Raheem Sterling: difference maker

Sterling has been England's player of the tournament so far, proving the doubters wrong with consistent brilliance across Euro 2020

Prior to Euro 2020, after an indifferent season with Manchester City, many were doubting Raheem Sterling's place in the England starting line-up.

However, with a string of outstanding performances, including three goals, he is now one of the first names on the team-sheet.

His ability on the ball is one of the key aspects of his game, and in this article I will focus more intensely on what makes Sterling such a threat, examining his dribbles against Denmark and where his attacking strengths lie, in order to examine where he could hurt Italy on Sunday.

His eleven dribble attempts against Denmark alone shows just how much of an impact he had, but it was the intricacies of these dribbles which underlined the variety and extent of Sterling's skillset.

England will look to write their names in the history books against Italy, and will need Sterling on top form if they are to have any chance of doing that.

Dribble 1:

Positionally Denmark are out of shape, Andreas Christensen is occupying the right wing-back role while Jens Stryger Larsen is taking up the place in right centre back in the Danish back three.

Instead of Larsen or Thomas Delaney going with Sterling, its left to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Hojbjerg is already three yards behind when Sterling starts to run, therefore when he finally stops on the 18-yard line, Hojbjerg is, understandably, not able to ‘stop on a sixpence’ and overshoots his run, allowing Sterling to cut inside with ease.  

Larsen engages with Sterling and the pass attempt to Harry Kane is deflected by him. The ball is cleared, but only to Kyle Walker at the half-way line and England resume another attack.

Dribble 2:

Before the dribble, Larsen is the man covering Sterling on the break, but a ball in the air means he goes to challenge Kane for the ball, but Kane wins the ball and manages to play it over the top.

Sterling’s first touch is sublime. Much like the first dribble the quick change of direction causes him to be one step ahead of the defender.

Christensen, who Sterling managed to get past with the touch, is not able to pressure Sterling who is able to pass off to Harry Kane. Unfortunately, his final product lets him down and the pass ends up nearer the touchline than the goal.

Kane manages to shield the ball as Joakim Maehle clumsily clatters into the back of him and wins a free kick.

Dribble 3:

The introduction of Jack Grealish for Bukayo Saka resulted in Sterling being pushed to the RW in the England 4-2-3-1 as they chased a second goal.

On the counterattack, Danish substitute Christian Norgaard drops back to form a ‘back six’ to occupy the space between Simon Kjaer and Vestergaard. Well versed playing both centre half and in the centre of midfield, having done so for Brentford this season, Norgaard presses Sterling quickly and a great slide tackle means he is dispossessed.

The ball is progressed to Martin Braithwaite, but Harry Maguire intercepts and the ball is played to Grealish.

Dribble 4:

Maehle spots Sterling but is expecting a break after the foul is given and ties his laces. However, Sterling sticks to near the touchline and Walker’s quick-thinking results in Sterling controlling the ball in lots of space.

Sterling uses the space to his advantage, so when Maehle pressures he uses that as his sign to use a quick change of pace and get to the byline.

He gets the pass off but Denmark have nine players back (10 if you include Kasper Schmeichel), and Vestergaard intercepts and Denmark gain possession.

Dribble 5:

Maehle askes Braithwaite to press as he must watch the overlap of Walker.

We are into the last minutes of injury time so the players are increasingly exhausted. This results in Braithwaite not pressing quickly enough to the point that, when Sterling takes a big touch, it works out to his benefit.

The ‘50/50’ ball is won by Sterling, who drives into the box as Braithwaite cannot recover quick enough.

Hojbjerg tries to come across and help, but he also is not able to keep up with the pace of Sterling, and it leaves Sterling in a 1-on-1 against Vestergaard, although with four other Danish players in the box it would have been unlikely likely to have accounted for anything.

Sterling tries to play it between Vestergaard’s legs, but it hits the inside of Vestergaard’s left boot and he is dispossessed.

Dribble 6:

After a pass from Kyle Walker, Denmark now decides to ‘double up’ Sterling with both the left-wing back Maehle and centre midfielder Mathias Jensen as Denmark have stuck with their five at the back formation for the start of extra-time.

Sterling uses the exact moment Jensen gets to him to start his darting run to the byline. Jensen is completely out of the play and Maehle again has not got the pace to keep up and Sterling tries to get a pass in.

Again, Vestergaard is there to block the pass, this time with his right foot, while just after play is stopped for a head injury after Sterling collides into him, Sterling not being able to stop himself in time.

Dribble 7:

Shortest of all the dribbles, it is really just a touch, but again, just like the dribble before Sterling takes Jensen out of the game.

Despite his movement creating an incredible amount of space to shoot from, he gets his connection all wrong. The shot ended up closer to row Z rather than Denmark's net.

Dribble 8:

Probably the most important dribble of the game for Sterling, as he ends up winning the penalty from which Harry Kane tucked in the rebound, taking England to their first international final since 1966.

Again, Denmark looks to double up on Sterling, this time with Maehle and Hojbjerg and, once again, when Hojbjerg initiates, Sterling uses that as his time to go.

In the second picture, you may be fooled to think the ball in vision is a huge touch by Sterling, but its rather just the ‘second ball’ that was on the pitch, which rival fans complained about after the 120 minutes.

Raheem’s pace is too much for Maehle and he is caught behind. This causes Jensen to come across and hip-check Sterling, who wins the penalty. While soft, Jensen is too hastily trying to get across, rather that trust Vestergaard who has excelled at intercepting the ball across the box all night.

Dribble 9:

Jordan Henderson completed a pass to create a 2-on-3 counterattack for England, who at this point, in the depths of extra-time, are not too bothered with scoring and would rather keep possession.

Sterling, like has been the story all game, gets past Maehle. Maehle was having an incredible tournament, and this game should not take away his accomplishments this summer, but he severely struggled with the runs of Sterling along the touchline.

I would put this down to his left foot being his weakest even though he plays on the left. An ever-emerging theme, especially this European Championships, while it enables an extra dynamic going forward, Maehle will naturally tend to tackle with his right foot, which leaves him at a disadvantage defensively.

This leaves a 2-on-2, but Joachim Andersen lunges himself at Sterling and gets it all wrong. While still a 2-on-2, as Maehle was able to get back, Sterling manages to get his pass of to Kane, who cannot get a shot off and play is recycled.

Dribble 10:

In the 117th minute, Sterling who has been on the whole game, outpaces Norgaard, a Danish substitute, to the ball from the midway point of the edge of the 18-yard box. That, in itself, is what is impressive.

With the ball at his feet, he gets past Norgaard, but Maehle comes out on top in this instance, as Raheem tries to place the ball behind his legs but it hits the back of Maehle’s studs and results in losing the ball.

Dribble 11:

After a pass from Kane, Sterling again beats Andersen in a 1-on-1.

A sharp change in pace and direction means Sterling can get a shot off on his stronger right foot. Schmeichel does incredibly well to get as close to the ball as possible and make himself as big as possible as the ball goes off him for a corner.

In sum, Sterling continued his good form from the rest of the tournament into this man of the match performance.

His dribbling throughout the game showed skill, pace, and variety, as he threatened the Danish team nearly every time he had the ball.

This game showed the strength of this side of his game, an aspect perhaps underappreciated in the past, and it is a threat Italy will have to nullify if they are to have any success in the final.