Why Jesus Navas' Manchester City Place Is Under Most Threat from Raheem Sterling

Raheem Sterling is used to making vital contributions against Chelsea, but if another comes at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, then it is unlikely to be similar to his previous one.

Picking the ball up in a central area shortly before the hour mark in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final last January, Liverpool’s Sterling tore through the heart of the Blues defence, scorching past John Terry and Gary Cahill and burying an equaliser beyond the considerable reach of Thibaut Courtois and into the corner of the net at the Kop end.

It was a moment that encapsulated just why Brendan Rodgers was relying on Sterling so much during Liverpool’s misfiring 2014/15 season. In a Reds team that so visibly and cripplingly struggled to score goals, here was their brightest young spark creating one from nothing against the best team in the land.

Given both the unavailability and poor form of others, Sterling was being asked to operate as an out-and-out lone centre-forward by Rodgers, who was seeing no evidence of the fallout that would come to derail his relationship with the 20-year-old both later that season and over the summer months before his transfer.

While Sterling’s finishing ability had been criticised a month earlier in a loss at Manchester United, and indeed still is—his weak effort hit straight at Boaz Myhill when clean through at West Bromwich Albion on Monday night being the latest example—crucially, it was the young Englishman’s desire to hare toward goal and run beyond defenders that Rodgers was seeking to make the most of.

He’s unlikely to repeat such a feat from a central area on Sunday, given he’ll be stationed out on the left of a front three, but while the finishing still needs considerable work, it is that instinct to get into the box that will have so impressed Manuel Pellegrini and persuaded the City boss Sterling really was worth all the hassle that went into prising him away from Liverpool in the summer.

Put simply, football is about scoring goals, and put even more simply, cramming as many players into your team who want to score those goals is going to give you a greater chance of success.

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In the modern game, these goals have to regularly come from four, five and possibly six players within your starting XI, which makes the idea of players who don’t contribute to finding the net as much as they should do seem an outdated one. Which brings us to Jesus Navas.

City’s Spanish winger is obviously a very, very good player—he’s got the World Cup, European Championship, Premier League and two UEFA Cup winners’ medals to prove that.

His ability to burst down the right-hand side and create seemingly never-ending problems for whichever left-back is unfortunate enough to be up against him has been enjoyed in both his two previous seasons at City and his time at former club Sevilla, but a look at his goals column indicates his position is now vulnerable.

Navas failed to find the net in 35 appearances for City in the Premier League last season, adding just one strike in the FA Cup to take his club tally to seven in very nearly 100 games.

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Now, the sound of the winger’s supporters claiming the Spaniard more than makes up for this tally with his number of assists is a very audible one, but according to the Primer League's official website, he registered the same amount as Sergio Aguero in the league last season and fewer than David Silva and Yaya Toure in 2013/14. His totals aren’t exceptional, and he doesn’t warrant consistent inclusion on them alone.

Despite the way we’re going, this really isn’t supposed to be an assassination attempt on Navas’ place within the City framework.

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Everyone knows football is more than about sheer numbers, and his abilities to both stretch the game and be a constant thorn in the opposition’s side are very useful ones—it’s just that when he’s not on form, he’s not contributing very much.

We’re not saying Navas shouldn’t have a place in Pellegrini’s squad at all, just perhaps not his team for the crucial fixtures such as Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The Chilean boss will need all of his goal-getters for that one, with Sterling starting from the left, Aguero through the middle and perhaps Samir Nasri to the right, with Toure and Silva behind and looking to sparkle in the manner they did at West Brom on Monday night.

Having said that, Nasri’s goals totals haven’t been all that impressive since his switch to City from Arsenal in 2011, with five, two, seven and two Premier League strikes in his four full seasons so far.

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But even his harshest critics would have to claim the Frenchman certainly takes up more threatening positions than Navas does, and based on that, he would appear to be the more logical choice for the bigger games, at least until the deal for Kevin De Bruyne, via the Guardian, is completed anyway.

This really is supposed to be more about Sterling, though, and the realisation that he’ll be able to get far more goals in this City team than he did at Liverpool in the last campaign. Then, Rodgers was relying on him to find the back of the net because of problems elsewhere within his squad, as former City forwards Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli were left on the sickbed and naughty step respectively.

He might not know it yet, but Sterling will have learned so much from playing that lone-striker role, and those skills could end up serving him well in what will surely be a long and successful career with City.

Playing with the likes of Silva and Aguero is only going to improve the young Englishman even further, of course, but that added responsibility of last season’s Liverpool role—during which he scored 11 goals in all competitions—means his new club are getting far more than just a prodigiously talented 20-year-old.

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They are getting a player who is capable of clever movement, of timing incisive runs and of a desire to get into the box to make the most of any chances that might end up falling his way.

Navas has never really had that during his time in English football, or indeed at Sevilla, and he might find that with the signing of his new team-mate to play on the left comes a gradual phasing out of his position on the right in Pellegrini’s plans.

Would that be harsh? Probably. Would it be an upgrade? Certainly.

Sterling offers something to City they haven’t had for a while: a genuine goal threat from out wide.

It is a threat that will be seen against Chelsea on Sunday and surely for many years to come.