Raheem Sterling sees season as learning opportunity, personally and for Chelsea as well

This season has been an absolute disaster, no two ways about it, and our only saving grace is that we collected enough points in the first few months — 19 points in our first 11 games, 20 points in the next 22 — that relegation isn’t really a realistic possibility. It’s a mathematical one, still, with five games still to go, but it not something that we really need to worry about (at least not yet).

While there is plenty of blame to dole out at pretty much every level and breadth of the operation, top to bottom, the more useful approach is to identify our mistakes, learn from them, and try to ensure that we never repeat them.

That’s how Raheem Sterling’s looking at things as well, after what’s been a highly disappointing campaign from the man used to scoring, winning, and playing for a well-oiled organization for the previous seven years at Manchester City.

“Personally, this is one of the lowest points in my career. This might sound a bit weird, but it is also a great learning curve.

“It’s been pretty smooth sailing winning, winning and winning but sometimes in life stuff gets thrown at you and it is a challenge that I’m looking forward to, hitting it head on and not trying to hide from it. It will only make me stronger and also the group stronger. These challenges, not in just football but life as well, it’s crucial to how we deal with things and how we kick on after.”

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?

Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images

Sterling’s hoping that mantra can apply at organizational level as well.

“I’m not one to tell the club what to do but from what I can gauge from where I was previously, organisation is the most important thing. Having a manager that has the final say on everything and it being his way with everyone having to follow that.

“Successful teams always have a manager that comes in, brings his blueprint and everyone follows. If there are people that don’t follow, then they are not part of the team and that is how brutal it needs to be at a high level. It’s a fine line between winning, coming second and being in the position we are now. It’s about everyone being on the same page from my experience.”

“[...] It’s been a challenge and something that we do definitely need to get sorted because if a manager is here, he wants players who are invested in what the club wants to achieve and what he wants to achieve. It’s quite difficult to do that with mixed emotions in the squad. It’s definitely something as a club we need to get organised.”

-Raheem Sterling; source: Sky Sports

Not sure giving managers that much power is the right way to go — certainly not in the Red Bull / multi-club model that we seem to be still holding up as the ideal — but Sterling is certainly correct in everyone needing to be on the same page and making well thought out decisions in line with an overarching plan.

Basically, we’ve got to get our [SHIRT] together, which Todd Boehly recently claimed that we’re still confident in doing soon.

Here’s hoping!