Brendan Rodgers To Consider Using Raheem Sterling As LFC Center Forward

Raheem Sterling and Pepe Liverpool Real Madrid Raheem Strerling is about to add another role to his growing résumé.

Manager Brendan Rodgers deployed Sterling as a center forward in the second half of Liverpool’s 3-0 loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

Rodgers was sufficiently impressed with what he saw from Sterling in an advanced position and now is considering using him as a No. 9 in the future, according to LiverpoolFC.com.

“It was just something that I felt could help us in the game, his mobility and speed along the line is there whether he plays from the side or the front role,” Rodgers said Thursday at his press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Hull City. “He’s a very talented young player and has played as a striker as a youngster, so he understands the position well. If we feel it helps the team in order to get results, then it’s something that I can look at.

“I felt it was something that could help us at halftime and it was a purely tactical decision. It’s something that I can consider in the future.”

Sterling, 19, nominally was a winger when he broke into Liverpool’s first team in March 2012. Sterling spent the next two years playing out wide until Rodgers started using him as a central attacking midfielder to great effect in the latter stages of the 2013-14 season.

Sterling has become one of Liverpool’s (and England’s) most important attacking players in recent months. The versatile Sterling has operated both wide and centrally for club and country in 2014-15.

If Sterling plays up front and eases Liverpool’s goal-scoring woes, he might as well add “striker” to the list of positions he can play at a high level.