What does the arrival of Pep Guardiola mean for Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling?

Add as preferred source on Google

2015/16 was a frustrating season for Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling, immediately following his £44 million move from Liverpool. Despite making 31 appearances in the Premier League; managing six goals and two assists in the process, the 21-year-old struggled to establish himself at the Etihad Stadium as many would have hoped. The arrival of Spanish winger Nolito from Celta Vigo this week suggests that Sterling will have to up his game to be sure of his position in Pep Guardiola’s new-look Manchester City side.

Sterling cut a forlorn figure during England’s disastrous Euro 2016 campaign, with his performances attracting a lot of criticism from supporters and the media. At times, the vilification went too far, with the youngster seemingly being made into a scapegoat for the team’s general lack of cutting edge.

Embed from Getty Images

Although his confidence is surely at a low right now, Sterling is still only young and clearly has the potential to go on to become a special player for club and country. After all, his statistics from last season do not appear too bad for a 21-year-old, and Sterling’s best performances did come in the Champions League, where he started six games, finding the back of the net three times.

Luckily for Sterling, the arrival of Guardiola as City manager this summer could prove to be very timely for his career. During his spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Guardiola has developed a reputation for transforming the careers of players. The evolution of former City misfit Jerome Boating into a world-class centre back is evidence of Guardiola’s effectiveness as a coach. Whether he can work his magic in a similar fashion with Sterling remains to be seen, but he is certainly the right manager for this stage in the youngster’s career.

It has been reported that Guardiola called Sterling following England’s dour 0-0 draw with Slovakia to pick up the youngster’s confidence, as well as reassuring him that he is an important part of his plans with City. This will surely have come as a huge boost to the Jamaican-born winger, particularly following the £13.8 million signing of Nolito, who made his Barcelona debut under Guardiola back in 2010.

It has been an unorthodox journey to the top for the 29-year old Spaniard. After beginning his career in the Spanish lower leagues, Nolito joined Barcelona B at the age of 22, where he impressed enough over three years to earn a call-up to the first team squad to face Real Mallorca. Guardiola gave the Andalusian his debut in the 78th minute, bringing him on for Pedro, as Barca limped to a 1-1 draw.

Embed from Getty Images

In 2011, only seven months after making his debut, Nolito surprised everybody by turning down the offer of a contract at the club, in order to join Portuguese side Benfica. After eighteen months in Lisbon, Nolito returned to
his home country to join Granada on loan for six months, before linking up with his former Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique at Celta Vigo in the summer of 2013. The move proved to be a revelation for both parties, as Nolito found the form of his career and helped Celta to three consecutive top half finishes, before leaving for City last week.

He has scored five times in thirteen appearances for his country, with four of these games coming in Spain’s short-lived efforts to retain their title. Indeed, Nolito scored in a 3-0 victory over Turkey. His directness was a huge asset to a Spanish squad full of technically gifted midfielders. However, despite this, he was not able to prevent a second round exit to Italy. Nevertheless, Guardiola has been sufficiently impressed by him to make him his third signing at the Etihad, following the arrivals of Ilkay Gundogan and Aaron Mooy.

If Nolito continues his form from his last few seasons in Spain, then he is sure to offer something different for a City side that lacked directness from the wings last season. This was partly due to Sterling’s ineffectiveness in certain games, and although it appears that Guardiola is hoping to get the former Liverpool man back on track, it may be that he sees Nolito as a short-term fix in case Sterling struggles to find his best form again.

Embed from Getty Images

There is an acceptance within the City hierarchy that Sterling’s disappointing start to his career at the club can be put down to the burden of his price tag, combined with the difficulties of settling down at a new club. However, the club will be expecting a return on their investment this season, and it is hoped that Guardiola is the man to inspire Sterling to fulfil the immense potential that saw him named European Golden Boy in 2014.

Of course, there is still a lot that needs developing in Sterling’s game. His finishing is far from top class, and he often spurns good chances, as he did in England’s 2-1 group stage victory over Wales. His crossing ability is also highly inconsistent, but Sterling’s main strengths are his pace and ability to move opposition defenders out of position for his team-mates. For all of his qualities as a manager, Pellegrini is not regarded as a fantastic coach of players, and Sterling’s development appears to have stalled somewhat under his tutelage.

Sterling only needs to look at the experience of French winger Kingsley Coman during his time working with Guardiola at Bayern. There are a lot of similarities between the two players, but a year spent with Pep worked wonders for Coman, and it is hoped that Sterling can react in a similar way.

However, Guardiola’s much-vaunted coaching methods didn’t appear to do much for another young star with bags of potential. Before arriving at Bayern, Mario Götze was regarded as a player who had the world at his feet, but his development has not continued during his time in Bavaria, and he has been heavily linked with a move back to Dortmund this summer – the club where he made his name.

Guardiola’s training sessions are extremely intense, particularly in the first few months of joining a club, where he is said to work for hours on innovative tactical situations, teaching his players a whole different way of looking at the game. Sterling’s commitment has been questioned over the past twelve months, and whether he buys into his new manager’s methods will be a huge test of his mentality, and whether he really wants to become the player that he has shown signs of becoming during his time at Liverpool.

Embed from Getty Images

After becoming synonymous with a tiki-taka style of football during his time at the Camp Nou, Guardiola showed his tactical flexibility during his three years in Germany, where his Bayern side relied heavily on the thrilling wing-play of Coman and Douglas Costa.

Although it is not yet known how his City side will line up, Sterling could thrive as part of a system that relies heavily on wingers, as opposed to the style he encountered under Pellegrini, which many City fans would agree did not make the most of some talented players in the wide positions over the past few years.

Guardiola’s main task is to bring the Premier League trophy back to the Etihad this season, and his transfer business so far this summer suggests that he is looking to adding depth to City’s squad. It is absolutely imperative that Sterling starts the campaign well in order to establish himself as City’s first choice left-winger, as 2016/17 is likely to be the season that makes or breaks his career.

After a disappointing twelve months, where there has been more negative headlines than positive, it is important that Sterling gets back to his scintillating best, and the arrival of Guardiola could certainly help him to do so.

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Andres Leonard Stangalini.