It hasn't been the easiest of starts to life at Chelsea for Raheem Sterling. Since signing from Manchester City last summer, the 28-year-old has played 26 times for the Blues and scored seven goals.
Sterling currently sits top of the goal-scoring chart at the club this term – alongside Kai Havertz, who has played seven more games than his teammate – but after the sky-high standards he set himself during his successful time at Man City, he won't be satisfied with how it's gone thus far. Thomas Tuchel made Sterling his attacking priority last summer as he looked to improve Chelsea's woes in front of goal.
The former Chelsea head coach and Sterling barely got any time to work with each other before the club decided to sack the German in September. Graham Potter was then appointed as Tuchel's successor and in his first match in charge (the 1-1 draw with RB Salzburg at Stamford Bridge), he used the England international as a left wing-back.
READ MORE: Who Chelsea could play in the Champions League quarter-finals after Tottenham and PSG defeats
Sterling did manage to score in that game and despite Potter's short time in charge back then, it looked as if the Blues' head coach had found a new role for the attacker, a role that could really benefit the team. It wasn't a conventional left wing-back, it was far more attacking, with Sterling's focus being mainly on providing the width on the left-hand side and stretching the opposition.
However, it's not something that lasted for long and in Chelsea's next match – the 2-1 away win at Crystal Palace – Sterling was used as a striker alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. That has kind of summed up Sterling's time at Stamford Bridge so far. A lot of different positions and no time to settle and find the most natural role that will see him produce his best football.
On Tuesday evening, in Chelsea's historic 2-1 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, Sterling was – as he was in the aforementioned win over Palace – used as a central striker, but it was a different kind of role. Starting alongside Havertz, Sterling's job was to stay high up the pitch and find space between Dortmund's left-back (Raphael Gurreiro) and their left central defender (Nico Schlotterbeck).
Chelsea went with a high press on Tuesday to try and pin Dortmund back and not allow the German side any time on the ball to try and build attacks or control the game. It's not something that worked all of the time because the visitors did gain some element of control at times at Stamford Bridge. It did, however, work successfully for the majority of the game – with Chelsea winning the ball back multiple times in Dortmund's half.
What Sterling did so well was effectively take two defenders, or perhaps one-and-a-half with Gurreiro often leaving Schlotterbeck to mark the Blues forward, out of the game. This allowed the likes of Joao Felix to thrive. The Portugal international operates best when he's floating in between the opposition's midfield and defence and he was allowed to do that because of Schlotterbeck being too occupied with Sterling.
In the image below, Sterling can be seen right on the cusp of being offside. He's effectively pinned back two Dortmund defenders and this allowed Reece James much more space on the right-hand side for a possible switch of play.
Sterling's positioning also worked well for Chelsea on counter-attacks and allowed more players to get forward into space. See below: Fernandez can be seen making a blistering run forward with Sterling occupying the last two defenders with his direct positioning.
What it then means is the central midfielder(s), often Emre Can in this case, has to come back to man-mark Felix and that leaves Chelsea's midfield duo of Enzo Fernandez and Mateo Kovacic with more space and time when in possession. Havertz was another player who hugely benefitted from Sterling's selfless role in the team.
The German forward put in arguably his best performance of the season so far against Dortmund. His touch, movement and flair really shone in the Champions League win and he has made himself virtually undroppable for the weekend now.
We've seen some of the best teams in recent years use one forward in this so-called 'selfless role' and it benefits those around them and perhaps limits their personal gain somewhat. See Liverpool with Roberto Firmino and even see Wout Weghorst at Manchester United, who only joined in January.
Of course, it doesn't completely limit Sterling's game because he ended up scoring Chelsea's opener on Tuesday and could have bagged himself a couple more on a different day. There were really encouraging and promising signs against Dortmund of a new role for Sterling; one that could hugely benefit himself and the team for the remainder of the season if Potter sticks with it.
READ NEXT:
Chelsea undroppable returns with a bang to hand Graham Potter perfect Champions League tonic
Enzo Fernandez and Kai Havertz agree on important Graham Potter sack decision at Chelsea
Brave Graham Potter decision pays off as Chelsea finally see glimpse of reason for £62m transfer
Chelsea news and transfers LIVE: All the latest news, rumours and gossip from Stamford Bridge
Graham Potter faces major selection headache after what happened in Chelsea vs Borussia Dortmund
