In the early morning of February 11, the 24th round of the Premier League continued, and The Reds Liverpool easily scored three points at home to beat Leicester City 2-0, but in the standings, they still trailed Manchester City at the top of the table by a full 9 points. In this round of matches, it is Precisely Liverpool's veteran Sterling who led Manchester City to take all three points. Although there was no direct goal, the England Wing created a penalty and made a positive steal in front of the field to create a chance for De Bruyne to score a supplementary shot, which was very good.
After this match, Sterling inadvertently set a new Premier League record in 5 years, making 18 penalties in the Premier League since playing in August 2016, at least five more than any other Premier League player. Although he has always been considered very happy on the court, despite those funny mistakes that even Guardiola held his head, Sterling's threat is still obvious to all. Every possession, breakthrough and shot in front of the pitch is extremely threatening, and it is no exaggeration to say that he is a nightmare for an opponent's defender.
As Guardiola's confidant, Sterling has grown into a world-class winger under the tutelage of the Spanish coach in recent years, and his value has risen by more than 100 million pounds. In the first two seasons of Guardiola's coaching, Sterling was successful in the right wing, repeatedly delivering fatal kills. In the 2018/19 season when Sane was used as a substitute, Sterling played excellent data on the left wing, and in Manchester City's non-frontal squad, he even made frequent cameo appearances as a center forward, which can be described as a golden oil in the front.
Of course, it was also after Manchester City sacrificed no front, Sterling once lost the direction of progress. In the increasingly focused on the passing and cutting of manchester City's frontcourt, he played very hard, and even was once robbed of the main left winger position by Fuden. During that time, Sterling once thought about leaving Manchester City, and even made initial contact with Barca. Barca were too shy at the time, and eventually signed the younger and cheaper Ferrantores, while Sterling continued to stay with the Etihad.
Fortunately, in the following game, Sterling finally found his own form, frequently scored goals and assists, and gradually regained his main position. So far this season, he has scored nine goals and three assists in 29 games in all competitions, making him City's second-highest scorer.
After the match with Brentford, the Manchester Evening News wrote that Manchester City should renew Sterling's contract as soon as possible, and his creativity in the moments of the game was different, in addition to speed, breakthrough, scoring goals and creating opportunities for teammates. For now, at least, City can't afford to lose him.
And this is also the case, before this, Guardiola had regrettably let go of the German winger Sane, who had made a great contribution to Manchester City's two consecutive Premier League titles, who could not be perfectly integrated with Manchester City's passing system because of his technical style, so Guardiola preferred to use Sane as a substitute, which eventually led to Sane's departure. In fact, in the 2019/20 season when Sane was seriously injured, Manchester City tasted the pain of not having him, and was thrown away by the Reds Liverpool with a huge gap of 18 points, while Sane was the true liverpool nemesis.
After Sane's departure, Sterling became the only explosive player in Manchester City's squad, and his speed was the biggest magic weapon for Manchester City to deal with the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League. Therefore, Guardiola can no longer repeat the mistake of letting Sane go, not to mention that Sterling, who is in a state of courage, has successfully emerged from adversity.