Robin van Persie hits back at ‘inappropriate’ criticism of Raheem Sterling after former exiled Chelsea star was branded ‘Bambi on Ice’ during Feyenoord debut

Robin van Persie has hit out at the ‘inappropriate’ criticism of Raheem Sterling after the former Chelsea star struggled to hit the ground running on his Feyenoord debut.

Sterling, who joined the Dutch club earlier this month after mutually agreeing to terminate his £325,000-a-week deal at Chelsea in January, came off the bench to mark his first appearance for the team during a 2-1 win against Telstar last Sunday.

Having spent nine months in exile at Stamford Bridge without making a single appearance for Chelsea this season, Sterling was understandably rusty on his debut and faced a wave of backlash on social media. 

Feyenoord boss Van Persie leapt to Sterling’s defence on Friday ahead of his team’s clash with FC Twente on Sunday, hitting out at his critics.

‘If you have a little sense of context, where he comes from, what he’s achieved in the past, and that he hasn’t had any team training for months,’ Van Persie said.

‘I understand that there are expectations of an absolute top player, but to criticise him like that after half an hour – his first half hour after over six months – then you really don’t understand anything at all.’

Despite accepting that criticism is part of being a footballer in the Netherlands, the former Manchester United forward went on to label the backlash ‘inappropriate’.

The ex-Chelsea star (right) was ruthlessly criticised after his debut for Feyenoord last Sunday 

‘A large part was positive, but some of it was also quite Dutch. Being blunt about everything that everyone thought wasn’t right,’ he added.

‘If you’re five or six weeks in and you think he’s not delivering, okay, then you have a point. But to throw out such strong opinions based on his first half hour, I thought, was inappropriate.’

After Sterling’s cameo appearance last Sunday, one Instagram account called FootballPark, boasting almost 100k followers, wrote that the ex-England international looked like ‘Bambi on Ice’ and even suggested he should consider retiring.

The author, who was by no means the only social media account ripping into the footballer, posted: ‘Raheem Sterling’s debut for Feyenoord was not exactly a success story – in fact, it looked like a veritable disaster from the Dutch club’s point of view.

‘The English winger looked like Bambi on ice. On a downward spiral since 2022, lacking motivation, and seemingly unable to play under anyone who isn’t named Pep Guardiola, Sterling is well and truly into his twilight years. Is it time to hang the boots up once and for all?’

Sterling’s former Manchester City team-mate Jack Grealish jumped in to defend the 31-year-old star online, taking issue with the post.

‘What a f*****g stupid Instagram post man what’s wrong with you guys. Guy hasn’t played or trained for so long. Ppl like u guys is what wrong with the world. Have some respect,’ he wrote.