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TIF Thoughts on Sterling…

Sterling has set himself incredibly high standards over the last few seasons, scoring 23, 25 and 31 goals over the last three campaigns, but he has struggled to live up to those expectations this time around.

The likes of Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez appear to have moved ahead of the England international in Guardiola’s pecking order, with Sterling often on the bench for the bigger games.

With the Champions League final and the European Championships coming up over the next few weeks and months, the former Liverpool man will be desperate to rediscover his best form, but time is running out to that before the season concludes.

In other news: ‘Won’t be at the club in two to three years’ – Journalist drops big claim on 24 y/o MCFC star

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