Martin Keown tells £100k-a-week Arsenal player to ‘step up’ after what he did vs Tottenham

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Arsenal had a lot of positives to take from their win against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Gunners went into the North London Derby without a few of their key players. Declan Rice was suspended, while Martin Odegaard, Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko all missed the game due to injuries.

However, that didn’t stop Arsenal from getting another win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and they’re now just two points off Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.

Martin Keown knows a thing or two about beating Spurs, and it seems like he wasn’t happy with the performance of one Arsenal player.

Martin Keown unimpressed with what Raheem Sterling did for Arsenal vs Tottenham

Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling on a season-long loan deal from Chelsea on transfer deadline day.

The Gunners needed a new attacker all summer and they were linked with plenty of names. However, after not finding a way to sign Nico Williams, they were presented with the opportunity to sign Sterling.

Edu pulled off a masterclass, agreeing to sign Sterling on just £100,000-a-week wages, no loan fee and no obligation to make the move permanent.

That is a fantastic deal and Arsenal fans are really excited to see what Sterling will do under Arteta in the coming months.

The Englishman made his debut against Tottenham as a second-half substitute. Keown was far from happy with his display.

The Arsenal legend said on talkSPORT (16 September 2024, 12:54 pm): “I was a little bit worried when Sterling came on.

“I don’t know if you noticed, right at the end, they swapped Sterling out, didn’t they, put him on the opposite side because they kept getting in on the right hand.

“So, Sterling has got to step up a bit. His fitness maybe is not what it needs to be, but I can understand that.”

READ MORE: Arsenal star Raheem Sterling did something in North London Derby for the first time in 27 years

Sterling has a chance to ‘step up’

Judging Sterling by what he did or didn’t do against Tottenham is not fair as he only came on for the last 10 minutes of the game.

The Englishman’s main job was to help his teammates protect the lead, and that’s not the way to judge an attacker by any means.

Sterling could get a better chance against Atalanta on Thursday, when the Gunners kick off their Champions League campaign in Italy.

We expect Sterling to start on the right wing, and there’s no reason why he can’t deliver the goods for Arteta’s men in Bergamo.