Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards criticised Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling after the player’s representatives released a statement questioning why the 29-year-old had been left out of the matchday squad.
Enzo Maresca had left Sterling out of the squad for the club’s opening match of the Premier League season, and the England international’s representatives released a statement in the lead up to the match.
The statement mentioned that “our expectation was that Raheem would be involved in this weekend’s fixture in some capacity,” adding that “we look forward to gaining clarity on the situation”.
And Richards and Redknapp did not hold back when revealing their views of the situation.
“We’ve all been left out haven’t we?” said Richards. “We’ve all wanted to put statements out. Raheem and his team know exactly what they’re doing. They’re trying to make noise.
“The thing is with Chelsea already, there is a lot of noise around the club, everyone is talking about the players, everyone is talking the ownership, or can we even guess Chelsea’s starting elven. Putting that statement out before the game is not good enough.
“That is not going to help your team-mates or your case for getting back in the team.”
Redknapp went further, saying that Sterling needs to “get on with it” and “play better”.
“He must have initiated it,” Redknapp said. “He’s said he’s comeback two weeks early – no need to talk about it, just get on with it, play better.
“He hasn’t been great since he’s been at Chelsea. He hasn’t been good enough, so if the manager doesn’t want to play you, you just get on with it.
“I think that is absolute rubbish. He’s got to do better than that, his representatives have got to do better than that. I think that is a really poor statement.
“There are 30 other players that could be putting statements out. It’s your opinion, if you think you’ve been doing well at preseason, just keep doing better.
“The manager’s opinion is the only one that matters, so if he’s not going to pick you, that’s unlucky, you have turn around and get back into training.”
Speaking after the match, which they eventually lost 2-0 to defending champions Manchester City, Maresca said that he “didn’t see anything”.
“I was focused on the game. It was a tactical decision and nothing more than that,” added the Italian.
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