Pep Guardiola has received a whole lot of credit for the way in which he has helped Raheem Sterling flourish - and sometimes he's not afraid to use simple but effective methods.
A clip from pre-season, where Pep was intensely coaching Sterling on his body position and movement off the ball, did the rounds and gave a brilliant insight into the Manchester City manager's work on the training ground.
But as useful as those tactical teachings were, especially as Sterling put those principles into practice with perfection by scoring the winning goal against Feyenoord back in November - sometimes all you need is love, as they say.
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Kevin De Bruyne speaks to SPORTbible:
With league leaders City 1-0 up against bottom club West Brom last night, Sterling spurned a wonderful opportunity to extend the lead just after half-time.
He danced around the Albion backline inside the area and then checked inside, but curled his effort narrowly past the far post.
Normally Guardiola would have been furious that such a chance had gone begging but his response this time was to call his in-form No.7 over and give him a huge and kiss on the cheek.
Sterling looked less than enthusiastic and resembled a teenager desperate to get out of an embrace with their aunty Margaret.
But he quickly put the miss behind him by setting up Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero as City put the game to bed and moved another step towards the Premier League title.
Here's how social media reacted to the moment between manager and player:
With new-found confidence and belief instilled by Guardiola, Sterling has scored 19 goals and chipped in with 10 assists in all competitions this term. Yet excitingly for City fans, it still feels like he has more improving to do.
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Topics: Manchester City, Football News, Football, Pep Guardiola, Premier League, Raheem Sterling
