Roy won’t tire of Sterling
NOT too long ago Raheem Sterling being rested by England whipped up such a frenzy it became known as “Tired- gate” and the winger found himself at the eye of a storm.
These days, time on the sidelines refl ects only positively on him.
At the age of 20, he is already being tipped to win 100 caps by his national team manager. Seniority has come early for Sterling.
It would be easy to overlook the signifi cance of his omission for Saturday’s cakewalk against San Marino, with tonight’s trickier game against Switzerland in mind, and yet it merely underscores his importance to England’s cause.
The focus continues to be drawn by Wayne Rooney’s pursuit of goalscoring history but if the captain is to swap milestones for medals any time soon, he will need Sterling to maintain a development sure to be aided by his £ 49million move to Manchester City.
“Raheem is raring to go and we’re hoping he will bring the form he is showing with Manchester City with him,” said England manager Roy Hodgson.
“It is a big year for him but I think he will have a lot of big years. He will have France at the end of 2016, Russia at the end of 2018, all over Europe at the end of 2020 and then he will have 2022.
“The good thing for a guy like him is, yes, it is a big year but at his age he has so many more to look forward to as well.
“I’m pretty certain that one day he is going to be sitting alongside me with over 100 caps and plenty of tournaments to look back on.”
It was quite a prediction Hodgson sought to casually drop into conversation, though Sterling’s is a career seemingly intent on being measured by big numbers.
Last season came laced with distractions for the youngster.
The rumpus provoked ahead of the game with Estonia in October, when he complained of being heavy- legged in the build- up, was followed by a chain of events that led to his acrimonious departure from Liverpool.
City’s start to the season suggests Sterling has everything he could have wished for and, crucially, an environment where his focus is solely now on football.
That, coupled with playing alongside men of the quality of David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure, can only benefi t England as Hodgson looks for someone to share the matchwinning burden with Rooney.
“I have the same aims for him that he will have for himself and his club manager has for him,” said Hodgson. “When you play in that position as a wide forward it is about assists and goals . It will always come down to that.
“What people have liked about his early performances this season is his assists and the fact he has scored a goal. We don’t want more from him than that.
“We don’t want him to lose that incredible work- rate he has, that tenacity if he loses the ball to win it back again . But if you asked Raheem he will tell you he’ll be hoping to have more assists and more goals at the end of the season.
“We hope for the same thing for England. If you go back over the recent past, then that could be an accusation: that not enough players have been able to step up and score the goals when needed. “We’ve got to make sure we find and encourage those people. ” The return of Sterling against the Swiss, forever fond opponents for Hodgson given his time in charge of their national team, will be one of several
changes from the
weekend. However, Michael Carrick’s latest withdrawal with a calf injury means Hodgson will be denied the chance to hand the Manchester United midfi elder only his second start since October 2013. While a third of Carrick’s 33 caps have come under the present regime, there must be an element of concern about whether it is worth persevering with him for Euro 2016 given his fi tness record.
“There’s so much water to pass under the bridge, it is not the time to make a judgment,” said Hodgson.
Jonjo Shelvey will hope to benefi t and, given the fi tness records of both Carrick and Jack Wilshere, he must seize what amounts to an unexpected opportunity.
Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill and Fabian Delph are also in line to start with England, now that qualifi cation is secured, needing only a point to become Group E winners.