Raheem Sterling: Pep Guardiola should be disappointed with Gareth Southgate, explains Yaya Toure

Toure also said people are ‘overreacting’ to Sterling’s flare-up with Joe Gomez

Yaya Toure says Pep Guardiola should be “disappointed” with Gareth Southgate for how the England manager has handled Raheem Sterling.

Sterling has been dropped from England’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Montenegro after a flare-up with Joe Gomez in the wake of the pair’s altercation during Sunday’s clash between Liverpool and Manchester City.

And while Toure thinks people are overreacting to the incident, he feels Southgate handled the situation wrong.

“I think people are overreacting because in training this can happen. In the game (on Sunday) they were face to face and then straight to the international team,” Toure explained to Sky Sports.

“It can happen, me and brother we fight, we argue, we smash each other. The manager should just take him away. It’s not good for the player’s mentality.

“Raheem is one of the best players in England at the moment. I think Harry Kane is not in his best moment, Raheem is the best player for England.

“For him to be in this kind of situation, with all the pressure around him and on his shoulders, he has to deal with racism, plus the fact he was playing at Anfield where the fans are booing him – it can affect him. The manager does not have to be involved.

“Pep Guardiola could be a little bit disappointed with him [Southgate]. Raheem is still young and learning. If my player acted like that, being angry and showing himself like this, I would be very happy. This means he wants to win and achieve – that is important. A player without this character, for me, is nonsense.”

England visit Kosovo on Sunday, with Sterling set to return to the squad.

Southgate has insisted he will have no hesitations about picking the winger in that fixture.

England need only a point from the game against Montenegro to secure qualification for next summer’s Euros.