Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers will hold talks with Raheem Sterling after the young attacker was
filmed inhaling nitrous oxide.
The 20-year-old scored in Monday night’s 2-0 victory over
Newcastle United but all the headlines after the game were about his
private life after images emerged of him appearing to pass out having allegedly
taken the legal substance otherwise known as laughing gas.
Rodgers insists he regards the
starlet as "super-professional" but the Reds chief made it clear that
his behaviour is not acceptable.
He said: "For me it is
something that when you are a professional sportsperson at the top level of the
game, I don't think it is something you should be doing. It is as simple as
that.
"But I will speak to him on it,
to see what he says. We want players here who are super-professional and
focused on their football. I know he is, he
very much is focused on his football and improving as a player.
"As I have said before, young
players make mistakes. As long as they learn from them, that is what is
important."
The matter adds to the controversy
and negativity currently surrounding Sterling amid a wrangle over a new
contract.
Sterling risked the wrath of
supporters a fortnight ago by admitting he had rejected a £100,000-per-week deal in an
interview that was not sanctioned by the club.
Another newspaper also published
pictures of him allegedly smoking a shisha pipe over the weekend.
Rodgers, who stressed that any
repercussions would be dealt with internally, did not feel the matter would be
a distraction.
He said: "You see the way he
plays. He is a kid that is very strong-willed and strong-minded. He should have
had a hat-trick, his performance was outstanding."
Rodgers' sentiments were echoed by
Sterling's former Liverpool team-mate, now TV pundit, Jamie Carragher.
Carragher told Sky Sports:
"It's just important he learns from it because Raheem Sterling, for how
good a footballer he is, needs to be on the back pages, not on the front pages
and that's a problem for him in these last few months.
"But he's a young player, he
made a few mistakes and hopefully in years to come he learns from them."
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