Three years since his last international goal, England risk wasting Raheem Sterling's talent

It is now three years – 1,096 days to be precise – since Raheem Sterling’s last international goal, scored against Estonia in England’s penultimate qualifier before the 2016 European Championships.

After Harry Kane’s flick-on, Jamie Vardy chases a second ball into the inside-left channel, capitalises on a slip by his marker Taijo Teniste, then sends a low pass to the far post where Sterling is arriving late to lift a finish over the goalkeeper.

Three years is a long time in football, of course. That night, on 9 October 2015, Kane was making only the fifth appearance of his international career so far. Vardy was five games into his 11-match Premier League scoring streak and not yet a title winner with Leicester City.

When you see Roy Hodgson react to the goal, triumphantly lifting his fists to the Wembley crowd in celebration, his eyes full of hope for the summer to come, you recognise the truth in that old quote: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.”

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Sterling, though, is not doing much differently at all. The far post run; the positioning of himself at point-blank range; the clipped, slightly rushed finish that could and sometimes does go awry. He is doing everything you expect from Raheem Sterling.

Indeed, despite it coming so long ago, the most striking aspect of the goal is how familiar it is. Sterling’s last goal for England would not look out of place if spliced into a video package with the 23 others he scored under Pep Guardiola last season.

This is how Sterling scores: 18 of his 19 league goals last year came inside the area. The only one from outside – a late winner against Southampton in November – was the most memorable contribution, but the most prolific season of his career was otherwise built on instantly forgettable finishes.

Only Harry Kane and Gabriel Jesus managed more shots inside the six-yard box. Only Mohamed Salah had more possessions inside the penalty area. This year, after eight games, Sterling tops the charts for touches in the 18-yard box. He has become excellent at getting in the right place at the right time regularly.

In this way, like Salah, Sterling has become a prime example of the old ‘poacher’ role, only reborn and disguised as a winger. Why, then, is he without a goal in 26 England games, having scored just twice in his 44-cap career so far?

For one, England do not have the same calibre of players as City. Gareth Southgate’s style of play does not overwhelm opponents in the same way either, or not yet at least. Sterling also tends to drop off the front rather than cut in from wide, and he carries a greater, individual responsibility to create.

All these factors make a drop-off in scoring inevitable, but then Sterling’s critics would fairly point out that he has been guilty of spurning chances when they arrive. His chance in the opening minutes of England’s first World Cup game against Tunisia springs to mind.

Watch it back, and it was not too dissimilar from the goal against Estonia. However, instead of lifting the ball over the goalkeeper after receiving it at the far post, Sterling miskicked horribly to send a pitiful effort wide.

There were several similarly poor misses for City last season – most notably from point-blank range at the far post in a 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor. It was a concern for Guardiola, as shown in one of the few candid camera moments from All or Nothing: Manchester City, where he and Mikel Arteta discuss Sterling’s Turf Moor miss.

Arteta makes a key point. “Scoring the goals he’s scoring, Pep, it’s not because he has improved one specific thing,” he says, “but because he’s getting in the right place to score a goal more often. He scores plenty of goals like that. Almost all of his first touches inside the area.”

Manchester City have been patient with Sterling – time for England to follow suit

More would come, Guardiola’s assistant argued. They should persevere. He was proved right. Three minutes into City’s very next game, a 5-1 victory over Leicester, Sterling opened the scoring with his 15th Premier League goal of the season – from point-blank range at the far post.

It is up to England to show the same resolve with a player that should be their match-winning talent. Too often though, Sterling seems like the most expendable part of Southgate’s side. When asked about his lack of international goals back in March, Sterling himself said it was because “the gaffer takes me off early” – a joke, but one with a kernel of truth.

In his 17 appearances for Southgate, Sterling has either been substituted on or off on 12 occasions, completing just five sets of 90 minutes. At the World Cup, he was substituted against Tunisia, Colombia and, tellingly, with the score at 1-1 against Croatia. It is not the record of a player considered integral to the national team, despite Sterling’s potential to be.

Southgate knows Sterling’s goal drought will end soon. “If he had scored twice in the summer everyone would have been viewing his tournament in a much more positive way,” the England manager correctly pointed out last week. The drought is almost a side issue, though. One goal will not make his international career to date any less disappointing.

The bottom line is that England have an immensely talented player, excelling at club level under the world football’s best coach, but they are yet to reap the benefits of his talent themselves. Sterling will surely end his goal drought soon, but until England identify, maximise and trust in his abilities, they risk wasting him.