3 reasons why Sterling has replaced Kane as England's talisman

#1 Sterling is in better form and is improving every day under Guardiola

Guardiola's impact on Sterling's game has been immense

Sterling is perhaps the one player who has benefitted the most from the tutelage of Pep Guardiola. The Spanish tactical genius, who won an unprecedented sextuple with Barcelona, has created a new footballing ethos based on attacking flair and obsessive possession-based football, at the Etihad. A comparative look at Sterling's EPL stats before Guardiola's arrival and after reveals the true story.

Guardiola has unleashed Sterling's hidden talents and has successfully converted him for a skillful winger to a potent, consistent goalscorer. Not only has his goal and assist count gone up under the Tiki-taka proponent, but he has also become a better dribbler (An astonishing 2.5 dribbles per game this season) and has managed a goal involvement per 90 minutes on average for the last two seasons!

The English winger has clearly also benefitted from playing with top-draw internationals like Kevin de Bruyne, Vincent Kompany, Sergio Aguero, and Riyad Mahrez.

Sterling stats comparison-Before and after Guardiola

Harry Kane of the other hand, has clearly learned all he can under Mauricio Pochettino and must, in this author's opinion move to greener pastures like Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid to improve himself as a player. His stats reflect a downward trajectory as his Minutes per goal and minutes per goal involvement this season are nowhere near the lofty numbers he set a couple of seasons back. All in all, the verdict is clear. Form-wise and talent wise, Sterling has well and truly eclipsed Kane to become the talismanic figure that can potentially lead England to a first ever European Championship title at the 2020 Euros.

Harry Kane-EPL Stats Comparison of last 4 seasons