Mark Lawrenson isn't a fan of how either Raheem Sterling or Chelsea have handled the situation that has seen the longtime Premier League player on the outside looking in at Stamford Bridge.
Sterling has been a high-profile player in England since breaking through with Liverpool over a decade ago, and his move to Chelsea from Manchester City in 2022 was expected to be a fruitful one for both the player and the club. The 29-year-old was a regular contributor in his first two seasons at Stamford Bridge but found himself frozen out of the first team just days before Chelsea's first game of the season against City over the weekend.
Manager Enzo Maresca then left Sterling out of the squad for Thursday's victory against Servette in UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying, adding to the tension.
In the lead-up to Chelsea loss to City, Sterling's representatives released a public statement addressing the situation, which drew mixed reactions from fans and pundits. Now, Lawrenson is laying the blame on both sides as he feels first-year Chelsea manager Maresca is being put in an impossible position.
“Raheem Sterling should have knocked on the manager's door at Chelsea and gone to speak to him, man to man, and explained how he feels, rather than his people putting out a statement, which was pathetic," Lawrenson told Paddy Power. "In fairness to Enzo Maresca, I think he was hung out to dry by the hierarchy. They all need to start speaking because they are putting the manager under so much pressure, and they’ve got him doing all their dirty work for them – the whole thing is poor from Chelsea and the club is just a mess."
Lawrenson, who won five league titles with Liverpool in the 1980s, added that Chelsea's recent transfer strategy is causing chaos for the coaching staff and questioned a recent high-profile acquisition by the London club.
“They’ve also just brought in João Félix, who wasn’t good the first time they had him in," Lawrenson said. "He’s been to Barcelona and wasn’t good, he’s been to Atlético Madrid, and he wasn’t particularly good there either. You just look at the club and wonder what they are doing, and no one understands it.
“The other day the manager said how he doesn’t have 42 players, he’s only got 24 players with the rest training with the under 21s, which just shows how much of a state the club is in currently.”
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