You can "pull" whatever you want.....what you are saying doesn't pass the sniff or eye test my friend. Sterling is not a smart footballer. Good luck finding anyone that actually watches him play that would say otherwise.
He's very athletically talented, no doubt about that, very skillful indeed. But intelligent and Sterling aren't two words that often collide in any sentence.
Why is pull in quotations? Did you not understand the meaning of it?
Again, I can find you a number of articles from the likes of The Anfield Wrap, newspapers, and other online forums that praise his football intelligence. He's a very intelligent footballer.
"Sterling’s football intelligence is often overlooked, as pace is his most noticeable attribute."
http://tbrfootball.com/even-49m-raheem-sterling-will-worth-every-penny/"I've been really pleased with his maturity. He puts an awful lot of time into his work. We've tried to play him in different positions to improve his football intelligence. You could see how today he operated at the top of the diamond. He penetrated and was comfortable on the ball. When we switched to 4-3-3, he was the wide player on the side. So it really shows you how intelligent he is as a footballer. He's got that in-built brain[...]"
http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/161569-you-saw-sterling-s-intelligence-today"Sterling is deceptively strong, intelligent in possession and blessed with pace and sublime technique. But, it is his tactical intelligence, his ability to retain the ball, find the right pass or slow the game down, which set him apart. It is his ability to defy logic and convert from adept wide forward to, even more astute, number 10 with a spell filling in at right-back for good measure. He has been key to Rodgers tactic of starting games on the front foot and regularly running teams into submission during the opening 20 minutes of matches. But he has also shown enough football intelligence to adapt his game according to the circumstance and according to the opponent."
http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2014/04/rise-rise-raheem-sterling/"This is one of the nation’s few bright starlets, a 19-year-old eager to learn, hungry to wear the Three Lions and demonstrating a remarkable tactical intelligence to absorb and execute the instructions of Rodgers and Hodgson. Play on the right? Will do. Play left? Of course. Play in the hole against Manchester City, distracting Yaya Touré and bamboozling Vincent Kompany? Love to. Play at the tip of the midfield diamond in a vital qualifier against Switzerland? Mission accepted. There is far more to celebrate about Sterling than denigrate."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/11160335/England-and-Liverpool-must-treasure-and-protect-Raheem-Sterling-and-keep-prize-asset-fresh-for-years-to-come.html"It was a fine goal, one that combined the youngster's speed and energy with his seemingly innate football intelligence, coming inside from his wide position in the way that Rodgers had encouraged him to do."
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/raheem-sterling-can-be-a-legend-at-liverpool-says-brendan-rodgers-after-reading-goal-8219935.htmlAs well as all the things Diego mentioned, he's also someone who has constantly been moved around the pitch and performed admirably in each of those positions. That quite clearly shows he's tactically switched on. In 13/14 he was adding new things to his game every week, his movement is excellent, his decision making is excellent for someone of his age too. He doesn't just run down the wing and smash crosses into the full back's shins, he's actually aware of what is going on around him. All players, even the likes of Ronaldo and Messi make wrong decisions at times when it comes to passing or shooting. That doesn't take away from his intelligence though, because again, more often than not he makes the right decision.
