Legend blasts: £26m Liverpool star 'lost it completely' at Hull and 'didn't beat anyone'

After tonight's wretched defeat at Hull, the knives are well and truly out for Brendan Rodgers, and whilst he deserves all the (constructive) criticism coming his way, the bulk of the recrimination should be reserved for Liverpool's grossly overpaid and over-entitled players. Raheem Sterling, in particular, deserves to be thoroughly lambasted for doing his late-season disappearing act, and his fatal lack of impact over the last couple of months makes a mockery of his ongoing attempt to shamelessly fleece the club.

Summarising the game for the BBC, Arsenal legend Pat Nevin perfectly summed up Sterling's non-performance tonight:

"Well done to Dawson, Chester and McShane - the three of them got close [to] Sterling from the start. He started to think it was not his day and lost confidence. He didn't beat anyone and lost it completely. That's good defending".

I've argued this season that the pressure to consistently produce should not be placed on the shoulders of young players like £26m-rated Sterling, and as a general rule, I absolutely believe that.

However, when a young player becomes consumed by rampaging egotism, and displays a grossly inflated sense of self-worth, the rules of game inevitably change.

In Sterling's case, the honeymoon ended when he rejected a £100k-a-week contract (which he publicly admitted), and then proceeded to hold the club to ransom with his money-grubbing salary demands.

At that point, expectations changed, and Sterling needed prove that he's worth the ridiculous pay-rise he's trying to extort out of the club. If you're going to talk the talk then you better be able to walk the walk.

Well, the clear fact is this: Sterling is not worth £100k-a-week, and his abject failure to consistently contribute during the most important part of the season is ample proof of that. Some facts:

* Only 2 goals in the last 15 games (1 in the last 12)

* Only 1 assist in the last 10 games.

* Only 3 assists in the last 20 games.

* 17 games without a goal between Sep 20th and December 17th.

In what twisted, aberrant universe is this worth £150k-a-week? When the going got tough, Sterling went AWOL, and Liverpool have suffered as a result. He has abjectly failed to step-up over the last couple of months (and at various other times during the season), and the end result is a season to forget for the Reds.

Sterling is by no means the only player to blame for Liverpool's current demise, but in my view, the most selfishly entitled players always deserve the lion's share of criticism, and in Sterling's case, and Sterling has brought this on himself with his corrosive transition from promising young player to rapacious mercenary.

Forget sacking Rodgers; Sterling deserves to be dumped on the Anfield scrapheap before Liverpool's beleaguered boss, who - transfer negligence and managerial deficiencies aside - is a thoroughly decent man, who represents LFC with great dignity and humility.

In my view, Liverpool will miss Rodgers a lot more than Sterling. Despite his weaknesses, Rodgers is building something for the future at Anfield; Sterling is only it for himself, and will only deign to honour Liverpool with his continued presence if the price is right.

As for the game: defeat in such an important, must-win game is inexcusable, and Rodgers only has himself to blame for continually making the same mistakes over and over again.

Author: Jaimie K