'Leave them alone': Raheem Sterling sends strong message to Saka critics

“I think it’s brilliant to see players playing well for their clubs bring that to the international stage and biggest stage in football,” said Raheem Sterling when asked about the criticism faced by Bukayo Saka at the World Cup.

“I want them to be left alone so they can be focused and not have any added pressure on them.

“It’s a different kind of pressure to what I was under. In tournaments like this, no matter how many caps you have got, the less you hear your name the better.

“Every player knows if they are playing well, bad or not to your standards.

“The less we put them under the microscope, the better they’ll do. It’s virtually impossible not to talk about them given how well they are playing but I think the less we go on about it the better they’ll do.”

The Chelsea forward is not wrong - Saka has been under immense pressure to deliver the goods for England.

He scored a lovely brace in the 6-2 thrashing of Iran but did not have a good game against the USA.

Pundits, fans and everyone in between have lashed out at the Arsenal forward for his poor display - and one can see why Sterling wants people to leave them alone.

Source: BBC