Chelsea fans reach limit with Raheem Sterling after Leicester City horror show

The winger endures a miserable FA Cup quarter-final, further loudening calls for him to be dropped in place of Mykhailo Mudryk

By Jon Turner | March 18, 2024

It’s always a gradual process when a fanbase turns on one of its own players; months of frustration over too many underperforming games finally reaches breaking point. No one ever wants it to happen. In fact, supporters do all they can to make sure it doesn’t happen.

Sometimes, though, it gets to that unavoidable stage – and this is where the Chelsea faithful finds itself with Raheem Sterling. He’s been poor all season and has failed to convince throughout his time at Chelsea. While many fans were willing to make an exception for a disappointing debut season amid the wider chaos at Chelsea, patience has worn thin this campaign.

And it all came to a head against Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals. Sterling had one of those infamously terrible games; so bad, it’ll be remembered in Chelsea folklore for all the wrong reasons.

There was his shocking penalty after boldly pulling rank on Cole Palmer (who’s five for five from the spot). There was the consistent lack of goal threat – or any threat for that matter. There was the total lack of courage or leadership when the momentum turned away from the Blues.

And then the moment that finally snapped the Stamford Bridge crowd: a pathetically bad free-kick that sailed out of the stadium. Before the ball had even touched down on the King’s Road, there were loud, collective calls of ‘Get him off!’ reverberating around the ground.

The hostility only grew when Mauricio Pochettino took off Mikhalyo Mudryk – who was having a good game – instead of Sterling, prompting the fans to turn on the manager with chants of ‘You don’t know what you’re doing!”

When Sterling finally exited the pitch to a mixture of sarcastic cheers and genuine jeers, his stock among the fans had hit an all-time low.

Amidst all that, it’s easy to forget Sterling actually won the penalty and assisted Palmer for the second goal, but so shambolic was his performance – the latest in a string of underwhelming displays – it barely registered.

So, how did we get to this point? How has one of the Premier League’s most successful players fallen to such a level that his own fans don’t want him on the pitch?

To be honest, the blame needs to be shared between the player and the club.

When Sterling joined Chelsea in the summer of 2022 he did so as our big marquee signing. He was given the literal Hollywood treatment – his unveiling took part in Tinseltown during pre-season – and was made the club’s highest earner.

His £325,000-a-week wages were designed to reflect his status as one of the club’s best, most experienced players, and a regular supplier of goals to a Chelsea side seriously lacking in them. His record at Manchester City – 131 goals in 339 games – suggested that he would help solve that particular problem.

He arrived a serial winner with four Premier League titles and 10 major trophies, expected to set the standard by which the rest of the Chelsea squad would adhere.

Except, despite all the success and all the goals, Sterling just isn’t that sort of player and character. During his time at City, he was deployed in a very specific way and needed to adapt his game to fit into Pep Guardiola’s system. Gone was the tricky, fleet-footed winger who caused havoc for Liverpool, replaced by a forward relied upon to time his runs into the box and get on the end of chances.

Equally, Sterling may be credited by the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke for being a “big brother” and offering plenty of advice, but his leadership qualities on the pitch – where it matters most – are severely lacking.

How many times have we seen this season the tide turn against Chelsea, when big personalities are demanded to wrestle control and place the pressure on their own shoulders? And each time, where has Sterling been? Far more often that not he’s anonymous.

Essentially what we’re looking at is the wrong player recruited for the wrong role, both within the dressing room and on the pitch.

Yet, regardless of fault or blame, Sterling’s contribution can surely no longer justify his place as an automatic starter – and the stats are there to back it up, particularly when put up against Mudryk, the player being denied more game time by Sterling.

Despite playing twice as many minutes as Mudryk in the Premier League, Sterling has nine goal involvements (six scored, three assisted) compared to the Ukrainian’s six (four goals, two assists). That works out as an average of 0.44 goal involvements per match, while Mudryk sits at 0.6.

Moving on to shot efficiency, Sterling again trails Mudryk. The Englishman averages more shots per 90 minutes (1.48 v 1.19) and has better shot accuracy (56.67% v 41.67%) but crucially, his conversion rate is well below Mudryk: 20% compared to 33.33% and he averages five shots per goal compared to three shots per goal for the Ukrainian.

Sterling v Mudryk stats

If we now look at creation stats, once again Sterling is second-best to Mudryk. While their assists-per-90-minutes and overall passing output are quite similar, the difference lies in the effectiveness of those passes; Sterling has produced 25 key passes in the Premier League this season (1.24 per 90 minutes), while Mudryk has delivered 16 (1.59 per 90mins).

As for crosses – a key skill for a winger – Sterling is woefully behind. Of the 54 crosses he’s delivered in the league, only 10 have been successful (0.49 per 90mins). Mudryk? 49 total crosses, despite half as many minutes, with a success rate of 0.89 per 90mins.

And for the final for the attack-related statistical comparison: dribbling. Both players attempt a similar number of dribbles per 90mins at more than four, but Mudryk is more effective, completing 1.98 dribbles compared to Sterling’s 1.78. Meanwhile, Mudryk gets dispossessed an average of 1.39 per 90mins. Sterling? More than twice a game (2.08)!

Additional stats also show Mudryk to be a much better team player, too. The Ukrainian makes more tackles per 90mins (1.69 v 0.99), wins more ground duels (5.66 v 4.70), and wins more ariel duels (0.30 v 0.10).

In nearly every important metric – from attacking threat to defensive teamwork – Mudryk has the beating of Sterling; that despite the Ukrainian being used predominantly off the bench, giving him less time to find the rhythm of a game and thus make a substantial impact.

The fans have made their voices heard about the Sterling situation. The only way this is going to get resolved is if he delivers on the pitch. Based on the evidence so far, it’s going to take a monumental turnaround.