Gareth Southgate has come to the rescue of forward Raheem Sterling, who was criticised in the build-up to the World Cup, in Russia and admitted that the Manchester City star is a “fundamental” part of the England set-up.
Sterling has started four of England’s five games in the tournament so far, and while he has looked threatening on occasions, he has been unable to end his international goal drought that dates back to October 2015.
The 23-year-old doesn’t have a good goal record – managing to score just twice in 42 appearances for England – that too against modest sides Lithuania and Estonia, while his goalscoring record under Pep Guardiola last season was a career-best of 23 goals in 46 appearances, in what was City’s Premier League title-winning campaign.
And while Sterling was a major threat to Sweden’s defence in the quarter-finals and caused trouble time and again, finding pockets of space throughout, he missed a one on one chance when it came his way. But Southgate believes the forward has been contributing immensely in the cause of the team.
“I think Raheem has been fundamental to the way we have played – his movement, the positions he takes up, his pressing of the ball, his work rate for the team, the winning of free-kicks, the winning of corners, his speed to stretch teams,” Southgate told the ITV World Cup podcast.
“He was a constant threat to Sweden. Of course he hasn’t scored the goals he would have liked to score but for myself and the players he has been a crucial part of the way we have been playing.”
Sterling was widely criticised ahead of the World Cup for having a tattoo of a gun on his leg. A few pundits even went to the extent of saying he should be dropped from the squad.
And while he did respond to the noise surrounding his tattoo, explaining that it was a tribute to his father, who was shot dead in his birthplace of Jamaica when Sterling was just two-years-old – the way he has learned keeping criticism aside and focusing on the task at hand, is commendable, feels team mate Eric Dier.
“The way Raheem’s handled everything from when we met up until now has been incredible,” said Dier.
“It’s so clear to see if you were to watch back until now the importance he has on the team. He’s had a fantastic tournament so far and hopefully he can continue to have one in the next week.”
Now, as England get ready to enter a tough contest in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic is of the view that Sterling will have an impact on the game and could be the difference-maker.
“I think Raheem Sterling is an important player because he is fast and dangerous alongside Harry Kane,” said Dalic ahead of Wednesday’s clash in Moscow.
