Ever since Raheem Sterling broke onto the scene as a 17-year-old kid at Liverpool, huge expectations were placed upon his shoulders. Signed by the Reds from Queen Park Rangers' academy, the Merseyside club had enormous hopes for the young winger.
Two years later, Sterling became one of Liverpool's most important players. "'Something we said to Raheem when he first broke into the team and something we've reiterated is that you have to have an identity as a player," former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers said in 2014. "His identity is he has to score goals and create goals – that's what the job is."
Rodgers felt Sterling's job was to score goals. That was never the case, though, at Liverpool. His finishing was erratic, he was very one-footed and he lacked confidence in advanced positions – 23 goals in 129 Liverpool appearances suggest just that.
