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Welcome to ESPN FC's #PremRank.
Beginning May 25, ESPN FC is counting down the top 50 players in the Premier League, as voted by various columnists, editors and analysts. Who makes the cut? Disagree with our list? Tell us on Twitter using the hashtag #PremRank.
Why Raheem Sterling makes the list
This was arguably a season that saw more controversies than moments of Sterling's genuine quality, but even that is partially a reflection of his brilliance. The 20-year-old attracts so much attention because he is so good and so exciting, and it's not like he didn't repeatedly show that. In a campaign of three very distinctive parts for Liverpool -- the first laboured, the second lively, the third so laboured again -- Sterling was the only player to consistently replicate the dynamism of the past season.
He was very often the only Liverpool attacker showing the right movement up front, which very often made it difficult for him to be at his absolute best. Then again, we're not really going to see his absolute best for another years, given his young age, and that in itself makes this season impressive. Most attackers suffer regular dips between the ages of 18 and 23, but the only dips we really saw from Sterling were when he would duck in front of defenders to weave away from them in exhilarating fashion. He is essential to how Brendan Rodgers wants to play, which makes it all the more important that Liverpool keeps him.
-- Miguel Delaney
The stats that tell the story
- Created 74 chances this league season, eight more than any other Liverpool player and ninth-most in the league
- Scored once in his final 15 games for Liverpool in all comps this season, after 10 goals in his first 37 games
What the experts say
"Sterling has the potential to be one of the most dangerous players in Europe, but there will be tough times ahead. He will have spells of bad form, he will have injuries, and there will be times when the pressure to perform begins to drain him mentally as well as physically." -- Iain Macintosh, April 2015.
"It's not easy playing as a lone striker against Chelsea, especially when it's not your natural position and you're a player who likes to have space to run into. Chelsea don't allow that space as they defend so deep, and it's difficult to turn and run at them due to the protection they get from the midfield." -- David Usher, January 2015.
"For all the controversy over fatigue, Sterling seems to persist in every second half he plays, and only a goal was missing from a mischievous display." -- Steven Kelly, December 2014.
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