A lot of talking points came from Arsenal’s defeat to Newcastle United on match day 10 of the season.
It’s now three Premier League games without a win for the Gunners, who were unable to bounce back after their draw with Liverpool.
One point from a possible nine sees Mikel Arteta’s side drift seven points from the summit and below Nottingham Forest in the table, with a lot to take from the recent loss to Newcastle.
Arsenal weren’t able to respond to Alexander Isak’s opener in the 12th minute on what was an incredibly frustrating afternoon at St James’ Park.
Mikel Arteta sent Raheem Sterling a message against Newcastle United
There were plenty of poor performances on the day in the North East, with some away from the action even getting the headlines.
It was clear how much Arsenal were missing captain Martin Odegaard and even more clear where one player’s future lies.
Despite trailing for the majority of the game with little attacking spark, Arteta snubbed the opportunity to bring Raheem Sterling on, leaving the Chelsea loanee on the bench.
When an injection of pace and a different approach was required, the manager did not deem the winger capable of influencing the game, something that journalist Charles Watts noticed.
“He didn’t even bring Raheem Sterling on, which says a lot about that signing,” Watts said on the Inside Arsenal podcast.
“The fact he didn’t even bring him on when Arsenal were trailing, I think says a lot about how Raheem Sterling’s start to life at Arsenal is being viewed.”
Edu Gaspar was called into late action on transfer deadline day to bring Sterling to the Emirates for the season however, it’s quickly become apparent that there may be some regrets.
Sterling was the wrong signing for Arsenal
Arteta not calling on Sterling against Newcastle presented a glaring issue.
The decision strongly suggested that Arsenal aren’t satisfied with what the 29-year-old is offering, reinforcing that his deadline day move was a bit of a blunder.
It might be that it’s no fault of the player’s own and Arteta wanted something different tactically however, with only 123 minutes in the Premier League under his belt so far, there’s no evidence to say that he’s won over the manager.
- READ MORE: One Mikel Arteta decision in Arsenal defeat to Newcastle shows why the transfer window was a failure
Arsenal needed a winger to compete with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli but, perhaps a higher calibre profile was required rather than Sterling, who for all of his strengths, has not been at his best for some time.
The issue in the transfer window has become difficult to ignore, given how poor the likes of Martinelli and Leandro Trossard have been, with no competition there to provide healthy pressure.
It will be interesting to see how Sterling is used over the coming weeks, with a lot of questions already being asked over his transfer.
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