A goalless draw against Everton on Saturday prevented Arsenal from gaining ground on Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Mikel Arteta’s side have now suffered back to back draws in the Premier League, having previously been held to a stalemate by Fulham.
In both of these fixtures, Arsenal lacked cutting edge in the final third. This was certainly the case against Everton, when the North London club didn’t even manage to get on the scoresheet at the Emirates Stadium.
Arteta tried to make changes in the second half to spark some life into his side, but these gambits failed to pay off. The Arsenal manager was criticised for taking off Martin Odegaard, and the Spanish coach did not even turn to all of the attacking options available to him on the bench.
For the third top flight outing in a row, Raheem Sterling remained an unused substitute. The 30-year-old winger has made just six Premier League appearances for the Gunners so far this season, of which only two have been starts.
The Chelsea loanee is yet to score a goal in the competition for the North London outfit, but has registered one assist. This means that he has offered more in terms of end product than Gabriel Jesus has managed, despite the Brazilian striker having been afforded 13 appearances in the Premier League this season.
Arsenal fans call out Mikel Arteta over Raheem Sterling signing
Arsenal got a good financial deal for Sterling, as they avoided paying a loan fee and with Chelsea still covering the majority of his salary.
However, many Arsenal fans on X are now questioning why Arteta brought the winger to the club if he isn’t willing to use him.
One said: “The question is why didn’t we just buy a left winger and a striker with the money we signed for merino because Sterling was a desperate decision.”
Another claimed: “He built everything so well and all he needed was to add a world class striker and keep his players in their best positions to finally win the league but what did he do? Signed Raheem Sterling, a Mikel Merino we didn’t need and keeps on playing players out of position.”
One supporter added: “Even though he signed Sterling did he give him enough playing time ? So why did he sign him then . Is Sterling that worst ? Against team with lowblock like Everton he can’t even give him 10min.”
Another stated: “Martinelli/Trossard LW has been dire over the past few games, why not start sterling or atleast bring him on? What was the point of loaning him? Always expects team to score cute goals by passing million times. Why can’t he change the approach? Crossing the ball against Everton?”
Does Raheem Sterling deserve more game time at Arsenal?
Sterling failed to impress consistently at Stamford Bridge, but showed in his time at Manchester City – where he first worked with Arteta – that he can shine in the Premier League.
The England international is not the player now that he was then, but he has hardly been give a fair opportunity to play his way back into form at Arsenal.
With Gabriel Martinelli under fire from Arsenal fans due to his poor form, and Leandro Trossard misfiring, there is surely an argument to be made that the time has come to gamble on giving Sterling a real shot in the left wing berth.
A run of starts could revive his confidence and help him to rediscover his form. Were that to be the case, then Sterling could yet make an impact for Arsenal this season. Arteta must first show a willingness to take a chance on him though.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
