Sunday 10 December 2017 17:41, UK
Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling sat down for a revealing interview with Tubes to discuss his big-money move to the Etihad, Pep Guardiola's influence, the derby, if the Premier League leaders can go unbeaten this season, his own form and what his mum thinks he can still improve on.
Guardiola's side travel to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon to face Manchester United with an eight-point lead over their fierce city rivals, having yet to taste defeat in the league this season.
Talk has already begun to move on to the possibility of City matching Preston North End and Arsenal by going an entire top-flight campaign unbeaten.
"At the moment, we just seem to be picking up points where we go, it is a great team that plays here that can win football matches in all positions," Sterling said in an exclusive interview with Soccer PM.
United will be on tightropes if they do lose
"I do not want to be the one to say it, but whoever we are playing, wherever we are playing, we just need to keep this run going and who knows what can happen."
Both teams head into the showdown in blistering form, with City having won their last 13 league matches in a row, while United are unbeaten at home in 40 games in all competitions since losing to their rivals in September 2016.
However, another victory for City at Old Trafford on Sunday and Sterling thinks Jose Mourinho's men will be "on the tightropes" with a cavernous 11-point gap to make up.
"It is massive, it is going to be a great game," he said. "They are going to be right up for it, and I am sure we are as well. We are playing at Old Trafford, one of the best grounds in world football, so it is definitely going to be an amazing game.
"Sometimes it just feels a bit unreal, the atmosphere and as a kid growing up watching Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) as manager, it was just crazy and just to be on the pitch is like 'wow!'
"It is a real point in the season where you can extend the lead and things can get even better from there. And they will be on tightropes after that if they do lose that game.
"But I do not expect it to be anything other than a hard game."
One of City's many attacking players United will need to pay close attention to this weekend is Sterling himself after his eye-catching start to the campaign.
Sterling has contributed 13 goals and four assists in just 20 games in all competitions so far this season, impressive numbers for a player who, in his own words, "everyone thinks can't shoot!"
"Belief and wanting to be that player to help my team are the keys to his new-found prowess in front of goal.
"There have always been things I need to improve on, everyone knows that. I know that myself and I am not the type of person who says, 'I do not need to improve' as everyone needs to improve.
"My main focus was always to score goals and that was what was missing from my game. And that is what I need to keep doing.
"I have a target in my head every year, most years I do not reach it! But that is part and parcel of the game to set yourself targets that are capable of reaching, even if they are a bit high.
"That was no different this season. When I was on holiday in Jamaica, I was like, 'I need to get back now and when I get back this is what I want to do.
"I definitely wanted to get in double figures and now I just need to keep going and hopefully I can match the target I did make."
One other factor behind Sterling's attacking renaissance is, of course, the influence of Guardiola on his game, as shown by a video of the Catalan working with the 23-year-old in pre-season that went viral on social media.
"He has not just helped me, but helped the whole squad and the environment in the club," Sterling explains. "He has brought a winning mentality in there and it is just great to see.
"It is the simple things that he makes looks great and that is why we have been striving as he has brought his own touch to the club, charisma, chefs, everything, which is really good.
"Because I control the ball with the outside of my foot a lot, if I control it with an open body, then I am directly at the defender and it takes less time.
"He says that could be a crucial part of the game for you, to get that touch out of your feet, instead of having it so close to your feet. Because normally when I control it, I want it right at my foot to then move left or right.
"But he is saying if you get it out of your feet, then you are running directly at the defender. One of the best things about him is that simple stuff that you might not pick up on yourself. He just watches over and gives you an idea of what you can do better. And that is what is really good about him."
While things currently could not be going much better for Sterling at City, that was not always the case after he first arrived at the club from Liverpool in the summer of 2015.
The England international's at times acrimonious £49m transfer from Anfield made him the most expensive English footballer at that time, a price tag that initially weighed heavy on his young shoulders.
"When I came here, it was the first time I had been in that sort of environment," he said. "When I was at Liverpool, I was really loved and I felt like people really talked to me.
"Then I came here and it all just switched like that in a second. It was just because of the way it all happened [the transfer], the fee that got paid and I was really young at the time.
"Straight away people are going to judge you, the price City paid for me and the belief they showed in me at the time was really unseen for someone who was 20 at the time.
"It was mainly because of the price and my age and most people thought I had not done enough to be recognised at that price. But that is in the past now and I just need to keep looking forward and trying to get better.
Pep's brought his own charisma to the club
"I was purely getting judged on goals at that point and at that age, if I did not score one goal, that was it, I was not a good player. To be fair, it drilled me better and got me thinking better as I am a person that loves to think and see what I am not doing well and trying to get it right.
"I am now trying to score more consistently - if I get one chance, I am trying to take that chance because I know that is what I am getting judged on now. It is not if you are doing a nice dribble, or taking five people on, or making an assist.
"Last year I got 15, 16 assists and that was not good enough, I again had no end product. It is football, the price tag I got bought for, it is only normal. I knew that was going to happen in the first place.
"I knew the expectation levels were going to raise and I was up for the challenge. It was not something I was afraid of, it was something I was willing to put my head down and have a fight with.
"It has happened how it has happened, but now I just need to keep going and trying to be more clinical and ruthless."
Sterling's biggest critic, however, is not the fans or those in the press, but his own mum.
"To be fair, she has been on holiday for about a month now," he said. "I got a phone call from Jamaica and she was buzzing I scored against Burnley. So that made her day. But she still says I should shoot more.
"She always gives me advice, but she is really happy with the way I have settled and she can see my focus and where my head is at. She can see what I'm trying to do and has confidence to try and give me the right advice.
"Her biggest problem is mainly when I do not have a shot. She has seen me play at youth-team level and so she is like, 'what has changed?'
"It is just to have people like that around you, like my mum and agent. They have seen me play at a young age and know what I can do and they try to help me to be that player again."
Watch the Manchester derby on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League from 4.15pm on Sunday
