Time for Sterling to take his chance, reckons Pep
Pep Guardiola has urged the “extraordinary” Raheem Sterling to seize his next opportunity to impress.
The England forward has started just three of Manchester City’s last 10 matches as they chase silverware on multiple fronts.
Manager Guardiola insists the 26-yearold has not fallen out of favour at the Etihad Stadium, but other players are simply in better form.
With City still in contention for three trophies and Euro 2020 also approaching, Guardiola feels there is plenty of time left for Sterling to shine this season.
Guardiola said: “Raheem is an extraordinary player – he was, is and will be. “The reason why he has not played as regularly as in previous seasons is because Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez are in top top form. That is the only reason.
“But opportunities are going to come and he has to be ready to show his quality, freshness in his mind and to play with the incredible strength he has.
“What happens with the international manager, I’m not involved, but I want the incredible players I have here to go in their national teams, absolutely. Him, Nathan Ake, Eric Garcia, John Stones – all the players who are here. It is a fantastic event to play in, the Euros.
“The quality is there and it is not a conversation where he doesn’t have confidence. After talking with me, he has confidence.
“Top-class players have to take the confidence for themselves to say, ‘I’m going to show what I am’. It’s the only secret.”
Sterling’s most recent appearance came in last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final loss to Chelsea at Wembley, a defeat which ended City’s bid for an unprecedented quadruple.
Sterling’s inclusion was one of eight changes Guardiola made for that game, which came just three days after his side’s Champions League quarter-final triumph at
Borussia Dortmund. Guardiola has a similar conundrum, but in reverse as City return to the national stadium to face Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final today. They travel to play Paris St-germain in their European semi-final just three days later.
Guardiola is likely to make numerous changes across the two games, but he is hurt by suggestions this might indicate a lack of respect for the domestic cups.
“When we lost against Chelsea I was asked whether I didn’t care about the competition and that offends me a lot,” said Guardiola, who has won the Carabao Cup for the past three years.
“Something we showed in these five years together is that every game we play to win the game.”
City are also closing in on a third Premier League title in four years and Guardiola feels his side have done remarkably well considering the difficult circumstances they have faced in this pandemic-hit season.
He said: “Ten months, 11 months, six press conferences a week, three games a week – it is a lot, it is too much. I never lived a year like this.
“We started later this season and we finished earlier, but with the same competitions, the same games and the same demands for the club and fans to win and win and win.
“But it is not a complaint – it is a joy, a pleasure to go to the final and then go to Paris to play in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
“That’s why I’m incredibly impressed with what the players have done, I’m incredibly satisfied and grateful.”
Ruben Dias considers the showdown with Tottenham just the first of several ‘finals’ for City before the end of the season.
“We start the season with the opportunity to win it all and the more you can push it to the end, the better you are doing,” said defender Dias.
“Obviously, we were not happy about the FA Cup semi-final, but you have just got to hang on tight and keep moving forward because we are still in three competitions.
“It was a hard punch for us, but that is just football, that is the way it is.
“You win or you lose and, because we have been so good so far, now it is all finals. Every game is a final.”
City, who need a maximum of eight points to claim their third domestic league crown in four years, then travel to Crystal Palace next Saturday.
Dias, who has enjoyed an outstanding first season at the Etihad Stadium since his club record £64.3million signing last year, says it is important not to look too far ahead.
The Portugal international said: “Obviously we have an idea of how the league table is, but our main focus is just on winning the next one and the next one. Final after final. “When we had two more games and had a bigger gap, we knew it, but we knew we had the games in advance and we never got ahead of ourselves. We have always kept our feet on the ground, like now.”