Feyenoord coach Robin van Persie has launched a passionate defence of new signing Raheem Sterling after the forward came in for criticism following a cameo appearance on debut for the Dutch side.
Sterling’s 29 minutes from the bench in a 2-1 win against Telstar in the Eredivisie were his first senior minutes since May 2025.
Despite the long period away from first-team football and group training, he drew flak for his performance.
But his manager and former opponent in 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 said.
Raheem Sterling has made his debut for Feyenoord. Getty
“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 also mentioned that Sterling’s time on the pitch was far too short 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 said.
“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 strong opinions based on his first half hour, I thought, was inappropriate.”
Information from ESPN Netherlands contributed to this report.
