‘I want to be in the box’: Sterling ready to sharpen Chelsea’s blunt attack

‘Score goals,” Raheem Sterling said, neatly summing up what his job is within Thomas Tuchel’s intricate tactical system at Chelsea. “I think football’s that simple: keep the ball out of the net and the forwards and midfielders have to score the goals.”

It has been a glaring weakness under Tuchel, who is clearly intent on ripping up his attack and starting again. Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku have gone, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Hakim Ziyech could be the next to leave, and the hope is that signing Sterling for £50m from Manchester City will go a long way towards solving Chelsea’s lack of ruthlessness in the final third.

Sterling, who was the first signing made by Chelsea’s new owners, does not need anyone to teach him how to score goals. The 27-year-old pointed out that his best position is on the wing – “That’s where I know the game like the back of my hand,” he said at his official unveiling as a Chelsea player – but that was followed by an acknowledgment that he is well suited to playing in a fluid attack. “I want to be in and around the box a lot more and trying to focus on runs more centrally,” Sterling said. “But, of course, I’m here to be part of the system and play the position the manager wants me.”

Tuchel has choices when it comes to where to deploy Sterling. The England forward can play on either flank, but he started in the middle on his debut in Chelsea’s tepid 1-0 win over Everton last weekend. “I enjoy floating about and getting on the ball,” Sterling said. “Against Everton I played as a false nine and I’ll always be happy where I can be effective.”

Sterling looked bright against Everton. He had a goal disallowed in the first half and was unlucky not to score during the dying stages. His desire to get into