Raheem Sterling’s freedom key to Manchester City’s title

Raheem Sterling has enjoyed greater freedom to become more prolific and win the Premier League title with Manchester City.

It’s fitting Raheem Sterling destroyed Tottenham during Manchester City’s 3-1 win at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The win, coupled with Manchester United’s surprise 1-0 home loss to bottom side West Brom at Old Trafford on Sunday, sealed the Premier League title for the Citizens.

Sterling’s improvement during the campaign has been as big a factor in City winning the title as any other. He has gone from wayward to prolific on Pep Guardiola’s watch, scoring 17 league goals.

Guardiola has imbued the winger with a greater freedom on the pitch, freedom defenders have been unable to track.

Sterling’s more varied runs off the ball and extra rotation of positions pulled Tottenham apart at Wembley. He continued combining his familiar pace with a natural instinct for when to switch flanks, when to drop deep and when to drift centrally, just like he’s done throughout the campaign.

Spurs became so preoccupied trying to work out where Sterling would be next, they lost both discipline and structure at the back. The breakdowns were obvious when Gabriel Jesus netted City’s first goal after 22 minutes.

Tottenham center-back Jan Vertonghen was mindful of Sterling ghosting off the right wing and into the middle as City began building from the back. Sterling dropped a little deeper, but Vertonghen was still occupied by his movement.

The Spurs captain pointed frantically and called for either one of midfielders Mousa Dembele or Moussa Sissoko to pick Sterling up. Vertonghen wanted Sterling tracked because he was wary of him spinning in behind, an illustration of how much the threat of pace disturbs even the most experienced defenders.

Vertonghen was so concerned with Sterling, he lost track of Jesus, who had gotten between Tottenham’s central defensive pairing. The Brazilian raced clear to meet Vincent Kompany’s pinpoint long ball over the top and slot the Citizens into a deserved lead.

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It was an easy run for Jesus because Vertonghen had moved too far away from fellow center-back Davinson Sanchez in his anxiety to keep one eye on Sterling.

Meanwhile, left-back Ben Davies dropped his normal marking job on the wing once Sterling had retreated into central midfield. Instead of tucking in and cutting out the pass to Jesus, Davies stayed wide to monitor the threat posed by Kevin De Bruyne.

With one long pass, City ruthlessly exploited the chasm of space created by Sterling’s rotation into a central area.

Just a few minutes later, the England international caused even more havoc simply by moving onto the left. Sterling had switched wings with Leroy Sane, another ploy Spurs didn’t deal with.

There was confusion between right-back Kieran Trippier and Sanchez. They were too far apart and obviously unsure about whether Sterling would hug the touchline or work into the inside channel.

Neither knew who should pick Sterling up, so nobody did. A quick through pass released the former Liverpool ace on the inside left.

His free run into the box forced Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris into a rash challenge. Referee Jon Moss deemed the foul worthy of a penalty, although the contact may have been initiated on the edge of the area.

Either way, Ilkay Gundogan stepped up to score a spot-kick manufactured by Sterling’s perceptive running and the guessing game it forced on Tottenham defenders.

Sterling’s performance was only missing a goal, but he eventually found the net on 72 minutes after reacting quickest from close range.

The finish capped a superb display, one typical of the banner campaign enjoyed by the league’s most-improved player. Sky Sports Statto showed the numbers:

Improvement hasn’t always been obvious in Sterling’s finishing, the bane of his development. He loves a scrappy goal, but the versatile forward still lacks the confidence and composure in one-on-one situations.

Sterling will get better in front of goal, though, especially if this season is anything to go by.

At the moment, his biggest strides have come from how he’s moved around in the final third. Guardiola has trusted a player never given the credit he deserves for an intuitive understanding of space and timing carte blanche to create a threat from a variety of positions.

Sometimes it means Sterling is a right winger, sometimes he’s a left-sided forward. At others, the 23-year-old is a false 9. He can even pop up as a No. 10.

Fluid-thinking types such as Jesus and Sane dovetail brilliantly within this freeform philosophy. Their complementary move skills, along with the vision of De Bruyne and David Silva, have helped Sterling transform from a raw talent with a sense for wanderlust, into a roving menace whose runs always make sense.

Sterling’s intelligent interpretation of the freedom Guardiola has granted him has added the decisive extra dimension to his pace. The combination adds up to an awesome player who will continue getting better.