one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable<\/a> final third performers over a number of seasons. This was much more like what Chelsea believed they were getting when they landed the England international for \u00a347.5m.<\/p>\nOnly four active players (Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Jamie Vardy and Romelu Lukaku) have scored more Premier League goals than Sterling. The 28-year-old has earned a reputation for fluffing his lines in front of goal more than a player of his calibre should, but the numbers make the case for him.<\/p>\n
This season, Sterling has only managed six Premier League goals. Of course, he has been hindered by the mess around him at Chelsea. He has played under three different managers despite arriving at Stamford Bridge less than a year ago. Sterling, and most other Chelsea players, have been denied the chance to achieve any sort of consistency.<\/p>\n
A lack of goals has been Chelsea\u2019s biggest problem this season. They have found the back of the net just 36 times in 35 Premier League matches – Erling Haaland has as many goals for himself as Chelsea do as a team. Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and now Frank Lampard have all struggled to get the Blues firing in and around the penalty box.<\/p>\n
Sterling could be a big part of the solution. Chelsea might lack a truly top-level number nine, but they could still build around Sterling as a wide forward like Manchester City did for so long. Liverpool also did this with Salah – Jurgen Klopp never needed a proven goalscorer as his number nine because Salah was so prolific.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaheem’s a player that has the credit in the bank, he’s been a regular scorer in the Premier League and for his country,\u201d said Lampard after Sterling bagged a brace against Nottingham Forest, underlining the experience he brings to a squad that appears to be lacking in natural leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see him score there (the first goal) was Raheem,\u201d continued Lampard, analysing Sterling\u2019s performance and his finishes. \u201cArriving for a cross, and then individual brilliance to score the (second) goal. I’m very happy for him. It’s what we need across the top end of the pitch.<\/p>\n
\u201cRaheem has done it and he’s produced it again. If you’re going to win games when you have 76 per cent possession, you need to be killers at the top end of the pitch, and Raheem is proven to be that. At the moment we don’t have enough of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, Chelsea must do a lot more than just get Sterling scoring if they are to make strides forward under their new manager, whoever that ends up being. The Blues\u2019 squad is a mess after two aimless transfer windows with serious trimming set to happen this summer – numerous players could be on their way out of the club.<\/p>\n
Sterling, however, is one asset Chelsea should aim to keep and harness. He is one of the few players at Stamford Bridge who knows what it takes to win major honours at the elite level. He\u2019s been there and done it many times before over the course of his career. Sterling\u2019s performance against Nottingham Forest highlighted how he could still be an important part of Chelsea\u2019s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amid the frustration of another disappointing result in what has been a calamitous season, there was something for Chelsea to take as a positive from their 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest. Indeed, the performance of Raheem Sterling reminded everyone at Stamford Bridge of why there was so much excitement around the 28-year-old\u2019s signing last summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272],"class_list":["post-54439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome"],"yoast_head":"\n
Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis - Colossus Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sterling scored both Chelsea goals against Forest and demonstrated the cutting edge that made him one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sterling scored both Chelsea goals against Forest and demonstrated the cutting edge that made him one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-05-19T11:00:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nathan-rogers-I9HyW30buuQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Graham Ruthven\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\"},\"headline\":\"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-19T11:00:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":621,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"FeatureHome\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2023\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis - Colossus Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-19T11:00:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sterling scored both Chelsea goals against Forest and demonstrated the cutting edge that made him one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"description\":\"Colossus Blog\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Colossus Bets\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Colossus Bets\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/SportsBigger\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ColossusBets\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/colossusbets_\\\/?hl=en\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/colossus-bets\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/ColossusBets\\\/featured\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2\",\"name\":\"Graham Ruthven\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Graham Ruthven\"},\"description\":\"Graham Ruthven is a freelance football writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, ESPN, Eurosport, Grantland, The Scotsman, Bleacher Report, Four Four Two, Vice, Al Arabiya, Sports on Earth and Scottish TV among many other publications and outlets.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/grahamruthven.net\\\/about\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/grahamruthven\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/grahamruthven\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis - Colossus Blog","description":"Sterling scored both Chelsea goals against Forest and demonstrated the cutting edge that made him one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis","og_description":"Sterling scored both Chelsea goals against Forest and demonstrated the cutting edge that made him one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/","og_site_name":"Colossus Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","article_published_time":"2023-05-19T11:00:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/nathan-rogers-I9HyW30buuQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Graham Ruthven","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven","twitter_site":"@ColossusBets","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Graham Ruthven","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/"},"author":{"name":"Graham Ruthven","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2"},"headline":"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis","datePublished":"2023-05-19T11:00:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/"},"wordCount":621,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["FeatureHome"],"articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2023","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/","name":"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis - Colossus Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-19T11:00:50+00:00","description":"Sterling scored both Chelsea goals against Forest and demonstrated the cutting edge that made him one of Manchester City\u2019s most reliable","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/sterling-can-be-the-solution-to-chelseas-number-nine-crisis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sterling can be the solution to Chelsea\u2019s number nine crisis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","name":"Colossus Blog","description":"Colossus Blog","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Colossus Bets","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/rYeFCrFc_400x400.png","width":400,"height":400,"caption":"Colossus Bets"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ColossusBets","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colossusbets_\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/colossus-bets\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ColossusBets\/featured"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ccfb389143742c8479016f5471c9f4f2","name":"Graham Ruthven","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/675bad1035cb453c8500ec4c60f3cf128bd054ce4e616b777d7061ee149f31c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Graham Ruthven"},"description":"Graham Ruthven is a freelance football writer based in Glasgow, Scotland. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, ESPN, Eurosport, Grantland, The Scotsman, Bleacher Report, Four Four Two, Vice, Al Arabiya, Sports on Earth and Scottish TV among many other publications and outlets.","sameAs":["https:\/\/grahamruthven.net\/about\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/grahamruthven"],"url":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/author\/grahamruthven\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54439"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54445,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54439\/revisions\/54445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}