England vs Tunisia, World Cup 2018: Raheem Sterling fails to reproduce Manchester City form, scouting report

When Raheem Sterling finished his season at Manchester City with a career record 23 goals in a season and a Premier League trophy proudly held high above him, there was no conceivable way his stuttering England form will continue.

It only took England four minutes to present Sterling with the perfect chance to score. The chance to show why this England team should be built around him. A chance, most importantly, to show his many doubters that he can deliver.

Dele Alli’s precise pass set Jesse Lingard away on the left wing. The Tunisian defenders pause for an offside flag which did not come as Lingard set himself to cross. A low ball across the face of goal found Sterling at the back post, all he had to do is get a good touch on the ball and he scores into an open net. Missed.

Sterling gets his feet tangled and miskicks the ball then desperately watches the his tame effort trickle wide. The two year, eight month and nine day wait for a third England goal goes on.

Two years under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola has seen Sterling evolve into one of England’s best players, a player the team can be built around rather than forcing him in as a bit-part winger, which was the case in previous squads.

Gareth Southgate’s fluid 3-5-2 is designed to get Sterling buzzing around Harry Kane who can hold the ball up or come short to allow Sterling the space to attack behind a defence, which is how England worked Sterling’s early chance.

England started strongly and Sterling’s blushes were quickly spared when Kane tapped in Harry Maguire’s saved headed effort. But Tunisia hit back from the spot and once again, the attention turned to Sterling to rescue the cause.

With England he finds himself in different company. Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva and Leroy Sane can provide Sterling with five or six chances to score each game, with the Three Lions he might get one or two chances made for him, but often he has to be the one to provide those chances for himself and others.

The rest of the first half passed Sterling by as the intensity decreased after Tunisia’s equaliser. It was a 45 minutes that on another night he might have set the tone for England, but it was another half of football that had ‘Sterling’ trending on Twitter, and not for a good reason.

Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford watched on from the bench and you have to feel either of them may have made a bigger impact, although you would back anyone to score from where Sterling missed.

In truth, the reflection is that the England Raheem Sterling was playing instead of Manchester City’s upgraded and higher functioning model. The clinical finishing, incisive passing and fearlessness he has shown at the Etihad had vanished, just his movement remained.

The minutes and game continued to drift past Sterling who dropped deep, drifted wide and ran in behind in a frantic bid to turn around his fortunes, but nothing came off. After 68 minutes Southgate’s patience ran out and Sterling was withdrawn for Marcus Rashford after failing to deliver on potential which has been promised all the way from August last year.

Southgate did not want to drop him to shield him from the tattoo furore, or for arriving at training late, but the England manager may consider starting Rashford or Vardy because there is much more to come from Sterling and this England team.