Football
Jonathan Smith, Manchester City correspondent 8y

Kevin De Bruyne doesn't understand Raheem Sterling critics in England

STOKE, England -- Kevin De Bruyne has urged Raheem Sterling to continue sticking it to his doubters after his impressive start to the season for Manchester City.

The England international already has four assists in City's opening three games and has kicked off the season in a confident mood after a difficult first 12 months.

Sterling struggled for consistency in his first campaign at the Etihad following an acrimonious move from Liverpool and he endured a tough European Championships in the summer where he was heavily criticised by the media and fans.

The 21-year-old was booed by Stoke City fans throughout City's 4-1 victory at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday but De Bruyne says he will win over the critics if he continues to perform on the pitch.

"He's a great player, I don't care what people say about him after last year or the Euros -- these things happen, footballers have ups and downs," the Belgian international told reporters. "Hopefully he can continue this for us now because he is very dangerous.

"I don't think he's really bothered about people talking about him. Everywhere he goes in England there are lots of fans of the opposing team shouting at him.

"I don't know why because he's a great English player, they should be supporting him instead of booing him. But that's the way it goes -- the City supporters will cheer him.

"I don't know how it goes in England when he plays for the national team. Obviously he's been criticised a lot in the last year but the way he's responding is great. You can talk as much as you want off the pitch but you have to show it on it."

While Sterling struggled last season, De Bruyne quickly acclimatised to life in the Premier League after his £54m move from Wolfsburg.

The 25-year-old has started City's first three matches and set up Aguero's second in the win over Stoke with a dangerous free kick that was headed home by the Argentina striker.

De Bruyne was given extra time off in the summer after playing at Euro 2016 with Belgium and believes he is starting to get used to life under new boss Pep Guardiola.

"Things are going good. I've only been in training for two-and-a-half weeks and I'm adapting to my new role," he added. "But it's going well, I'm looking forward to the next games.

"Obviously you're not going to win football games only on good play. Even the Sunderland game and even Bucharest in the last minutes we are still fighting.

"Even at 3-1 [against Stoke] we wanted to score the fourth and maybe in the end also it will help if you score a lot of goals."

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