He needs a loan where he can play regularly in a less pressureised environment and one poor game won't mean he's sidelined for another 3 or 4 weeks. No reason why h can't push on and become a very good player but he needs to work out what his game is about. If he's a proper winger he needs to work on his delivery, if he wants to be more of a modern day type wide player he must work on his passing and link up and contribute more goals.
Kneejerk reactions to a loss. It's a false "chance" for him to prove himself as the entire squad was awful today. In fact he looked somewhat lively compared to Moses, who looked about as young and energetic as his namesake today. When any youth is thrown into a squad that is an experiment in itself, he's not going to stand out. "Oh he should grab his chance and show us what he's made of"... well, then so should the rest of the first team. They set an example by dragging their carcasses around the pitch like drugged rhinoceroses. No, he hasn't stood out in the past year, nor has he deserved a spot in the squad (the bench he has). But to insist on getting rid or that he's no longer any good is an overreaction. He may be a better fit for a Championship squad at the moment but I see a spot for him in the future. As for Ibe, we've seen him once at a senior level - nothing to indicate he's any better than Sterling for the time being. He was dominant at the youth level and now should get a proper chance, but nothing more than what Sterling is getting.
You're right, he has been poor over a year but that doesn't change the fact that he is still 18 years old! Most players don't come good until their early twenties! PS...and I'm not a Sterling fan either.
Every chance he gets apparently, how many kids has he got to how many different girls? EDIT people didn`t understand "gats"
I'll be kind and say his development has plateaued. Needs out on loan but where? Who will take a kid who looks as physically weak as he does at the moment?
Needs two years worth of loans. A season in the Championship and another with a Premier League club; aka Wilshire, Cleverley, Ramsey, etc
Needs to play regular football in an environment where he can get away from the limelight for a bit. Jan - end of season on loan then see how he does. Is he any good? Too young to truly tell. Will he come good? who knows, but not playing isn't going to help him. Why isn't he scoring? He's not a forward and hasn't worked out what kind of winger he is going to be yet.
He's too god for the reserves and not good enough for the first team. Its also the same problem we had with Shelvey and Suso who have both looked good at other clubs this season
Sterling definitely needs a loan move. As Gez says, he's in the same category as Shelvey - head and shoulders above any player at u21 level but was found wanting in the first team. Sterling is a strange one - there is a lot of talk about how physically weak he is but I remember when he first came into the team and he was shrugging players off and was out-jumping them as well. His confidence and personal life seem to have taken a beaten recently. Needs time out of the spotlight. Let's just hope we don't do the same with Ibe.
Pacheco, Sterling and Suso were all ahead of Ince in our reserves. Fair enough, Tom has gone and got some first team game time and although it is better than playing reserves or under 21 football, it is only in the Championship. Look at Zaha at Man Utd, he was tearing it up for palace in the Championship last year, now he's not even getting a sniff of the bench! there is a long list of players that have done superb at that level but struggled in the Premier League, we've had a couple recently ourselves such as Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam! If we are going to look at spending £10m+ on a player, I'd rather get someone that is more proven than Tom Ince.
I think it simply is a case of playing to not take a risk as much as anything. if he makes the right runs and goaes about simply trying to beat a player he'd easily succeed. its the back passing and buck passing that holds them back.. fear.. pure and simple.
Yep, I'd agree with that. When he first got into the side and look like a star in the making he had no fear, he wanted the ball and he wanted to do something with it. Now, he looks like he's bothered about taking the wrong option and inevitably does as a result because he's over thinking it. this is why I call him our Theo Walcott; bags of pace and plays his best football on instinct. Give him a second or two to think and he turns into Stewart Downing! Edit: although, I will also stress that the lad is still only eighteen. He turns nineteen in six days!
Townsend is the new hot name that is your typical winger. At the moment, brimming with confidence and is so dangerous but I will say that year loan at QPR, playing a lot, dealing with adversity probably did his career a world of good!
Not just loaned to QPR... 2009 → Yeovil Town 2009 → Leyton Orient 2010 → Milton Keynes Dons 2010 → Ipswich Town 2011 → Watford 2011 → Millwall 2012 → Leeds United 2012 → Birmingham City 2013 → Queens Park Rangers ...he's also 22yrs old. Not convinced he's a typical winger as I'm yet to see him play on the left, never mind play well. A typical winger beats his man and gets crosses, he doesn't do the latter because he's played "on the wrong side". Nothing wrong with that, just don't agree with the "typical" part of your description, yet!
Let me rephrase.... typical English winger of the past decade in terms of bags of pace, quick, good dribbling ability, and footwork but just look at all who have come before him and who stalled because they relied just too much on those attributes and not the most important part.... the brain! He was able to get the games in though to make sure he developed. Ibe, Sterling need that for us pronto I think.
