IN early June 2015, 20-year-old Raheem Sterling was substituted in England's 0-0 friendly draw with Republic of Ireland after an hour’s toiling to very little effect. His departure was greeted by a chorus of boos and jeers and though the scenario was deeply dispiriting, it was hardly a surprise given what had preceded it because every time the youngster had shown for the ball in Dublin a barrage of catcalls and whistles duly followed.
This was the summer when Sterling was instigating a move away from Anfield. This was the start of a prolonged campaign of vilification, character smearing and abuse that still shames British football. Speaking after the game England boss Roy Hodgson criticised – to his credit – the Merseyside local press for whipping up daily doses of negativity, a hostile narrative that had eagerly been taken up by the nationals and was now bleeding its way into living rooms, pubs and stadia.
Regarding the player’s state of mind – and that afternoon the winger was clearly inhibited and somewhat shell-shocked – Hodgson said this: “He’s going to have to get an even thicker skin than maybe he’s got at the moment.”
Roy Hodgson backs #Liverpool's Raheem Sterling but has urged him to "get a thicker skin". He was booed during England v Republic of Ireland.
— BBC Merseyside Sport (@bbcmerseysport) June 8, 2015
Fast forward to Wembley, November 14, 2019 and Joe Gomez enters the field of play as a second half substitute to audible boos and this greatly unsettles anyone watching with a reasonable disposition because only days earlier the Liverpool defender had been the innocent party in an unseemly fracas at St George’s Park involving Sterling.
Baffled at the crowd’s reaction to his team-mate, captain Harry Kane comes out later and condemns it as too does manager Gareth Southgate in the strongest terms saying prior to the Kosovo fixture: “He’s a young player who’s had a difficult week, and my priority is to support him”. As for the media they also went in hard on the fans while rightfully siding sympathetically with the player. He is said to be ‘mentally scarred’ (the Mail) and ‘traumatised’ (the Mirror). Counselling sessions have been intimated.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that because this is being written by a Manchester City supporter that last paragraph was accompanied by a large quantity of side-eye, illustrating as it does the stark difference between how a City player’s ill-treatment was received to that of a Liverpool star. In fact nothing could be further from the truth. For while Gomez has shown the mental fortitude to reach the very top of a highly competitive field which suggests that the language used this week might be a touch dramatic he is still a young lad representing his country in front of his family and booed for it despite not doing anything wrong. That is unquestionably a crappy thing to experience.
Furthermore, if we’re going to go to extremes, let’s choose such empathetic responsiveness over Sterling previously being left alienated by his teammate’s silence and told to essentially ‘pull himself together’ by his coach. It reveals that lessons have finally been learned.
As a side-note how ironic it is that the same individual who reluctantly and unintentionally highlighted how cruel society could be then indirectly brought to our attention the progress we’re making. However, before we get too carried away and touchy-feely consider this: undoubtedly the main cause of Raheem Sterling’s frazzled mindset that prompted him to challenge Gomez was the ninety minutes of hell endured just a day earlier.
At Anfield he was subjected to the feral hatred of 50,000 zealots, undergoing vicious abuse that diminishes the booing of Gomez to a minor transgression yet here the media were not quick to condemn; here Martin Tyler jovially cast the player as a “pantomime villain”. We are not out of the woods just yet. Though Hodgson’s ‘thicker skin’ comment is repellent Sterling did indeed construct a carapace around him and in doing so wholly fulfilled his immense potential.
To all the @England fans, I wanted to leave things at it was but tonight I have to speak again : it was hard for me to see my team mate get booed for something that was my fault. Joe hasn’t done anything wrong & for me to see someone who keeps his head down and work hard..
— Raheem Sterling (@sterling7) November 14, 2019
This season alone he has already scored and assisted on thirty occasions for his club and country – an outstanding figure – while in the last 30 years only three players have made more assists for the Three Lions. For City he has become an integral, devastating force in one of the most extraordinary creations to ever grace domestic pitches while in recent years he has been compared to Lionel Messi, the ultimate barometer of greatness.
That he has done this is, in itself a magnificent achievement. That it’s been done against a relentless backdrop of fierce and widespread persecution makes his sharp rise little short of astonishing. Painted as a national hate figure Raheem was labelled on tabloid front pages as an ‘idiot’, ‘greedy’ and ‘obscene’. He was castigated for eating breakfast and driving an unwashed car. He was roundly booed at every ground from Bournemouth to Newcastle. He was physically and verbally assaulted. Following a poor Euro 2016 a Crowdfunder was set up to bring him home prematurely.
And I don’t recall a single international team-mate rallying to his defence during all of this insanity nor a sufficient support structure being put in place by the England management. As for the media they were too busy being the pantomime villains to state how morally reprehensible it all was.
Who stuck by him throughout was Manchester City fans and this week we have been accused of being tribalistic in our defence of his actions regarding Gomez which admittedly is a fair call. But some context is required here because how we feel towards Raheem Sterling transcends the usual love of a favourite player.
We have accompanied him on every step of the arduous journey, fighting his corner; staggered at his resilience and integrity; stunned at his bravery. We have watched him flourish and grow against the odds, becoming a truly admirable and inspirational figure as much as a formidable footballer. Paternal pride comes from that and more so a bond that simply cannot be underestimated.
Was Sterling wrong to take on Gomez in the manner that he did? Of course he was and it was entirely right that he was criticised and punished for it. Was the booing of the Liverpool defender unwarranted? Again, of course, and it was unedifying to see a minority of Blues mock the perceived OTT response to the incident. Joe Gomez is not the problem, just like Raheem never was.
But will we defend our boy no matter what; a player who somehow has transformed an erroneous reputation via diligence, decency and brilliance? Apologetically so; today, tomorrow, and always.
