Although Arsenal were chasing the game for long periods against Manchester United on Sunday, Mikel Arteta opted against introducing Raheem Sterling.
The Chelsea loanee remained on the bench for Arsenal when Arteta actually preferred to play Kieran Tierney at left wing, a player who has already agreed to leave the club.
It’s a fresh blow for Sterling who has had a pretty torrid time at the Emirates Stadium since making his deadline day switch from west London last summer.
In total, Sterling has played 22 games for Arsenal this season, but the 30-year-old has rarely started in important games, a player who Arteta doesn’t seem to trust.
Sterling arrived at Arsenal to act as Bukayo Saka’s replacement, something the Gunners have lacked in recent seasons.
However, with Saka out injured, Sterling has still been stuck on the sidelines himself.
Mikel Arteta continues to overlook Raheem Sterling at Arsenal
Following Sterling not even playing a minute against United on Sunday, all of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards offered their thoughts on the winger’s situation at Arsenal.
The trio all seemed to have sympathy for the four-time Premier League winner, who also has 82 caps and 30 goals for his country.
None of the three pundits wanted to criticise Sterling, but they did conclude that he’s somewhat lost his confidence at this stage of his career.
Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images
Photo by Rene Nijhuis/MB Media/Getty Images
Lineker began: “What did you make about, I mean, hard to be critical of him because he didn’t get on, but it’s Raheem Sterling.
“They even brought Tierney on and then played him quite far forward.”
Shearer replied: “Pretty damning, isn’t it?”
Lineker: “Yeah, a little, it’s a bit sad. He’s been a brilliant player for club and country for a long time.
“I wonder the fact that he played so much football at such an early age and brilliant football as well.
“Maybe that’s taken a toll on him or something, or maybe he’s lacking a bit of confidence or who knows? You know, he’s not ancient, is he?”
READ MORE: Edu’s comments when Arsenal signed Raheem Sterling are now very alarming after his lack of minutes
Shearer: “Yeah, you can tell even that a bit of a spring has gone, and his belief in the confidence when he gets the ball is not that quite that same, I don’t know, energy or whatever it is that, and I guess that’s maybe confidence as well, because he hasn’t played and when he has played, he hasn’t done so well.”
Richards added: “I think it’s just that sharpness, isn’t it? I think he’s had injuries, he goes to Chelsea in a different system, didn’t really see the best of him.
“He’s played in a team which was winning every single week at Man City, gone to Arsenal for another, you know, a high pressing team, but he’s just missing that sharpness, you know, with Raheem.”
Raheem Sterling’s numbers since leaving Manchester City
In terms of Sterling’s decline, he arguably hasn’t been the same player since he swapped Man City for Chelsea back in 2022.
Sterling arrived at Stamford Bridge for a very big fee, but he wasn’t able to replicate the form which made him so successful under Pep Guardiola.
Team Season Games Goals Assists
Man City 2021/22 47 17 8
Chelsea 2022/23 38 9 4
Chelsea 2023/24 43 10 8
Arsenal 2024/25 22 1 2
Raheem Sterling’s key statistics in all competitions over the past four seasons.
READ MORE: The one league Raheem Sterling has previously said he’d leave England for as winger continues to struggle at Arsenal
Incidentally, Sterling hasn’t won a cap for England since October 2022, which was three or so months after he joined Chelsea.
Sterling reportedly still has a contract with the west Londoners until 2027, meaning it will be interesting to see what happens when he returns to Enzo Maresca’s side this summer.
A difficult situation, but it’s credit to Sterling that he’s maintained such a brilliant attitude during his struggles at Arsenal this season.
Sterling has been brilliant behind the scenes and has been an excellent influence on the likes of Ethan Nwaneri, who is actually now starting ahead of him.