Thread by @nonewthing

People don't get it.

Sterling's role at City magnifies the worst aspects of his game. City's system is a ball progression machine which means that most of the infield dribbling/carrying we have seen this Euros is not especially needed. Ball progression is automated at City.

Sterling is often required to hold the width and run in behind. When this is not happening and the ball comes to him, Sterling has to efficiently use the ball in the very structured system at City while also having the freedom to perform as an individual. This specific dynamic

which requires a Pep winger with a lot of ability to decide what actions to take at a particular time is a dynamic that is best suited for the best players. It is a dynamic for choice. "Do I simply hand the ball back to Rodri and overload or do I dribble past everyone to score?"

The best players have "la pausa", which is basically rhythm. It is a feeling for the flow of the game, when to give it back and when to take it, when to move to the side and hold it, when to take that ball and run for glory, past one, past two, and STER... LING!

You get it already. This is why the accusations thrown at Pep for mechanical football is nonsensical. Pep basically creates a structure, where, if everyone does their job, the ball will always move from their own goal to the final third without incident. In the final third, Pep

provides some combinational patterns to produce shots for his team. These combinational patterns vary and are designed to utilize the best qualities of his players. But Pep is not a dictator. You have the freedom to decide against the pattern and do your thing. Pep's system

guarantees that you will be protected in case you lose the ball. Of course, you shouldn't be losing the ball too much. Players basically are empowered to choose all the time, especially the attackers. Choices are constantly made. It's relentless. The ball returns all the time.

If City lose the ball, they get it back quickly and bam! It's back again. Another choice for you to make.

And this is where Sterling's decisional flaws can be seen.

Sterling, at heart, is an instinctive player. Ask Liverpool fans or watch the Euros. He wants to go by instinct,

he wants to go by inspiration. And very obviously, he has got the minerals to do it. The problem is that he is not Messi and the Premier League is a far harder competition than the Euros and mistakes are punished harder. You lose the ball one too many times and you lose the game.

As a result, Sterling has to develop efficiency. He has to develop a feel for the game. In a possession side where he will see a lot of the ball, you have to somehow starve his instincts, to make him think more, and yet still make him contribute to the team. That's what Pep did.

Pep used Sterling as a runner, a 'lump the ball to him' outlet. Others will handle the ball while Sterling will wait and run in behind for the final action.

In that role, there is space and time for him to think. He can see the game play out. He can still contribute.

That in-game time watching the game play out is quite helpful, awfully so. At the same time, your job is simplified.

For Sterling, it's like making a Guardiola the throw-in coach of the team. It is, in a way, beneath him, his talent and his natural game. He is over qualified.

This is why Sterling has been getting world class returns in front of goal since Pep Guardiola arrived. The game is literally too easy for him the way he is been used.

Arteta is trying a version of this with Pepe and Aubameyang and, sometimes, Saka.

Sterling, in the Guardiola system when he receives the ball in front of defenders and has to progress it, has to think. He has to decide between his base instincts and the simple, non-starring approach. As earlier said, the problem is that Sterling's instincts slightly outsizes

his technical level. He is still somewhat technically inconsistent to the extent that he can have a pretty bad game trying to make something happen in every 1 of 2 games. He is not Lionel Messi. He is not even as technically consistent as a Sancho or Grealish.

Guardiola probably emphasizes this to him. Meanwhile, most coaches who don't have access to the same level of talent as Sterling will see him as Lionel Messi and leave him alone. Some will encourage him, even. Not Guardiola. Guardiola wants him to improve the consistency of his

technique. The feedback probably gets into his head at times and might be responsible for him feeling down as we saw this season, especially with a technical monster like Foden coming in to potentially take a place in the team.

As I was saying, the Guardiola system constantly

gives his attackers lot of choices to make. For players like Bernardo Silva or David Silva, this is great. They have perfected the art of making good decisions. They have mastered the sense of rhythm. They know when to make a move and when not to.

Their head game is on lock.

Sterling has not perfected this art and this is responsible for his sometimes poor showings in Guardiola's system. He is overwhelmed by the amount of choices he has to make. He is a top, top player, don't get me wrong but he doesn't have the head game on lock.

This is why City are strongly linked to Jack Grealish, a master of technical consistency and always making the right decisions in the final third.

My tweets are not definitive. They are not necessarily hard, solid facts. Rather, they are frameworks, helping you to constantly make sense of football's fluid complexity. They help you think on your own. You can now reason out some of the reason, Foden, a technical monster, was

so slowly introduced into City's first team picture.

You can now understand the rumours of the feeling at City that Mahrez can leave and Sterling can leave or stay.

Gracias. Have a nice day. Read my tweets and others religiously for long enough and you will definitely get 'it'.

The overall point is that Sterling's mental and sometimes technical inconsistency are more exposed in the controlled and constant attacking system at City, which leaves him floundering between choosing his moment, something that was not a huge part of his game.

This is also why Bukayo Saka is so special. He had the head/decisional game on lock almost immediately he came out of the academy. He was born with a feel and a rhythm for the game and that's an essential part of being a world class talent.