Pep Guardiola is proud of Raheem Sterling’s commitment to Manchester City. The attacker was not always assured of a starting spot this season, but always showed the will to fight back in the team. Guardiola has seen positive, driven Sterling on the training ground and in the games in recent months. He praises the winning mentality of his pupil and makes a comparison with Formula 1 drivers Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Sterling appeared to start as a substitute against Aston Villa (1-2 win) on Wednesday, December 1, but still had a starting spot due to an injury to Ilkay Gundogan. He played an excellent game, stayed in the starting line-up and then scored goals against Watford (1-3 win) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (1-0 win). Sterling scored his 100th Premier League goal from a penalty against Wolverhampton on Saturday. Guardiola refuses to take credit after Sterling’s good performances. “The player deserves all the compliments. The day before the game against Aston Villa we had twelve players who could play. Raheem was not selected, but on the day of the game Ilkay suffered from his back. That’s why Raheem played anyway. His first 15 to twenty minutes were his best minutes in recent months.”
Raheem Sterling scored his 100th Premier League goal against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
“I can go here talking about all kinds of theories, or about the weather in Manchester, I can pretend I know everything, but the player deserves credit. If players have a positive attitude, they can always come back. Of course I want more from him because this is not enough, but I also want to see more from Gundogan, from Kevin De Bruyne, from Rodri, even Bernardo Silva. From everyone,” Guardiola emphasizes. He urges all his players, including his reserves, to never give up. It is difficult for the trainer to keep all players happy, but he realized on Sunday during the last Formula 1 race of the season that athletes can also be ‘winners’ if they do not get what they hope for.
“You’ve seen in Formula 1: you can do everything you can, because Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are great athletes, but sometimes you can’t control success,” said Guardiola. “Sometimes the winner is determined by something else. Then you are not the winner, but you are both a true champion. The players have to fight like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton did to the end. But sometimes you can do everything to perfection , and yet something comes your way that you have no control over and you lose as a result. Sunday’s race showed that you always have to keep fighting. There are all kinds of things that can prevent you from winning, such as a rule, an intervention by the VAR or a bad decision. But you have to do what Raheem has done in the last races and what those two incredible Formula 1 drivers did. That is the lesson we have to learn. They never give up and will never say that they don’t want to try something.”