Joe Totale":3v1e9958 said:
Knibbsworth":3v1e9958 said:
'Sterling created a lot'?
Did he? Any examples because I missed any chances he developed. A few times he ignored teammates and went alone only to squander the chance/lose possession in typical fashion, but how that transmits to having a good game lord knows.
The chance by Kane that went past the post in the first half springs to mind.
Hardly a chance, it was from about 25 yards, and Sterling over dribbled it to the point that Kane had to take it off him when a simple pass would have sufficed. It was Sterling all over, dribbling without purpose annd losing control of it, luckily it was Kane there to pick up the ball and not an opposition defender as has become standard. For a bloke who has apparently had a good game, that is not a top quality piece of creative play and sums up my point. The other pacy forwards still in this World Cup have far more attacking threat than running around like a hamster in an exercise ball. Hazard was dominant the other night because he dribbled towards defenders and made them commit before slipping it to a teammate in more space. Sterling tends to skip into traffic and tackles before getting dispossessed, his end product is completely lacking and his contribution ineffectual.
Hypothetically speaking, Rashford has pace to burn as well and would have given the slow Sweden defenders issues with his pace and aggression. He also has height, physicality and an ability to pass the ball rather than run like a headless chicken in possession. Against better teams we will need more than Kane winning clever free kicks and relying on set pieces. In my opinion all of England's attacking threat is play that happens around and in spite of Sterling rather than through him and he's been somewhat of a passenger throughout this World Cup.