From the hundreds of goal contributions to dozens of individual and team prizes and generally being an outstanding person with his inspiring actions in pursuit of racial equality and social mobility, there are plenty of reasons to really like Manchester City hero Raheem Sterling.
And now he’s irritated Richard Keys.
Spectacular. Commission the statue, Khaldoon!
Of course, if Sterling was to join Vincent Kompany and David Silva in posterity outside the Etihad Stadium, a few wags of Keys’ ilk might suggest the ‘iconic’ pose would feature the England winger on his way to ground, turning his head to appeal to the referee.
Riyad Mahrez broke the deadlock in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Brentford from the penalty spot after Sterling was unceremoniously brought down by Bees defender Mads Roerslev.
Sterling has now won 23 Premier League penalties - more than any other player in the history of the competition.
For some, this is an uneasy and slightly dubious record to hold and invites accusations of being a diver.
"Raheem Sterling has now ‘won’ 26 penalties during his PL career - plus a few in an England jersey,” Keys tweeted.
“That’s more than any other player during the same period. Draw your own conclusions. I hope officials do soon.”
A couple of things to start with. Raheem is clearly so good at winning penalties that Keys has awarded him three extra. It’s certainly unfortunate when a journalist of such palpable self-regard gets a basic fact wrong.
Then there’s, “Draw your own conclusions. I hope officials do soon.” Ohhhh, please Richard, tell us what you think! Impart your knowledge! Don’t leave the proles hanging.
Before we stray too far from the task at hand and disappear down a rabbit hole of picking apart Keysisms, officials have been drawing their own conclusions about Sterling over the course of a decade under the harshest microscope of elite-level football. On 23 occasions during that time, Premier League referees have concluded he should be awarded a penalty.
But this is a talking point because more eminent football brains have come to similar conclusions.
“I believe it was no penalty,” said Arsene Wenger in a financial doping funk after Sterling won a penalty in City’s 3-1 win against Arsenal in 2017. “We know that Raheem Sterling dives well, he does that very well.”
At the risk of shooting fish in a barrel, Raheem must dive well for Wenger to have seen him dive at all.
The ex-Arsenal boss was one of a phalanx of pundits who furrowed their brows over Sterling crowning a bravura performance in the semi-final of Euro 2020 against Denmark by winning the spot-kick that saw Harry Kane score on the rebound to seal a 2-1 victory.
Sterling’s detractors - and goodness knows you find them everywhere - will feel such flashpoints give them an open and shut case. But if you step back a little, Raheem’s propensity for penalties is a lot more understandable.
Going back to 2012, Sterling has played 310 Premier League games. For a high-pace winger who relentlessly attacks the opposition defence while playing in Liverpool and City teams that play almost exclusively on the front foot, is it really such a noteworthy or inexplicable statistic to have won 23 penalties in this time?
The Brentford game marked Sterling’s second penalty win of the campaign in England’s top flight, meaning he is on about par for his career. It was his 32nd carry into the opposition penalty area this season - the fifth-best in the league in 2021/22 and second only to Jack Grealish in the City squad.
His 67 attempted dribbles are the most of any City player in the Premier League this term, while his total of 137 touches in the opposition penalty area is only one shy of Bernardo Silva’s squad-best.
So, the player making a high number of entries into the opposition penalty area, where he touches the ball very frequently and often shows off his dribbling prowess, is also a player who wins his fair share of penalties.
Draw your own conclusions. I hope exiled television anchors do soon.
Do you think it is unfair to call Raheem Sterling a diver? Follow City Is Ours editor Dom Farrell on Twitter to get involved in the discussion and give us your thoughts in the comments section below.
