Liverpool's Raheem Sterling on growing up, wising up and learning to shut off Raheem Sterling is back at Liverpool's academy facility in Kirkby as part of an integration day with senior players, and the first thing he notices is his own shirt on the wall. There are plenty of other first-team players represented - Liverpool like to offer their young students something to aspire to - but seeing his own name on display brings home to Sterling how quickly he has made the grade. "The shirt wasn't there when I was here originally," he says. I couldn't stop staring at it at first. There are some great names on display here and it was a bit of a surprise to see my name among them. My first reaction was: "What's that doing up there?"" Sterling has become so well established for Liverpool and England it comes as a slight surprise to learn that he only turns 20 next month. For him too the process was a bit of a blur. One day he was working hard at the academy, the next he was training with the first team and then proving himself on the pitch. "The manager gave me an opportunity and I would like to think I have taken it," he says. Hopefully I can be an example to some of the other kids here now, I am proof that Liverpool have a manager who does give young players a chance. Playing is one thing, Sterling seems to cope with everything demanded of him on the pitch with a natural ease, though he had his first taste of controversy and national scrutiny last month when Roy Hodgson revealed he had complained of tiredness on duty with England. The incident was overblown, as stories generally are in the news vacuum that nowadays accompanies international breaks, though for a few days Sterling's energy levels and enthusiasm for playing were dominating the headlines and news bulletins. "It was pretty difficult," he admits. I tried not to watch TV or listen to anything. If I caught sight of a TV and the conversation was about me then I would turn over or turn it down. It was different, the first time I had had to deal with anything like that, but I got through it quite well. I tried not to read too much into it. It didn't affect me too much because I know I love playing football, for club or for country. If anything I said got taken the wrong way I am sorry, but it doesn't matter. I am happy playing football. That's what I want to focus on, the main thing I have learned in the last month is how to shut off. Before I was always on my phone and Instagram, things would pop up and you couldn't go past without having a look, but now I have learned to block it all out. Brendan Rodgers has noticed a change in the player he first encountered as a 17-year-old. "It is incredible to think that just two years later he is carrying all those hopes on his shoulders for country and club," the Liverpool manager says. He is growing up and gaining experience all the time. This last period has been difficult for everyone but he has handled it really well. It is something I now expect from him because he has matured a lot. One of the early signs for me was when he used to come into the office to talk - at first I never thought he was listening, now I see his eyes engage and he is taking what is said in board. It helps being around other senior players who know how to carry themselves but Raheem is a clever, intelligent boy who learns quickly. The purpose of the entire Liverpool first-team squad's Academy visit is both educational and inspirational. The senior players are there to offer encouragement to the younger recruits and promote the idea, along with the Liverpool Ladies team, that everyone belongs to the same club. So what advice would Sterling give young players hopeful of making a similar breakthrough? "I would say just listen to the people around you," he says. Stay focused on playing football and lead a professional lifestyle from the word go. Get better every day, and not just on the pitch. I had to learn that for myself. I probably had a slight weakness at first in that I was not leading the lifestyle I should have been away from the pitch. I wasn't resting when I should have been, stuff like that. I'm a bit more mature now, I take the rest periods I should take. Liverpool are at Crystal Palace on Sunday, where no one will need reminding of the calamitous events in the corresponding fixture of last season or the ground the side have to make up to be involved in the title race this time round. "We are looking for the result or the performance to turn our season around," Sterling says. Even in the last defeat against Chelsea I thought we played well at times, we weren't too far from getting something. We just need that one game and result to kick us on. Hopefully it will be Palace. If we get the right result I think the confidence will soon be back up there. Is Sterling confident he is at the right club, the one where he can fulfil all his footballing ambitions? "I think I can achieve the goals I want to achieve at Liverpool in years to come," he says. I am happy here, and hopefully I will be at this club for many years. Just like some of the big names on the wall.