him, has had a rough few months but he looks a
different player on the right-hand side for the Blues
COMMENT
If Manchester City's Premier League opener provided
evidence of slow progress under Pep Guardiola, Tuesday's
Champions League play-off victory was much more like it.
City did just about enough to squeeze past Sunderland at
the weekend. There were signs of Guardiola's influence -
most notably the full-backs coming into central midfield -
but things did not quite click, which is to be expected at this
stage of the Catalan's reign.
Their dismantling of Steaua Bucharest, though, was far
more impressive. The passing was more crisp, the
movement looked more fluid and the chances flowed. It
must be said that the opposition were far less dogged than
the Black Cats, but City thrived in the space they were
afforded.
Sergio Aguero missed two first-half penalties but, incredibly,
he scored a hat-trick anyway.
His first, City's second of the night, was laid on beautifully
by Raheem Sterling. The man pilloried by sections of the
British press (though, it must be said, usually not the sports
sections) during and after the European Championship
showed why City paid upwards of £45 million for him a year
ago.
It is said Guardiola gave that move the go-ahead last
summer, several months before his move to the Etihad
Stadium was confirmed.
The boss admits he, as well as his backroom team, had been
won over by "Raz" - as he calls him - long before he was
thinking about a move to Manchester.
READ MORE | REPORT: Aguero hat-trick seals
easy City win
"He can play right and left, he can go byline or go inside, and
that is so important," Guardiola said on Saturday after
Sterling had impressed. "He is a fighter and of course we
want more of him, but we are so so happy.
"We are happy for him because he's a very nice guy, and
from the beginning I had a feeling - maybe it will be a
mistake, maybe for the rest of the season Raz is not going
to play good - but from the beginning I had that feeling that
this guy is good.
"I saw many times in England, when playing Liverpool, I
said, 'Wow this guy is good'. Not just me, all the staff, all
the physios, and my assistant, wanted to have him, wanted
to have him to see the real Sterling."
The real Sterling, City fans will be increasingly hopeful, is the
one we are seeing now, rather than the young man who
struggled at the back end of last season and carried those
problems into the Euros.
Things got so bad for Sterling in France that Guardiola called
him personally in a bid to keep his spirits up. There was no
immediate improvement, even if he did produce a fine run to
win England's penalty in that fateful game against Iceland,
but he looks much better now.
Indeed, he's won two more penalties already this season.
He also picked up two im pressive assists; before teeing up
Aguero, he set up City's opener in Romania, turning his
marker inside out before cutting it back to David Silva.
Sterling had been used in a variety of roles by Brendan
Rodgers at Liverpool but it seems the right-hand side could
become his home under Guardiola. Nobody would have seen it, but the Catalan was said to be impressed by the
Englishman's performance there in a behind-closed-doors
friendly against St Johnstone. He has played there ever
since.
He started last season in fine form, of course, but his
campaign petered out along with most of his team-mates.
The atmosphere at City these days is increasingly positive.
There are signs that the players are tuning in to Guardiola's
wave length. John Stones, in his second appearance, was
imperious at the back. He was signed because of his
penetrative passing and it was on display here on numerous
occasions.
Kevin De Bruyne looked lost at the weekend but there was a
marked improvement against Steaua, Silva looked
something like his old self in a more advanced role, and
Nolito picked up his first goal for the club.
Claudio Bravo will be another piece of the puzzle when he
joins from Barcelona.
Things, then, are falling into place, and especially for
Sterling.
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