Pep Guardiola rates Raheem Sterling as one of the world's best as he faces former club Liverpool


Richard Jolly
  • English
  • Arabic

It is five years since one of the more controversial transfers of recent times, one that propelled a club to new heights. Arguably, it spurred a second to success as well.

Perhaps, given the time that has passed and the shared taste of glory, the animosity should be over. Certainly there will be no Liverpool fans present on Sunday to accuse Raheem Sterling of greed. That may benefit Manchester City: Sterling’s sole league goal against his old employers came at an empty Etihad Stadium in July.

If some in the Liverpool support have savoured Sterling’s unhappy returns to Anfield, they progressed after his sale. Whether it is despite it or because of it is a moot point.

The proceeds of his £44 million ($58m) sale were spent on Christian Benteke, who floundered on Merseyside.

They also helped fund the purchase of Roberto Firmino, the most important player in Jurgen Klopp’s tactics, one whose Liverpool career was kickstarted when he opened his account in a 4-1 win over City, but one who faces a battle for his place with Diogo Jota today.

It is easy to envisage Sterling suiting Klopp’s system. He has kicked on instead under Pep Guardiola. The winger scored 10 and 11 goals in his last two seasons at Liverpool, 11 and 10 in his first two at City.

Since then, there have been 84 in just 158 games, helping to yield six major trophies. Potential has been translated into performance, and yet his manager believes the best is yet to come.

“I think he is a better player than when he arrived and hopefully in three, four, five years he will be a much, much better player than he is now,” said Guardiola.

“He is an exceptional player. Especially because of his mentality and desire to win he improves a lot and all the credit is for him.”

Part of Sterling’s strength lies in his durability. He has only sat out eight minutes each in the Premier and Champions Leagues this season, all when games were won. “Of course, there will be a moment when he will take a rest but in this moment he is a very important player for us and why we count on him,” Guardiola said.

His time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich has given Guardiola ample experience of coaching World Cup winners; the brightest star in the galaxy of talent he has managed is Lionel Messi.

He believes Sterling is among his finest players, while telling him not to concentrate on whether he is one of the best footballers in the game today.

“My advice I would say to him is don't think about this,” he said. “It's no sense. Just enjoy life, focus and the destiny will dictate who he is as a player. I know he's one of the most fantastic players I have in my career as a manager.”

Guardiola drew on his past, too, to put Liverpool into context. Theirs has become an epic modern-day rivalry, notably in 2018-19 when they amassed 198 points between them, with City edging the Merseysiders for the title by a solitary point, aided by a goal-line clearance from John Stones when Liverpool were 11mm from scoring at the Etihad.

“I faced Borussia Dortmund with Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen, incredible teams,” Guardiola recalled.

“When I was at Barcelona, the rivalry with Real Madrid was so, so tough when Jose Mourinho was there.

"But Liverpool in the last years and Luis Enrique’s Barcelona, when I played the semi-finals of the Champions League with Bayern Munich, were the toughest opponents I ever faced.”

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Gladbach: Pavard (37' og)

Man of the Match: Breel Embolo (Borussia Monchengladbach)

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

At a glance

Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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Investment: approximately $80 million

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Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
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