Pat Nevin wasn’t impressed by Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling during tonight’s loss against Middlesbrough.
The Blues produced a really poor team performance on Tuesday night when travelling to Championship club Middlesbrough.
Chelsea suffered a 1-0 away defeat in the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final tie. They are fortunate that there’s a second leg in two weeks time at Stamford Bridge.
Despite 72 per cent of possession, Mauricio Pochettino’s side struggled at times to break the opposition’s low block. They were wasteful on the few times they did get a chance on goal, too.
Speaking via talkSPORT during the match coverage, Dean Ashton said Cole Palmer produced a “shocker” when he volleyed over the bar from inside the box.
BBC pundit Pat Nevin singled out Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling for criticism in the cup loss against Boro.
The £50million (Daily Mail) Blues winger played the full 90 minutes, but failed to leave any kind of attacking mark on the game.
Nevin suggested that he didn’t do enough on the ball during the first-half or wasn’t direct enough.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport (8:44pm, 9 January): “Sterling has to be more direct, we know about his capabilities, we know how special he is. He has to use that directness a little bit more often… Get the ball, turn, and ask every defender a question.”
Raheem Sterling against Middlesbrough.
In our view, Sterling’s had too many of these types of displays this season.
The 29-year-old forward is one of the few senior figures in the young Blues squad, so his experience should have made the difference in the Middlesbrough clash.
Instead, he really struggled to contribute going forward.
We do think he was a bit more involved in the second-half after some tactical changes and he did look to threaten, but there was ultimately no substance.
We’re going to need a lot more consistent performances from Sterling before we’re convinced he belongs in the best starting line-up moving forward.
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