Guardiola To Sterling: Be More Clinical

Pep Guardiola believes Raheem Sterling has what it takes to be a big game player and has called on him to be more clinical.

The England international has made the difference for City on a number of occasions, with the winger involved in 20 goals already.

Guardiola believes he can do more, especially against the top teams when chances are at a premium – and says the former Liverpool man must be ‘more clinical’.

“Raheem’s work ethic, his physicality is incredibly strong, he has this mentality to create chances and score goals and it’s good for him,” said Guardiola.

“He’s scored more goals now than in our first season.

“He has to be more clinical and precise in the important games. We created a lot of chances (against Rotherham) but if we play against Liverpool or in the Champions League we create just two or three chances.

“We don’t have more because the opponents are good, so in that moment we need him. We need him to be precise and to be there.

“I think he improved a lot and it’s the same with Phil [Foden]. We cannot expect him to be precise and clear and make good decisions in every single action.

“When he is 26 or 27 he will be an incredible, much better player, give us more joy with the way he plays but he still has many things to improve.”