After all the questions about his next goal, the sense of anticlimax if he keeps everyone waiting too much longer and the strange kind of pressure that comes when there is a record to catch, Wayne Rooney looked quite relieved when the subject was changed and he was asked to discuss the player who will presumably take over one day as England’s principal attacker.
The question was about Raheem Sterling, his frame of mind in comparison to the last England get‑together and the clear feeling within Roy Hodgson’s camp that it is time for the 20-year-old to gain some new momentum in his international career now his acrimonious transfer from Liverpool is behind him and it feels, once again, like he is happy.
“You can see he’s settled now,” Rooney said. “He’s happy, I’m sure. He’s got the move he wanted. He’s started the season excellently and settled in really well at Manchester City. When you are going through what he did, trying to leave Liverpool, it can be quite difficult. But he seems a lot more relaxed and settled now, which is good for us.”
Sterling certainly seems to be more relaxed than the troubled soul who was aggressively pursuing a move from Anfield through his agent towards the end of last season and into early summer. Hodgson spoke at the time about Sterling needing to refocus on his professional life and, having been encouraged to think that is finally happening, the England manager is hoping the national team will get the rewards.
“He’s ready to go now, and we’re hoping he brings his City form with him,” Hodgson said. “It’s a big year for him. But he will have a lot of big years: France in 2016, Russia in 2018, 2020 all over Europe, and 2022 – it’s a big year and something to look forward to, but at his age he has plenty to look forward to. I’m sure that, one day, he will be sitting here with over 100 caps.”
Sterling’s progress over the remainder of the season could be vital because, as Hodgson acknowledged, one of England’s shortcomings at major tournaments has been a lack of players to settle tight games with one individual burst of brilliance. Sterling has the creative spark to fall into that category and, with nine months to go until Euro 2016, England’s management clearly hope his move to City for an initial £44m will mean an elevation in his performances. “We don’t want him to lose that incredible work rate and the tenacity he has to win the ball back when he loses it,” Hodgson said. “But the next step for him this year is he will be hoping to have more assists and goals at the end of the season. Assists and goals – for someone in his position, it always comes down to that.”
That process will begin against Switzerland at Wembley on Tuesday and a game in which England need only a draw to finish top of their qualifying group. Once again, the focus will be largely on Rooney, chasing his 50th international goal and no doubt desperately hoping that a time will come when he is no longer asked about Sir Bobby Charlton’s scoring record. However, Hodgson is looking for Sterling, and others, to show they can score more regularly, particularly when Danny Welbeck is injured for potentially six months and Daniel Sturridge has been out for so long.
“If you go back over the recent past, it could be an accusation against us that there have not been enough players who were able to step up and score the goals when needed,” Hodgson said. “We’ve got to make sure we find and encourage these players. We have a year and I intend to give them every opportunity to show they can do it. That’s all I can do and, after that, they have to get on the field and repay that trust by doing it.”
Sterling, Hodgson explained, was left out of Saturday’s 6-0 win against San Marino to keep him back for Switzerland and also as a precaution, on the basis he was one yellow card away from being suspended. City’s £44m signing is likely to replace Jamie Vardy while Hodgson has also been planning to bring Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill back into central defence.
Michael Carrick’s calf injury means Jonjo Shelvey could continue in midfield – the Manchester United player was due to start the match, Hodgson confirmed – and the plan beyond this match is to experiment with fringe players in October’s qualifiers against Estonia and Lithuania. Rooney, in other words, might have to wait until the friendly against Spain in Alicante on 13 November, or France’s visit to Wembley four days later, if the record does not arrive against the Swiss.
