Raheem Sterling - deluded or just stupid?

[Elite_Pie]

This is what bugs me so much, it's everyone's fault but theirs.

[irish_pie]

This is what bugs me so much, it's everyone's fault but theirs.

I am a neutral here but I can tell you one thing for sure... Sterling is total pants... maybe has 5 minutes in a game where he does something, he is in a team of amazing players so that hides his own failings but now he regards himself as a world beater also, to blame the fans for the national teams failings is down right bizarre, he must be listening to the delusional Guardiola who is a total tool once he opens his trap.

[sidders]

I am a neutral here but I can tell you one thing for sure... Sterling is total pants... maybe has 5 minutes in a game where he does something, he is in a team of amazing players so that hides his own failings but now he regards himself as a world beater also, to blame the fans for the national teams failings is down right bizarre, he must be listening to the delusional Guardiola who is a total tool once he opens his trap.

Hmmm, Irish, that must be why his players turn out such crap performances and Man City are struggling to open up a 20 point gap.

[Wedgie_pie]

This will be the best world-cup for me since 1966 ( I was there that fine day)...

Being married to an Italian lady and staying in Italy for parts of the year, I'm loving reminding my Italian relations that they won't be in Russia this year...

Mind I'm a wee bit nervous about tonight game...

[legs77]

I am a neutral here but I can tell you one thing for sure... Sterling is total pants... maybe has 5 minutes in a game where he does something, he is in a team of amazing players so that hides his own failings but now he regards himself as a world beater also, to blame the fans for the national teams failings is down right bizarre, he must be listening to the delusional Guardiola who is a total tool once he opens his trap.

You may not like him and he is not world class but let’s get one thing straight you don’t play for Liverpool or Man City for as long as he did if you are pants.

He is a good player who is abit dim and took too much advice from his agent we had a player like him once here Pennant not sure how to judge him though he may not have gone as far as he should but he did play in a Chamoions League final and made money so I guess he is happy in that respect.

[iamITK]

Whilst I dont like the guy his comments are a bit more general than just pointing to fans. The biggest problem is actually the media if you are going to get onto the criticism side of it who look for any possible angle to drag the team down at precisely the wrong time each and every tournament.

I tend to agree here.

Every major tournament the media go digging for scandal on players, managament, knock players all over the place, hype up or down etc. So many fans assume that cos weve done nothing for so many years, it wont happen this year, every year, so dont bother to get behind them.

Either the media slate the players if we dont have percieved world beaters, or hype them up ready to bring them down if we do.

For once, I dont think we have world class players, so the pressure is well and truly off. However, the media and fans are taking this chance to rubbish the team as having no chance. Great!

With expectation low due to lack of brand names in the team, why cant we just say, "lets go and have a go" rather than so many folk running them down as over paid, useless, spineless and all those other words.

Will we win it, no.
Will we come close, no.
Does anyone expect us to win it, they shouldn't.

Why the hell the media makes so much effort in reinforcing this, rather than supporting, god only know. Our so called fans see that as fashionable and jump on the band wagon. Lets try supporting them, rather than pulling them down before a ball is kicked.

Oddly, we beat Holland, who were obviously then called a poor side in the media and by fans, despite them going on to turn Portugal over 3 - 0 a few days later. Imagine if our fans and media said, hey, thats a half decent result.
What a breath of fresh air that would be!

Maybe we should put our support behind a team of players, not a much of individuals, and see what they can do.

Striling has a valid point. The media and public seam to get off on doing anything they can to create sensationalist headlines any time England are involved in a tournament, purely to sell papers.

[LaxtonLad]

Football supporters are the same the world over, if their team is winning or even just trying to win, the crowd will get behind them. If they try to play too much possession football, passing it too square or backwards, which is not entertaining in the least, then the natives get restless and quite rightly too in my opinion. The fans aren't there to encourage the team to play well first, they are there to watch good play first and if they see it they react well, if they don't see it they are entitled to let the team know. It is, or should be, an entertainment given by the players, they are the ones getting paid, not the crowd.

[LaxtonLad]

I tend to agree here.

Every major tournament the media go digging for scandal on players, managament, knock players all over the place, hype up or down etc. So many fans assume that cos weve done nothing for so many years, it wont happen this year, every year, so dont bother to get behind them.

Either the media slate the players if we dont have percieved world beaters, or hype them up ready to bring them down if we do.

For once, I dont think we have world class players, so the pressure is well and truly off. However, the media and fans are taking this chance to rubbish the team as having no chance. Great!

With expectation low due to lack of brand names in the team, why cant we just say, "lets go and have a go" rather than so many folk running them down as over paid, useless, spineless and all those other words.

Will we win it, no.
Will we come close, no.
Does anyone expect us to win it, they shouldn't.

Why the hell the media makes so much effort in reinforcing this, rather than supporting, god only know. Our so called fans see that as fashionable and jump on the band wagon. Lets try supporting them, rather than pulling them down before a ball is kicked.

Oddly, we beat Holland, who were obviously then called a poor side in the media and by fans, despite them going on to turn Portugal over 3 - 0 a few days later. Imagine if our fans and media said, hey, thats a half decent result.
What a breath of fresh air that would be!

Maybe we should put our support behind a team of players, not a much of individuals, and see what they can do.

Striling has a valid point. The media and public seam to get off on doing anything they can to create sensationalist headlines any time England are involved in a tournament, purely to sell papers.

It's not the media he's whining about though, is it? As EP says, not many national teams get the support that England does and that support comes from the fans, not the media.

[BigFatPie]

You only have to look at the comments section beneath any England story on any website to see the negativity he's talking about. I don't know why anyone would play for England with all the abuse they get.

I don’t know why either. Everyone’s more bothered about their clubs than England, and you’re cooped in a hotel in the height of summer with a bunch of people, most of whom you probably don’t like, in the brief time you get off from your paid job. All to get a load of stick when it inevitably goes tits up.

Knackers to all that, I’d be heading to the beach.

[ancientpie]

Have you got the stats to back this up?
Portugal had the 12th highest of 24 teams in terms of possession, and won the championship.
This was in the same season that Leicester City won the league with less than 40% possession.
England had loads of possession, in fact Roy, much to my annoyance would always mention it.
You can have all the possession in the world but if it is ineffective possession, which is where England are guilty, it’s pointless. Keeping possession for possession sake by passing back and side ways is not the way to go. So I don’t agree with your point about possession, we have enough.
However, England’s problems are more to do with our technical shortfalls. Our inability to take a man on. Our inability to create space.
We don’t have that one player that has the X factor like all the top sides do that can do something magical to change a game, despite what our media says.
We seem to be pinning our hopes on Harry Kane who looked like he forgot how to play football in the last tournament.
England need to create there own identity instead of wanting to be like Spain. We need the players we have to play like a team, with the English bulldog spirit. Play at pace. Get into the oppositions faces. Be like a typical Premiership side. I think any reasonable fan would appreciate if the players looked like they at least tried.

At last a post that I agree with!!! we have a fixation with possession which actually means nothing without end product, the current England squad are not the most technically gifted but are blessed with pace, so why not play to our strengths even if this means conceding possession & playing on the break, we seem to me obsessed with matching the likes of Spain , Brazil etc at their game than letting them worry about ours.