Roy Hodgson Is the Villain, Not Raheem Sterling in England Debate

Roy Hodgson's decision to publicly reveal Raheem Sterling's complaints of feeling tired in order to explain not playing the Liverpool youngster in England's 1-0 victory in Estonia on Sunday screams of incompetent man-management.

After playing a full-strength side against 208th FIFA-ranked San Marino on Wednesday night, including Sterling for 45 minutes, Hodgson replaced the 19-year-old with Adam Lallana for what should have been another comfortable game for his side against Estonia.

Having explained his decision to drop Sterling in a pre-match television interview to ITV Sport, Hodgson again attempted to shift the blame for Sterling's non-participation from himself to the player, telling BBC Radio 5 Live after the match, as per BBC Sport:

"

He said, 'I'm feeling tired, I'd rather sit this one out'.

It's unfair if all the expectations to give the player a little bit of a break fall on me.

To be fair to the lad [Sterling], I had a decision to make because Lallana was so good in the second half against San Marino.

"

For Sterling to complain of tiredness is entirely understandable given the amount of games he plays for Liverpool and England, and the recent fallout between the two teams over Daniel Sturridge's avoidable injury has brought communication over player fitness further to the limelight.

According to Sky Sports News' television channel, Sterling played 615 minutes including pre-season games between May 30 and October 13 2013 as an 18-year-old. One year later and he has played 1,682 minutes during the same period in 2014.

His speedy progression from fledgling youngster to mainstay of Liverpool's first team ultimately comes with burnout concerns and Brendan Rodgers has often spoken about handling Sterling with cotton wool.

The Northern Irishman urged this just a few weeks ago, quoted by Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph as saying:

"

Some managers would take the stance of ‘I don’t care’ because you might only be in a job for three, four, five years so make sure he plays as much as he can for you. But I have welfare for the boy. I think it has to be critical that, in 10 years’ time, he is approaching his peak, as opposed to having played his best games. When he gets to 28 and if he has got too many miles on the clock and he is burned out, that is something we will have to look at.

He is a big talent. He broke into the team at 17. As a club, we have managed him quite well. But it is hard when you are such a good player and you keep performing. Both your club and your country need you.

"

"

If you believe a 19 year old footballer can play 90 minutes of top flight football twice a week + training and still perform you're a fool.

— Michael Sweeting (@M_Sweeting) October 13, 2014"

Whilst Hodgson's comments were far from vindictive, this was perhaps yet another indication of how out of touch he is with modern football media where every word is scrutinised and teenagers are not allowed to be tired.

Hodgson's explanation inevitably prompted a wave of criticism towards Sterling.

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty wrote, "How can a 19-year-old be tired in the early weeks of October? How can he be jaded after only playing 45 minutes of the 5-0 win against San Marino? Is this the spectre of club v country rearing its head again?"

The always reactive social media was equally full of resentment, aimed towards Sterling—all because of Hodgson going public with the midfielder's concerns.

Why should a 19-year-old not feel tired? Why should Sterling have not taken active steps to prevent injury and safeguard himself? Why subject Sterling, or any player, to this open criticism when it was so unnecessary to do so?

Hodgson's decision to try and share responsibility with a player less than three times his age and under his care was both foolish and ignorant. A manager is there to protect the player and Hodgson could simply have explained his decision to replace Sterling with Adam Lallana was his.

The results are going well for Hodgson and England right now, or at least they are on winning form, but Hodgson's responsibilities as manager stretch much further.

On this occasion it seems Hodgson very much left Sterling hung out to dry.