“ONE greedy bastard, there’s only one greedy bastard.”
As far as witty retorts go, it isn’t the best by Liverpool’s standards. Yet Raheem Sterling seems to constantly take the bait.
Whether that is by having a quiet game or the one witnessed on Sunday, there is something about Anfield which clearly alters the mentality of what is now a seasoned and elite world-class talent.
His performance on Sunday was as out of control as his manager. Indeed, it can be argued that Pep Guardiola let Sterling down as a guardian in a situation he clearly needed one. Had Vincent Kompany been on the pitch, I doubt that Sterling’s levels of frustration and at times petulance would have gone without warning in the way it seemingly did.
The incident with Joe Gomez, as we all now know, spilled over into a physical altercation initiated by Sterling the following day at St. George’s Park when the two players joined up for England duty. Gomez, by all accounts, handled the situation impeccably, while Sterling has since apologised.
That is seemingly that. Although it never is in football.
With the surface scratched, blame is now being apportioned where it can. Sterling has obviously taken the brunt, while Gomez has oddly been accused of goading by some who were not there and have only what has been fed to them through the prism of media cloak-and-dagger “reliable sources”.
There has also been a spotlight on Anfield, a perception that Liverpool’s fire-pit atmosphere, further lit by the reactions all afternoon of the Manchester City number seven, should burden a shoulder of the responsibility for what occurred.
As someone who has attended every Liverpool versus City fixture since the player has returned in blue, I can speak with first-hand experience about what I’ve witnessed but therefore only for myself; which is that nothing has rightly ever crossed a line.
I have never taken part in the chant against Sterling for the simple reason I don’t think it is very good. I’ve goaded him or formed part of a collective angst to some of his actions and Sunday was no different.
We all know when a line gets crossed in terms of the terraces and the things sang or said. There are the obvious examples that aren’t worth going into, but others which have been similarly as distasteful that are nowhere near the level of what Sterling gets. If he has any doubts, he can just ask Gary Neville or John Terry.
Yet none of this is about whether or not Liverpool supporters like or dislike the player for whatever reason, because none of us know the person and have no real basis to judge.
Being angry Sterling left is no longer the objective, it doesn’t have to be because Liverpool are good, really good. For the vast majority, it is about knowing that getting on his back deeply affects how he performs.
In a game of such fine margins and huge importance, where the crowd should be doing everything that doesn’t cross the proverbial line to help Liverpool win, is that such a bad thing? It can be argued that is exactly what we are there to do.
Similarly, what Sterling has done is equally nowhere near as outrageous as its press. He lost his head in a competitive environment and let his ego get the better of him at the age of 24. I challenge anyone who has been or is of a similar age to say that they’ve never done the same.
As a footballer and person who has shown an abundance of maturity when tackling very serious issues in recent months, it should be also noted that he remains human with the type traits we’ve all displayed over the years. The type we often wish our footballers would display more of to example their human nature and endear them to us.
Essentially, what has played out is a real-life situation in the increasingly utopian world of elite football.
Liverpool won a game of football and Raheem Sterling lost his rag.
That, for once, should just be that.
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Totally agree. I was disappointed Raheem switched sides to our current rivals and have hoped he doesn’t do well against us, but I don’t know why any Red would still have it in for him so much later. We’ve certainly moved on and so has he. If I harbour any resentment, it’s towards Brendan who handled his transfer request so badly, trying to treat him like a child when any fool could see he was yearning to be in control of his destiny and be a man. Ah well, I suppose it doesn’t matter now anyway, we both went on to better things.
I don’t really harbour ill feeling towards any ex red of good quality though, including Owen and Suarez.
Still love watching Luis play, even when his team we’re beatings, even when he was employing the dark arts against us. It’s a game, I don’t know why people let stuff like this get under their skin. Why do we need a villain?
The only ex Reds I have dislike for were the ones that were shite for us like Paul Konchesky and/or ones that are hostile to us in the media. Wasn’t a fan of how Murphy or Pennant dissed Rafa after leaving.
Raheem Sterling is a great player, has taken a lot of shit and is dealing with it impeccably. He plays with aggression at Anfield which is natural considering the stick he gets and the fact that we’ve become his bogey team (nowadays I half want to see him rip us apart so he can get free of the mental shackles), and is a great example to black players on dealing with racism. He attacked Joe Gomez cos he was wound up, no big deal. If you want to see the real problem, read the readers comments in the Telegraph’s piece on him this week: those are the people we need to be concerned with, not a couple of young footballers scrapping.
*even when his team were beating us
(would be great to be able to edit comments one day)
One exception: I frikkin’ hate hate HATE Woy Hodgson with a passion! Can’t wait til that *u*t goes the way of Moyes and Alladyce.
(I would say ‘the way of Mourinho’ too but I fear he may resurface one day)
Personally I have no time for Owen for many things. Agree with you about Murphy and Pennant isn’t worth discussing as he did feck all in life before or afterwards. As for Konchesky, I have more time for his ma for putting up a better defence (of her son) than he ever managed in a red shirt… he truly was pants.
Not bothered with Sterling. Made up when he does not play well against us, mainly for the fact I don’t want him to play well against us.
As for him losing his rag, so what. Shows a bit of passion. He doesn’t like losing… who does.
Gomez did well, both at Anfield and away on duty for Ingerlund. This now should be forgotten about and both should be allowed to get on with their game. It was nowt more than a head lock apparently, this happens all the time to Salah when he’s running through on goal and nowt is said and the ref never even blows up for a foul. So let’s move on.
Liverpool players booed by England fans
Roger hunt during 66 world cup ,Ray Clemence 1979 v northern Ireland,John Barnes any England game you care to mention.