Sterling made
Let’s be arrogant says Raheem
REPORTS at Euro 2016, Sterling’s dream has finally come true.
“I feel much more happy wearing that shirt and to be doing that at a World Cup with my country gives me that huge joy and feeling I can go and do well,” he said.
“It’s something I played as a kid. I was more central, then went to Liverpool and started watching these videos of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, started doing step-overs, started developing my game that way.
“I was more in and around the box, someone that takes two touches and shoots, not skills, but had to kind of change my game and that’s how I ended up on the wing.”
While Harry Kane is England’s talisman, there are many who feel that it is Sterling who is key to the nation’s success or otherwise this summer. If he plays as well as he has done at times for
Manchester Three Lions to be more streetwise. “I’m sorry to say it, but we need to be more arrogant and more streetwise because we are coming up against some great teams and other countries who have that streetwise mentality,” he said.
“They bring their play into it – you do what you have to do to win a game. Simple as that. Be streetwise and clever.”
When it was reported to manager Gareth Southgate his players were calling for the team to be arrogant, he tried to fill in the blanks.
“Arrogance is not a word I like but I can imagine how they would have referred to it themselves,” said Southgate. “We have been rebuilding confidence over an 18-month period and if they are talking in that way, that’s good.
“I have got to make sure the balance is right and the focus is right, but it’s good if they are feeling in a good place.”
Good place? Sterling went on to compare England to the side who have just won the Champions League for the third time in a row.
“We need to control games,” he said. “You watch the Champions League final and Liverpool go 3-1 down and you saw the way Real Madrid control the game. They have that winning mentality in big games, not doing anything silly. Not attacking all the time.
“It is the one thing the manager has said he wanted us to do better. When we are in front, not to panic. You have to take that on your shoulders as a group of players and be a bit more arrogant with the ball.” Not that Sterling is going to allow age to be any sort of excuse this summer. It may be the third-youngest England World Cup squad of all time but Sterling hates any talk of this being some kind of development exercise.
“Forget all of that,” he said. “I’m not coming here to spend four, five, six weeks of my life to say ‘Let’s see what happens and hopefully get to the last 16’.
“We’ve got 23 players here, 23 very good players, and you know we all have the mentality to say that we’re going to win the games that we win. What can stop us?
“The quarter-finals won’t be good enough, at all, because you want to win it.
“Every player wants to win the World Cup, every country wants to win the World Cup, so anything less than that is not really a bonus.
“Of course, you can take positives out of everything but you won’t be entirely happy if you don’t win it.”