Feyenoord coach Robin van Persie has launched a passionate defence of recent signing Raheem Sterling after the ahead got here in for criticism following a cameo look on debut for the Dutch aspect.
Sterling’s 29 minutes from the bench in a 2-1 win in opposition to Telstar within the Eredivisie have been his first senior minutes since May 2025.
Despite the lengthy interval away from first-team soccer and group coaching, he drew flak for his efficiency.
But his supervisor and former opponent within the Premier League, Van Persie believes the criticism is baseless.
“If you have a little sense of context, where he comes from, what he’s achieved in the past, and that he hasn’t had any team training for months,” Van Persie mentioned.
“I understand that there are expectations of an absolute top player, but to criticise him like that after half an hour. His first half hour after six months. Then you really don’t understand anything at all.”
Van Persie additionally talked about that Sterling’s time on the pitch was far too quick to warrant any “strong opinions.”
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“A large part was positive, but some of it was also quite Dutch. Being blunt about everything that everyone thought wasn’t right,” he mentioned.
“If you’re five or six weeks in and you think he’s not delivering, okay, then you have a point.
“But to throw out such robust opinions primarily based on his first half hour, I believed, was inappropriate.”
Information from ESPN Netherlands contributed to this report.
