Even Auba would’ve scored that sitter…
Right? 
Right??
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These past months have been a showcase of what confidence means in football. This lad arrived with all the hype in the world, having a great campaign in the UCL group stages, looked a future superstar in his first minutes in PL.
Slowly but surely though, the current Chelsea virus got to him. I’ve shat on Felix recently too but comparing his early days at Chelsea to now it’s like night and day.
For what is worth, I’m still taking Mudryk here if the opportunity presented itself at a reasonable fee.
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Does Mudryk give you Gervinho vibes? Like he can beat his man, dribble etc but has no end product. Or is it too early to brand him as such given that he’s only played 1 year in EPL?
No, I think he’s got great technique and can certainly hit the ball. Gervinho was just awful at it. 
He honestly reminds me of Sterling when he first joined City. Both used to be a big fish in a small pond and they struggled with the transition. This is where good coaching and support is crucial.
He really messed choosing to go there. He had everything set up for him here to succeed. He had Zinchenko, a club in a healthy state, a stable management that did their homework on him, it was near perfect conditions really.
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Sterling was a big fish at Liverpool playing with the likes of Suarez, Sturridge and Gerrard?!
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Yep, he was their best forward by that time.
Suarez was gone. Sturridge’s problems started popping up, he hardly played. He and Gerrard were the main men. Coutinho stepped up once he left.
He was used to the pressure of a big club though and also playing with top players. Mudryk doesn’t have any of that coming from Ukraine.
His conditions were not too dissimilar to Nasri Fabregas and RvP.
Arsenal and Liverpool were very similar around that time. Couple of really talented players, mixed in with a bunch of dross. Good enough to stay in and around the Top places but couldn’t really consistently challenge.
At City he found Aguero, KdB, Sagna, Clichy, Nasri, Navas, Kompany, Toure, Fernandinho, etc.
The context completely changed for him.
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He also found Pep who massively improved him
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Nope, that was in his second season.
I didnt say when he found him lol…
Nah to be fair, I thought Pep signed him
He had a massive influence on him though
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Oh yeah, that’s what I was getting at anyway.
Once Pep arrived, the dynamics changed. There was more focus on him again. Arteta was key in his development too. A bunch of the younger players around that time have credited Arteta for their improvement. He used to stay back with them and train outside the normal times.
Yer ive read that Mikel had a big hand in improving the players at the time, wingers and wide men especially.
I was kind of hoping that would have an impact when Sterling was on the move, would have loved him to come in to us, he would have been great for Saka.
Funnily enough they signed the same summer. Don’t think anyone expected him to go on to do what he’s done at the time after his Chelsea stint.
Some of the other names can’t be listied alongside Aguero, Toure and Kompany. Nasri for example, wasn’t he on the fringes of things and overweight by then? They definitely had their fair share of deadwood before pep cleaned it up.
Yep, they spoke about it publicly in interviews and was also mentioned in the doc.
You could sense a bit of “good cop, bad cop” dynamics. Pep was the strict one, the one with authority that the players feared, Arteta was the kind one that players could approach more easily.
Kinda ironic how the dynamics are now a bit reversed here, Arteta is the strict one and Albert(and the rest of the staff) is the soft ones that the players approach.
It’s certainly working. 
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We need to be careful with Saka as sterling should serve as an example when it comes to too much football at a young age. His best days well behind him.
Really hope Saka pulls up this Sunday with a minor issue that means he has to sit out the international games, giving him a proper 5-6 week rest that he must surely need.
That would be ideal
I want that boy to have a long summer off
Get a real break and come back fresh
Most of them had won the league twice by that time. Nasri was integral in both.
Sterling didn’t win a single trophy by then. And on KdB, he was the main star signing. Spent £60m on him which I believe was a club record at the time and wasn’t broken till very recently.
I think it’s to do with film industry advertising using the term so much so that almost everyone pronounces it the same way now.
Per-meeer League
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Sterling couldn’t have been far off that fee himself?