Tuesday 11 August 2015 11:17, UK
Former Manchester City striker Shaun Goater has praised Raheem Sterling’s debut and insists he will prove to be a dangerous player for the club.
Sterling, who controversially pushed for a move from Liverpool this summer, sealing a £49m transfer in July, impressed in City’s 3-0 win at West Brom on Monday Night Football.
The 20-year-old forward missed a number of good chances but Goater, who scored 84 league goals for City between 1998 and 2003, put those misses down to nerves.
Goater told Sky Sports News HQ: “I felt it was a good debut.
“The question mark some people have over him is; ‘can he finish off chances?’ I put it down to nerves on his debut; him not capitalising on the opportunities he had.
“For me, he is an exciting player to come to City. I’m really pleased he has come and I think he will do a superb job for the team, score a lot of goals, and make assists.
“Pressure will be there but he is probably in the best dressing room he could be in. He has players like David Silva and Yaya Toure that can give him those assurances that everything will be alright, and that he’s got the ability, and make it easy for him to settle in.
“I have no doubt he will settle in to the team and come into his own as the season goes on.”
City, who top the Premier League after a single round of fixtures, host champions Chelsea on Super Sunday this weekend and Goater is expecting it to be a tight affair.
“Whenever Chelsea come to the Etihad, Mourinho is very solid and doesn’t send too many players forward - and I think Pellegrini will be well aware,” Goater said.
“It may be a cagey affair, because one of our better performances at home to Chelsea was when we didn’t have our full-backs bombing on early, so it will be interesting to see whether Pellegrini will deploy those tactics again.
“I think players like Sterling will give that pace alongside Sergio Aguero, and then of course we have Silva and Toure who have started off well and will look to continue that against Chelsea.”
