Danny Higginbotham didn’t rule out that Manchester City attacker Raheem Sterling would have developed in the same way if he had stayed with Liverpool.
Sterling left the Reds in 2015 to join Manchester City and since then has scored 83 goals as well as registered 70 assists for The Citizens, so Sky Sports presenter Rob Wotton asked Higginbotham if it was “imperative” that Sterling left the Reds in hindsight given his impressive development.
Higginbotham explained it was a difficult question to answer before acknowledging that Sterling was a different player than the one he was a few seasons ago.
“I think it’s difficult to tell as when you speak about situations like that, you’re guessing to a certain extent about how a player would progress,” said Higginbotham on Match Centre (11:03am, Thursday, November 7th, Sky Sports News).
“I think the one thing I would say about Sterling is that along with the rest of the Manchester City players he is intelligent, same with Liverpool, but what I like about Sterling is that if he plays on the left or if he plays on the right, he can keep wide and use the width or move centrally.
“Because he can play in so many different ways, he is so difficult to play against as a full-back because if you go with him when he drives inside, you leave space, if you don’t go with him, then he runs through on goal.
“If you keep your width as a full-back you leave a huge gap between your centre-back and your full-back for him, for a De Bruyne or someone to get into.
“He’s such a fantastic player, look at his first-touch, ball out of his feet and on his way, a few seasons ago when your saw Sterling it was right, get the ball, do something really good with it then admire it.
“But that’s not good enough for him, and if you look at his goals, he usually starts them and I personally feel he is world-class now.”
Wotton then added that sometimes it’s not about the club, sometimes a manager or the situation suits you more and that allows you to develop, which Higginbotham appeared to agree with.
OPINION
Who knows if Sterling would have improved to be the player he is today if he had stayed put at Anfield. As you never know if Jurgen Klopp’s side had still gone on to sign the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane regardless of Sterling still being at the club, would he have got enough game time? Then you have to wonder is Sterling’s improvement is a result of Pep Guardiola’s specific management style or would Klopp have taken the 24-year-old to new heights if given the opportunity. Sterling only managed 23 goals and 25 assists in 129 outings for Liverpool, so there’s no denying he has improved since departing Anfield. However while it can never be said for certain whether Sterling’s development would have happened regardless of whatever club he was at, Liverpool just have to worry about him potentially haunting them on Sunday. Man City and Liverpool go toe-to-toe on Sunday, and the 24-year-old has been in red-hot form having averaged 3.3 shots per game and scoring seven times in his 10 Premier League outings (Source: WhoScored), so he could cause the Reds a headache in their upcoming clash.
