By Jermaine Jenas For Mail On Sunday
Published: 22:30 BST, 20 April 2019 | Updated: 22:55 BST, 20 April 2019
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Raheem Sterling is a leader. I have never seen him as angry as he was against Tottenham. It was obvious he was still hurting from the Champions League defeat in the week.
He cares. He fights. He shows desire. Where he gets all that energy from after the World Cup and playing basically every game for Manchester City, I do not know. He is remarkable.
Lesser teams would have crumbled after the huge disappointment of Wednesday night. But I believe City have too many big players in their squad, such as Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho and Sterling, to let that happen. Sterling is one of those leaders now.
Raheem Sterling in action for Manchester City in Saturday's 1-0 win over Tottenham
Sterling holds off a challenge from Spurs forward Lucas Moura during the Premier League win
The intensity from City was pretty special. They looked like they were in beast mode and really had the bit between their teeth. That defeat by Spurs gave them something to feed off and they wanted revenge.
I have been involved in something similar when we [Tottenham] got knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by Real Madrid in 2011. It was very different from the manner in which City were beaten but it is still the most difficult pill to swallow. We were chasing the top four then.
You come in the next day, and the mood is sombre. People will try to gee you up but everyone is upset.
The day after that, though, it would have changed. Pep Guardiola would have City back into the right frame of mind and we saw it on Saturday. They came out with the great attitude of a team that is designed to win.
I think the challenge from
