Should Raheem Sterling Start for Liverpool vs. QPR in Premier League?

Raheem Sterling has been in the headlines all week, thanks of course to England manager Roy Hodgson's comments not once, but twice on the Liverpool teenager being "tired," as per John Cross of The Mirror.

Not content with having publicly opened Sterling up for criticism with comments made both before and after England's 1-0 win in Estonia last Sunday, Hodgson kept both himself and Sterling in the headlines by questioning Liverpool's training methods, as per Daniel Taylor of The Guardian.

Hodgson seems to make public faux pas on regular occasions—such as the time he, for no reason whatsoever, insulted Scandinavian journalists at a pre-match press conference during his short time as Liverpool boss, as told by Chris Bascombe of The Telegraph. 

Only a week before the Sterling comments, Hodgson had to apologise for comments he made regarding Wayne Rooney's Scouse accent.

The 67-year-old England boss has done nothing for his reputation and instead will have England players pondering just how confidential their talks with their manager really are. Trust is an important part of the player-coach relationship, and Hodgson, a manager who hasn't won a major trophy outside of Scandinavia, has certainly destroyed that element with the comments he's made about Sterling.

So now it's left to Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers to repair the damage done, restore Sterling's confidence and get him playing again. The question is, though, whether Rodgers should start the teenager in their match at Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.

The argument for

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The irony of the situation is that Sterling, who has started nine of Liverpool's 10 games so far this season, has been somewhat rested while on international duty, playing only 45 minutes against San Marino and 26 minutes against Estonia.

Clearly then, he could play against QPR—especially with a full week between the Estonia match and this one.

Daniel Sturridge is expected to be back in the squad for Liverpool, but whether the England forward will start remains doubtful; therefore, Liverpool need the pace and energy of Sterling in their attack—he is, after all, their top goalscorer this campaign.

A win against West Brom before the international break was much needed for Rodgers' side, and they must ensure they start to generate momentum and move higher than their current ninth place in the Premier League table. Therefore, they need their best players such as Sterling to ensure they pick up three points at Loftus Road.

Rodgers will gauge whether he feels Sterling is in the right mindset to start or not and do so with the best interests of Liverpool and the player at heart.

The argument against

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However, with the QPR game signalling the start of a run of games that sees Liverpool play seven games in 21 days, there is also an argument for resting Sterling at QPR.

The 19-year-old's last two performances for Liverpool, away to Basel and at home to West Brom, were somewhat disjointed, and there were noticeable signs that he was struggling.

As noted by James Riach in The Guardian, Sterling has played 1,682 minutes of football since the end of May. In 2013, through the same period, the 19-year-old played 615 minutes. 

Riach quotes Dr. Andrew Hill, explaining the effects of external expectations on burnout:

"

We understand it to be much more psychological than physiological. There is often confusion when people talk about overtraining, too many games or fixture congestions; what they are talking about is physiological fatigue but burnout is normally about psychological exhaustion. They are correlated. For every match he plays there is going to be a psychological expenditure, associated with preparing for games and competing in games.

"

If Sterling is suffering as such, then time out will be required.

There's also the small matter of Real Madrid coming to Merseyside on Wednesday night next week in the Champions League. Surely Rodgers will want Sterling fit and ready for that, so resting him against QPR could be done with that in mind.

Conclusion

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There are clear arguments both for and against resting Sterling, and perhaps we will get a better understanding of the situation and Rodgers' thinking in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.

The Northern Irishman will have worked with Sterling all week and spoken to him. Liverpool have a hugely experienced and knowledgeable fitness team and will monitor the player's training and match levels.

Liverpool know how important Sterling is, but equally they know how important it is to look after the youngster.

Rodgers will make the call with the best interests of the player and his team in mind—and he won't publicly decry Sterling if he doesn't play.