Why Raheem Sterling Is the Liverpool Star to Watch in This Week's Internationals

Suffering defeat before an international break is always a difficult one, forcing managers and supporters to endure a fortnight before the next match.

Suffering defeat at the hands of your fiercest rivals and main competitors for a vital top four place only compounds the misery for Liverpool, who face another huge game after the break with a trip to Arsenal on the agenda.

Brendan Rodgers will be looking to regroup and hoping that his players who are away on international duty return in good shape.

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Rodgers could already find his options limited against Arsenal in the aftermath of the defeat to Manchester United; Steven Gerrard will be suspended, the Daily Mail's Mike Keegan suggests Martin Skrtel could join him, Adam Lallana has been removed from the England squad with a groin injury, while Daniel Sturridge is being assessed with a hip problem, the latter two reported by Dominic Fifield in the Guardian.

The Reds will though be boosted by the addition of Lucas Leiva, who returned to full training last week and was among the subs on Sunday. Jordon Ibe could also be back, which would be very welcome.

Ibe's return, along with injury to Lallana, would allow Raheem Sterling to move back into a more attacking and central role.

We take a look at why Sterling will be the Liverpool player to watch during this international break.

Sterling

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Speaking the day before Liverpool hosted Burnley at the beginning of March and just after the victory over Manchester City, Rodgers revealed how the first time the Reds had tried the 3-4-2-1 formation was actually in defeat to Newcastle United back in October.

The Liverpool boss explained why it didn't work then and why he waited until mid-December before implementing it again. He told the Guardian's Andy Hunter of one thing he learnt from the defeat at Newcastle though:

"At Newcastle Raheem Sterling played as one of the wide players. So what did I get out of that game apart from a loss? I learned that Raheem probably won’t be able to play wide in what I was looking to do because he’s not in the game enough. He was on the side."

The next day, Rodgers played Sterling out wide against Burnley and has continued to do so in the four games since.

Not only are Rodgers' words and actions contradictory, they're also baffling.

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Sterling is being wasted out wide as a wing-back and looks far less threatening. Against United on Sunday, he began at right wing-back, moved to a supporting forward role after Gerrard's dismissal, then moved back to left-back after Alberto Moreno was removed with half an hour to go.

Why Rodgers is using him in this way is something only he knows. Is it part of the game over the player's contract talks?

Considering Sterling's use up front was so vital in Liverpool's turnaround, the decision to push him out wide in order to accommodate Daniel Sturridge up front and Adam Lallana in one of the two attacking midfield roles is a questionable one.

England

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With this in mind, then, it will be very interesting to see how and where Sterling is used for England in their games against Lithuania and Italy.

Roy Hodgson has typically used him on the right of his 4-2-3-1 formation, therefore a more attacking role than currently being tasked with at Liverpool.

Sterling started England's last competitive fixture, a European Championship qualifier against Slovenia in November, alongside Lallana and Danny Welbeck behind Wayne Rooney.

Hodgson may even look to deploy a midfield diamond formation and play Sterling at the point of the diamond—a role the then-teenager excelled in for Liverpool for the final three months of last season but has rarely played since.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how Sterling performs in a new role and new environment. We may learn how much the contract talks and subsequent transfer talk is affecting his Liverpool form and mentality.