Football is a game heavily biased towards attacking players. The flair, the panache, the flaunt and the spotlight; it is all up for grabs for them while the defenders representing the bourgeois of football are left to manage the thankless task of keeping these illustrious men out of the front page of the next day’s newspapers. In the modern game, the case has become direr for defenders with lighter balls, scientific shoes that allow better control and referees handing out heavy punishment to errors of even the slightest margin.
However, looking on the bright side of things, what such adaptations have done is that it has seen the rise of modern day footballers. Short in stature with a low centre of gravity and a knack to run straight at defenders or craftily slide through killer passes, these players are in sharp contrast to the old bulky players of yesteryears in the Premier League.
A perfect example of this modern-day player is Raheem Sterling. He dances and dazzles his way through and weaves a wave of magic on the pitch on his way to goal leaving fans and players mesmerized. However, such days are short in number and inconsistency is perhaps the only complaint any manager can have with the player.
Sterling is most dangerous when he has the ball on his feet and teammates rallying around him. Developments of different managerial patterns in the existing game would then suggest that the best place for Sterling right now would be Etihad where Pep Guardiola is deploying another masterclass of attacking display to win the league title.
Guardiola known for his attacking prowess as a manager and the habit of playing teams who can hold on to the ball for weeks at a time would be a perfect mentor for Sterling to realize his true potential and turn on his best game for the world to see.
However, things are rarely as simple as they seem. It is being reported that Sterling who is on a £180,000-a-week wage has stalled his contract extension talk until after the FIFA World Cup next year. He still does have two more years before it expires but Sterling stalling his talk could alert the rival team, looking for a chance to sign the Englishman.
Reports would suggest that Real Madrid are the team who are now interested and would like to re-ignite their interest in the pacey winger. Madrid are a team in not-so-good shape with an overload of midfielders and not enough attackers, where Sterling would seem like a good addition to their side as he would be able to add a new dimension to their attack.
However, Pep is determined not to lose the Englishman and luring him away from the Arab owners would rather take a large sum of money.
