‘Don’t understand’ talkSPORT pundits confused on why World Cup manager’s treatment £50m Chelsea player
Gareth Southgate has come under fire from Jamie O’Hara and Jason Cundy for the way he handled Chelsea player Raheem Sterling.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Both talkSPORT analysts believe Southgate made a very strange choice to start the Chelsea forward in England’s World Cup quarterfinal loss to France last week.
Sterling, who had a strong World Cup debut with a goal against Iran, was forced to leave Qatar midway through the competition in order to return to England for personal reasons.
A few days prior to England’s quarterfinal match against France, which they ultimately lost 2-1, the 28-year-old winger did return to the team’s training facility.
Nobody was shocked to see Sterling on the sidelines for the match against France. With 10 minutes left, he substituted Bukayo Saka, who was in fine form, shocking many who had expected England to find a way to tie the score.
Raheem Sterling treatment O’Hara and Cundy are perplexed by Southgate’s choice about Sterling:
“Raheem Sterling, who has been back in England, returns to Qatar, plays despite not training. What’s going on there? According to Jamie O’Hara, talkSPORT.
“I thought that was a curious judgement,” Jason Cundy says.
Sterling is a key member of the England team and Southgate’s go-to player because of his track record of success at the international level. You can see the reasoning for using him in the final period of a quarterfinal when you need a goal, therefore.
However, in our opinion, removing Saka when he appeared to be so threatening was a costly mistake.
After another unsuccessful campaign with England that produced no hardware, Sterling will return to Chelsea.
The wide player, who cost £50 million, did have a pre-World Cup slump in performance, but the Blues need him to be at his best later this month.
