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Raheem Sterling entered EURO 2020 as one of the villains from the 2020/21 club season as Manchester City bowed out to Chelsea in the Champions League final last month. The attacker's performance in the encounter left a lot to be desired and was met with heavy scrutiny from fans and critics alike.
From failing to convert chances to struggling to connect with teammates and halting City's counter-attacks, the Englishman ended up as a weak link in Pep Guardiola's team that featured in the final.
Many questioned Pep's decision to include Sterling in his starting line-up. The argument was that the attacker had endured a poor campaign in 2020/21 and wasn't an ideal option for such an important game. A closer look at the stats seems to favour this view as well.
As per Transfermarkt, last season was the worst outing Raheem Sterling has had in the last five years. He had a return of 10 goals in the Premier League and just one in the Champions League. That is well below what he had in the 2019/2020 campaign, where he bagged 20 and 6 goals respectively in both competitions.
In the preceding the term, the winger had 17 goals in the league and 5 in Europe while he had 18 and 4 goals correspondingly in the two fronts during the 2017/18 outing. Keeping these stats in mind, it is easy to see why many fumed at his participation in the Champions League decider from the beginning and were proven right afterwards. Some even wondered if Sterling would make the squad for Gareth Southgate's EURO 2020 squad.
The England coach, however, differed in his thinking and selected Sterling in his 26-man squad to represent England in the tournament this summer. The Three Lions have seemingly handed the winger a lifeline to make things right before the year runs out. The question is: can he take it?
EURO 2020: Sterling off to a promising start
Sterling definitely needs to raise his game to have a change of fortunes, starting with EURO 2020, which is an extremely short tournament. Southgate has previously demonstrated his belief in Sterling and did so again by picking him in the starting eleven for England's opening group game against Croatia.
His decision was widely questioned due to the quality of the players he left on the bench. The Three Lions' squad is flooded with fantastic talent in every department. England left Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish, both of who came into the EURO 2020 squad after good individual seasons, on the bench in favour of Sterling, which left a lot of fans dumbfounded. The move paid off, however, as the Manchester City man scored the only goal to settle the tie against the Croats in England's favour.
The goal against Croatia prompts the assumption that Sterling is already heading in the right direction. He was on fire in the second half in addition to providing an instinctive finish from Kalvin Philips's pass. Sterling was also named the 'Man Of The Match' and is likely to start his nation's next EURO 2020 game against Scotland.
Sterling's inconsistency and inability to penetrate opposition defences left many doubting his inclusion in England's EURO 2020 squad. Performances such as these, however, demonstrate why he has been among the best wingers in the last five years. If the Manchester City man can somehow push his nation to the business end of EURO 2020, he will regain the trust of the fans once again.
