LFC Player of the Season Part One

Below starts my countdown of Liverpool's top five performers in the 2013/14 season. In hindsight, a top ten may have been a better idea given the number of players I wanted to praise, but alas, after much head scratching I have managed to whittle it down to just a handful.

Without further ado, here is the first player to make the list.

5. Raheem Sterling

Confession time.

A little over five months ago I wrote a piece suggesting that Liverpool Football Club should send Raheem Sterling out on loan to further his development. Back then the teenager had barely figured for the Reds in the Premier League and certainly hadn't impressed in the few games that he had taken part in. The nadir of his season came when Liverpool lost 3-1 away to Hull City back in December. Sterling was terrible. On a wretched day for the team, it was he who bore the brunt of the criticism. At that particular moment in time, his progress appeared to have stalled. The verve and vitality with which he had performed upon breaking into senior football seemed to have vanished into the ether. In December, Raheem Sterling looked bereft of confidence and self belief.

Thankfully, things change quickly in the world of football.

Just three days after that miserable outing on Humberside, Sterling scored Liverpool’s final goal in a 5-1 home victory over Norwich City. To say that moment was a turning point is an understatement of monumental proportions. Since that ball flew off his left boot and into the roof of the Anfield Road End netting that night, he has been a man transformed. Man. Not a boy. He has displayed such maturity and consistently over the last five months that, if I were evaluating performances of Liverpool players in this calendar year alone, he would be a genuine contender for the number one spot.  

Celebrating his second goal in the 5-1 rout of Arsenal

Everyone is aware of Brendan Rodgers’ love of a sound bite, but when he recently labelled Sterling as ‘the best young player in Europe’ it was a difficult assertion to quarrel with. Throughout the Reds’ eleven game winning run that has propelled them to within touching distance of the title, no star has shone brighter than that of the Jamaican born prodigy. In games of huge significance, Sterling has come to the fore.

His brace and assist at Carrow Road last weekend won a crucial three points for his side. The snake hipped shimmy at home to Manchester City the week before when he opened the scoring nearly sent Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany into the Centenary stand at Anfield. So far in Liverpool’s high pressured title run in, the nineteen year old has been as fundamental for Rodgers’ team as experienced campaigners like Luis Suarez or Steven Gerrard.

Young footballers with high levels of skill and potential are not meant to be this consistent or regularly decisive in just their second season of top level football. Sterling is breaking the rules as he goes. Crucially, he is also changing the perception of what a budding English forward can aspire to.

Usually, when a diminutive, quick, tricky, English talent comes into the Premier League, as Sterling did last season, coaches generally tend to send them on their way down a well worn path that they will then tread for the rest of their footballing days. That trail routinely leads them to being utilised exclusively in wide areas to exploit their pace. Aaron Lennon, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Theo Walcott are prime examples of players who have strolled along that route. All have won England caps and forged very good careers for themselves as ‘flying wingers’. Being an international level wide man is nothing to be sniffed at, but Raheem Sterling is already showcasing a far more diverse skill set than all of the players mentioned above.

He should not be consigned to the flanks and asked to fill a one dimensional role. He’s better than that. Far better. Brendan Rodgers has already ensured that Sterling is a much more rounded footballer than any English ‘winger’ of the past decade. Considering the player is yet to turn 20, that is a remarkable feat. If that comment sounds hyperbolic - and I admit, it does - then I implore you to propose an example of a pacey English forward who could have excelled in the ‘number ten’ role to the extent that Sterling did recently against a top level team like Manchester City. Not easy, is it?

It is safe bet that in the years to come you won’t be seeing Raheem Sterling repeatedly attempting to reach the byline and whip crosses in ad nauseam a la Aaron Lennon. Nor will he unceasingly be cutting inside and firing shots off in hope like Andros Townsend. He won’t have to beg his manager to play down the middle like Theo Walcott either, as he actually possesses the touch, smarts and strength to influence games regularly from central areas. This young man can already do all of these things listed above and far more besides. His manager appears to be acutely aware of that and has utilised Sterling’s vast array of attributes impeccably this term.

The intelligence and tactical flexibility Sterling displays week in week out belie his tender years and put many seasoned professionals to shame. This is a young player who has featured - for a team leading the Premier League table, no less - as a full back, an attacking midfielder, a winger and a central striker. His ability to find space and pick the right pass so consistently at this embryonic stage in his development takes the breath away. We are watching a teenager playing with the knowhow and poise of a veteran.

Brendan Rodgers has aided Sterling's development this season

While Rodgers deserves plaudits for the coaching that has undoubtedly aided Sterling in reaching the level that he is at, the player himself must take the lion share of the praise. It’s very easy for teenage prodigies to lose their way in the modern world of football. At one point not too long ago there was genuine concern that Sterling would fall victim to the fame and fortune thrust upon him at such a young age. He had several well publicised off the field problems after breaking into the Liverpool first team and his form subsequently suffered. That he has steered his career back onto the right path is a credit to him.

The teenager who looked like he’d lost his way not so long ago is now unarguably one of Liverpool’s most important players as they seek their first title in 24 years. No one saw that coming back in December, least of all me.

At just nineteen years of age Raheem Sterling is one of the best attacking players in the Premier League. If his current rate of progress continues over the next few years then there are no limits on what he can achieve. There is a long way to go and plenty of obstacles will be in his way, but the path he is on right now can lead him anywhere he wants to go.

2013/14 Premier League Stats:

Apps: 30

Goals: 9
Assists: 4

Season Highlight: His performance against Norwich City at Carrow Road. A thunderous long range effort smashed into the top corner, a slide rule pass to assist Luis Suarez’s goal and a match winning strike after dribbling with the ball from the halfway line and beating two defenders. He won Liverpool three vital points in one of their most difficult fixtures of the season.