Raheem Sterling has endured a difficult start to life at Feyenoord
Former Liverpool star Raheem Sterling has moved to Rotterdam in the hope of renewing his career at Feyenoord. However, a disappointing situation for De Kuip could leave his future looking very bleak and cost manager Robin van Persie his job.
Van Persie, who faced Sterling during their respective spells at Manchester United and Liverpool, is under intense pressure. Feyenoord remain second in the Eredivisie but trail leaders PSV by 15 points after picking up just one win in their last four games.
Sterling, 31, joined the Dutch giants in February following the termination of his £325,000-a-week deal at Chelsea. But while his arrival was met with jubilation, Dutch football legend Michael Statham has described how Feyenoord supporters feel disappointed by his contributions.
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“I think expectations are not as high as they would have been if he was in the English team,” Statham said. a mirror. “I think for Feyenoord what helped is that the fans know English football, they watch English football but they can’t focus on it. But obviously they went, ‘Oh, there’s a star from England who came to join us’, and it was great for the fans.
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“However, I think there have been comments, there have been other people [who are] maybe they don’t think it’s the best move and are surprised that he’s not doing as well as people thought he would. “
Statham, who runs the Dutch football-focused X account @FootballOranje_, went on to highlight Sterling’s performances have shown improvement. He has proven himself in Van Persie’s first team after making several appearances and providing one assist in five games.
A second-place finish in the league will be crucial for Van Persie to restore faith among supporters. However, with surprise rivals NEC Nijmegen and Ajax still hot, the gamble of bringing in Sterling as the man to add that extra value and guide them to the finals may not pay off.
“The way Feyenoord probably sees it, and I think they’re having a bad time,” Statham said. “They need to qualify for the Champions League for next season and that’s a lot of money for the club because they go straight into the league stage by finishing second. There’s no chance of winning the league, so it’s finishing second.”
“And when Van Persie is fighting, they don’t want to pull the trigger to get rid of him. But they thought, ‘Bring Sterling and his salary over the X games he left before the end of the season is lower than the money we will get in the Champions League in the future’.
“I think for Feyenoord what helped is that the fans know English football, they watch English football but they can’t focus on it. But obviously they went, ‘Oh, there’s a star from England who came to join us’, and it was great for the fans.
“So it is a gamble that should be taken because he pays his salary for the whole season, yes, if we pay this we will probably get Champions League football because we know him and his talents. [we’ll likely qualify]. So they’ve been putting that faith in him that it’s going to make a difference. In the end, I don’t think it will make a difference. “…
Even a third-place finish in the Eredivisie would be enough to earn Feyenoord a place in the third round of the Champions League. However, with just five points between them and fourth-placed Ajax, their place at the top of European football’s table is uncertain.
It was always going to take time for Sterling to find his feet in the Dutch top flight before supporters saw his best form. Although he made 28 appearances on loan at Arsenal last season, only 13 of them were starts.
The season before that, the England international scored 10 goals and 11 assists for Chelsea. And it’s the birth of a four-time Premier League winner that Rotterdam fans have probably been dying to see.
Naturally, the responsibility goes beyond just Sterling to deliver results and extract as much as possible from the rest of the campaign. However, there is no escaping the huge weight of expectation that his arrival will place on Van Persie’s shoulders, just like the player himself.
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