Guardiola: Forward is in incredible form now
Pep Guardiola hailed an “incredible” performance from Raheem Sterling and believes the Manchester City forward is unrecognisable from the player who used to be “scared” in front of goal.
Sterling scored twice and claimed three assists in City’s 6-1 demolition of Southampton just days after verbally agreeing a new five-year contract with the Premier League champions.
Guardiola claimed the Sterling he encountered in his first season at City would look for excuses not to shoot but he believes the England forward is now going from strength to strength and, at 23, has huge scope for improvement.
Asked what had been the biggest change he had seen in Sterling, the City manager said: “His head. The first season, he was scared [in front of goal], he was looking [and thinking], ‘Who is the guy I am going to pass the ball to’.
“He was not looking [to score even though] the keeper was there. We spoke about that and said, ‘Try to score goals’. Now you have the feeling [he thinks], ‘Where is the goal and go there’. I have the feeling he is now enjoying scoring goals and making assists. He is becoming a winning player.”
Guardiola believes Sterling is developing into a complete forward. “He is a top player. He is in incredible form. He is sharp, fast, clever, fighting, ambitious, decisive,” he said. “He can play both sides and in the middle and receive the ball between the lines and commit the centre-back with a lot of aggression.
“It was an incredible performance but with the young guys like him, and Leroy [Sane], I would feel he can improve. Still, he loses simple balls, like the Tottenham game when he made an amazing assist but then lost a lot of balls.”