It was another appearance to forget for a clearly unfit Raheem Sterling making his first start for Feyenoord.
After an hour of underwhelming substitute showings, the former England forward played from the off against NAC Breda who are in the relegation zone.
Yet Sterling failed to impact the match, with his famous world class pace clearly not yet returning, placing the spotlight on Robin van Persie for making such a signing.
The 31-year-old looked better after the break, but was withdrawn just after the hour mark with NAC fans poking fun at him.
‘All balls to Sterling’ was the chant echoing around the Rat Verlegh Stadion.
In the end it was two other former Premier League players who made the difference, with Lewis Holtby assisting one goal and Andre Ayew scoring another for the hosts.
Ultimately, Feyenoord came back from 3-2 down to secure a point, but they’re now very close to being surpassed by either NEC or Twente into the Champions League spots.
The Sterling signing so far isn’t working out, but it’s not a reflection on the player, more the coach, with Van Persie unlikely to continue in Rotterdam next season due to numerous questionable tactics and decisions.
Raheem Sterling has his say
To Sterling’s credit, he fronted up to the media post-match, saying: “I felt good, the more the game was going on the more I felt I was getting stronger in myself and my legs.
“It’s been brilliant [so far] our team’s got some very intelligent players, some very high quality young boys.”
Asked the golden question how many weeks he’ll need to get fit, he responded with shock: “How many weeks?!
“Days. As I said I’m feeling stronger in my legs and it’s game by game.”
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