Legendary Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has branded under fire forward Raheem Sterling as a a disgracea after Sterlinga s infamous interview to BBC during the week.
In the interview, Sterling admitted to rejecting a deal worth A?100,000 at the Anfield club also called Arsenala s interest in his services a quite flatteringa . Following the interview, the 20-year-old has been in the spotlight with the media constantly asking Brendan Rodgers and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger about the playera s future.
The interview has also caused a bit of unrest amongst Liverpool fans who have been behind the player through thick and thin. One of those fans happens to be Carragher and the Sky pundit is clearly unhappy with Sterlinga s actions.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Carragher heavily criticised both the player and his advisors.
“They [Sterling and his advisers] couldn’t have got that more wrong.
“Jordan Henderson, don’t forget, is in a similar contractual position, but the differences between their situations is enormous. Jordan has played as well, if not better, than at any time in his career this season.
“He will be out of contract in 12 months’ time but, as negotiations continue, you are not hearing anyone calling him a money-grabber. Why? Because he and his agent aren’t using the media to engineer a move or put pressure on Liverpool to improve his contract.
“This, more than anything, is my biggest problem with Sterling and his agent. For a 20-year-old and his agent to be taking on Liverpool FC in the public domain is a disgrace.
“I have no issue about players maximising their earning potential, but the agenda that is being driven from Sterling’s camp is beyond a joke.
“The only way any good could have come from the BBC interview was if Sterling had said he was going to sign a new deal.
“Anything else, as he has discovered, was always going to create a massive problem. They cancelled talks with the club, but not with the media. If you don’t want people talking about an issue, don’t talk about it yourself.”
The former defender also believes that leaving Liverpool at this stage of his career would be a wrong decision on the England internationala s part.
“What Sterling’s camp are struggling to see is that Liverpool is the best place for him,” he added.
“Forget money for a minute. This is about football and his development. He will start the vast majority of games at Anfield. Would that be the case at Arsenal? No.
“He wouldn’t play as a centre-forward there ahead of Olivier Giroud or Alexis Sanchez. Being a number 10 would be out of the question, as he is not like Mesut Ozil or Santi Cazorla, which would mean a battle with Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott to start wide right.
“If he went to Manchester City, he would be a squad player again. City play 4-4-2 under Manuel Pellegrini, which would mean him competing with Jesus Navas and Samir Nasri to start on the right.
“As for talk about Bayern Munich (Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery) and Real Madrid (Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale), he wouldn’t get near either of those teams now.
“Liverpool and Rodgers are what Sterling needs at this stage of his career. He should realise this. There is one change I would recommend he makes this summer – and it is not his football club.”
Currently embroiled in a four horse race for a finish in the Champions League spots this season, the Reds are fifth on the table five points behind fierce rivals Manchester United who are in fourth.
The good news for Liverpool, however, is that they will be playing Arsenal, who are just six points ahead and are in third place, on Saturday. Champions Manchester City maybe second at the moment, but they are only seven points ahead.
At the same time, United still have to play all of the top three in the remaining eight games of the season, making their task a whole lot tougher than the rest of the teams involved in this scramble for fourth place.
