Raheem Sterling has told Thierry Henry why it’s “a matter of time” before he becomes more clinical and finishes more chances in front of goal.
The 23-year-old missed three big chances in Manchester City’s defeat to Manchester United earlier this month and his manager Pep Guardiola has said he “has to improve” on his goalscoring, even though he has scored 17 times in the Premier League this season.
Sterling told Sky Sports’ Henry that he sometimes has trouble when he has too much time to think, but is confident he will iron out any issues.
He said: “Forget what everybody says, I know what I want to do and what I need to improve on. Nobody needs to tell me.
“Of course people see it and my problem is that when I have too much time to think that’s when I mess up a lot. If it’s more instinctive with less time to think I am much better. If it’s through on goal and I have too much time to think I try to over-complicate things. That’s when I do mess up at times.
“I have full confidence in myself and believe I will get it right in a matter of time. I have the World Cup this summer and then back to work again in pre-season and then continue trying to get better.”
Sterling also revealed how his confidence in his finishing was dented during his time at Liverpool.
“Before I went to Liverpool I was a striker and then sometimes a No 8 or No 10 and my thing was shooting, finishing and long-distance shots,” he said.
“Then I got into this thing where I wanted to be the nice guy with step-overs, drag backs, megging people, and I wanted to look nice for people to see.
“I remember being coached at Liverpool and there was another kid called Toni Silva and they said ‘you know, instead of blasting the ball and it goes in, do like Toni does, pass it around the keeper’.
“Obviously that worked for Toni, but when I tried to do it I kept trying to do this little side-foot pass and I have short legs anyway and my foot was too close to the ball so the keeper kept saving it.
“That kind of put me in doubt and that’s where it all started.”
While Sterling’s finishing has come under scrutiny, he has enjoyed an impressive campaign for Manchester City.
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His tally of 22 goals in all competitions is double his previous best, and Gary Neville said recently that he has the potential to become “one of the best players in the world” if he continues his progression.
Sterling told Henry: “Growing up watching people like you and Ronaldo winning games, you see the player who scores the goal to win the game, it’s an amazing thing to see and something I wanted to recreate more for myself and try to help the team.
“It was nice when your boys or friends at Liverpool say ‘oh when you megged that guy…’, but at the end of the day people remember goals or moments in matches that won the game or helped your team to do something brilliant and that is what I am trying to do more.
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Gary Neville says he thinks Raheem Sterling could become as good as Thierry Henry or Cristiano Ronaldo
“It’s nice to have a little fun when your team is winning but at the end of the day I am trying to be more efficient and clinical.”
City clinched the title without playing last weekend as Manchester United were beaten 1-0 at home by West Brom.
They have won 28 of 33 games in the Premier League this season and Sterling says belief has been high throughout the campaign.
“Coming into this pre-season, the energy and atmosphere and belief was really good. The belief when we were in the dressing room and when we went out onto pitches felt like we were in control.
“Last season I had it where I thought ‘it might not be our day today’ but there has not been a game this season I thought we were going to lose. Even the Champions League game against Liverpool at 3-0 down in the second leg I thought we were going to win.
“The whole year it has been like that. I always have that belief in the team that we were going to win. We have controlled games and our thing last year was that when we were doing well the counter-attack was always on, but this year we have solved it so we are a bit safer and that gave me reassurances that if we attack we can defend and stop them scoring.”
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