Raheem Sterling changes England mood music from jeers to cheers

Searching for a more influential figure than Raheem Sterling across the broad acres of English sport is nigh on impossible.

England’s Raheem Sterling, third from left, heads the ball home to score against Kosovo at St Mary’s Stadium in Southampton. Picture: AFP

Searching for a more influential figure than Raheem Sterling across the broad acres of English sport right now is a task bordering on the impossible.

Few can rival the forward’s combined impact on and off the field: winning titles with Manchester City; proving the catalyst who stirs England into exciting life; mentoring young players; campaigning powerfully on racism, education and employment opportunities, giving hope to the disadvantaged and disenfranchised.

“We’re lucky to have him,” Gareth Southgate said. England’s manager was reflecting on the 24-year-old’s talismanic effect on his side, delivering one of his most accomplished international performances in the 5-3 defeat of Kosovo at St Mary’s this week, certainly matching his stellar two-goal display against Spain in Seville last year.

Always alive to his players’ societal sway, Southgate could also have been talking about how lucky the country is to have Sterling. It was even put to Southgate, sitting in the Southampton boardroom with its wonderful framed Mick Channon shirt from the 1976 FA Cup Final, that Sterling was a “national treasure”. He was also asked whether Sterling could reach the pinnacle so long occupied by Lionel Messi, and even replace him.

Let us not get carried away. Messi is a name for the ages, for the world. Sterling is a fabulous talent, a man and footballer for the country to be proud of, but he is still on the rise, and we should just sit back and admire his ascent.

It is only Kosovo, only a qualifier, but his journey inspires such esteem. He fought through hardship in his formative years, the loss of his father and the uncertainty of often not knowing where his family were staying that night, and then as a professional in the public eye dealing with deeply personal criticism, and coping with the fallout of his ill-handled exit from Liverpool.

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At Euro 2016, he described himself as the “hated one”. At the 2018 World Cup, Sterling’s place in the England team was questioned by some fans. Now they cry out for his shirt, boots and autograph.

They respect somebody who has been through a storm, who must have felt the world was against him at times, yet emerged stronger, betraying no bitterness just humility and a desire to carry on rising. They appreciate his skill and the strength he showed riding Kosovan tackles. They love his attitude of going again and again, whatever the scoreline.

Southgate argued that players can always “look outstanding” when leading comfortably. A truer test of character comes when the scoreline makes grimmer reading.

“At 0-0 against Bulgaria, at 1-0 down against Kosovo, he’s grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. When there was no space at Wembley, he was the one to open things up,” Southgate said. When Kosovo took an early lead at St Mary’s, Sterling organised the response.

The fans — reconnected with the team after a painful period of froideur in the wake of the Iceland disaster at Euro 2016 — particularly warm to Sterling’s embodiment of what they, and Southgate, crave most from England: no fear, no easing up. England’s mood music has changed from jeers to cheers.

“It’s lovely to see the shift in the public opinion of him,” Southgate said. “We’ve always picked him. There have been times where he’s not played well and we’ve taken him off and that’s been the right thing, but he’s always been integral to the way we want to play.

“He did come home a bit sad after the World Cup — there’s no hiding from that. He didn’t deserve to feel that way, so it’s lovely to see the recognition he’s getting and how much extra that’s bringing out of him. He got the goals in Spain. It was such a huge weight lifted.”

Sterling’s superb form has been shaped by feeling settled at City, learning from Pep Guardiola, enjoying fatherhood and a natural desire to help the many tyros thrusting through from academies and junior England age-groups, such as his England teammate Jadon Sancho.

The realisation in Seville that he really did belong at the highest level accelerated the maturing process. Captaining England for the first time, against Holland in the Nations League semi-final in Guimaraes in June, reflected his standing, and accentuated it.

“He’s just a player that’s playing full of confidence, wants to be involved in everything, showing real maturity around the camp,” Southgate said. “When I have the leadership group in, he’s very clear but thoughtful in his opinions. If there are things that he thinks can be better with the mentality of the players or the way that we’ve set the week out, he’ll thoughtfully put ideas across; he doesn’t just sit and complain.

“I noticed, over the last 24 hours especially, he spent a lot of time with Jadon. That was probably quite a comfort (for Sancho). I can speak as the coach, but there’ll be more depth to that if your fellow winger, who’s been at the same club as you and has been through what you’re going to go through (dealing with fame), can talk to you. That’s far more powerful. It will have helped him settle into the game.”

Many of the players look up to Sterling’s willingness to speak out, including calling the media out.

“He was very forthright in his social media posts that raised everybody’s awareness and made us all think, which was very mature and impressive,” Southgate said.

“That’s still a brave thing to decide that, ‘Right, I’m going to own that space and I’m going to put my own views across’. But those views represent many as well, so he’s aware of the power of his voice, but he also doesn’t waste it. He’s used it at the right times in a really impressive way. And, at the same time, he rose to the challenge with his club, with new signings (like Bernardo Silva, Leroy Sane and Riyad Mahrez) coming in.”

And as to the possibility of rising to the level of Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Southgate could see the headline forming like a hurricane but didn’t duck too far out of the way.

“Well, in terms of, ‘Can he fulfil it?’ it’s a bit like I talked about Harry Kane the other day (chasing Wayne Rooney’s scoring record of 53 goals), he’ll give himself every chance of doing that.

“There are obviously some outstanding players around, the (Eden) Hazards, the (Kevin) De Bruynes, the two you’ve mentioned. But he will give himself every chance because he’s got the drive, the professionalism, the ability and he’s physically and mentally strong for such a small statured lad. It was hysterical the other day, him and 6ft 2in Joe Gomez had a shoulder-to-shoulder moment. And of course, they were bantering about it for the rest of the week.

“He is physically strong, so he is so hard to knock off the ball. A couple of the turns where his awareness of where the (Kosovo) defender was and then be flying at the opposition …” Southgate tailed off, almost lost in admiration.

“If you look at the reaction of the crowd when he gets the ball and the excitement young and old have, watching him play …” Southgate said. “He’s now a two-time Premier League winner, so the honours are starting to stack up. And all that’s done is give him the hunger to go on further. I never sensed with either title win — when he came in to the camp at the end of the season — that he felt his season was done. He was on to the next thing. The rest of the players see that mentality and it has a big impression on them. We’re fortunate to have him.”

THE TIMES