Arteta can end Sterling’s PL career by unleashing Arsenal “monster”

All things considered, it’s been a pretty good seven days for Arsenal.

Despite being in the midst of an injury crisis, Mikel Arteta’s side managed to pick up all three points away to Leicester City on Saturday, and then former-boss Unai Emery did them a massive favour by taking two off of Liverpool last night.

That result at Villa Park means the Reds now have an eight-point lead in the Premier League, but the Gunners have a game in hand at home to struggling West Ham United.

However, to ensure that gap falls to just five points, Arteta must unleash another of his players in place of Raheem Sterling on Saturday, which could, in turn, end his Premier League career.

Sterling’s dreadful season for Arsenal

“You’re about to see the best of me.”

That was what Sterling told the fans when he joined Arsenal on loan on deadline day, but as yet, they haven’t seen anything close.

The Chelsea loanee was a goalscoring dynamo when he played for Manchester City, racking up a sensational tally of 131 goals and 73 assists in 339 games, but in North London, he has looked a shadow of his former self.

In 19 appearances for the Gunners, the 30-year-old winger has found the back of the net just once – against Bolton Wanderers – and provided two assists, so to say he’s underwhelmed would be a dramatic understatement.

Moreover, when he was called upon to start against Leicester on the weekend, amid the injuries to Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka, all he did was reaffirm the idea that he can no longer hack it in this league.

In 69 minutes against a promoted side who look destined to go back down, the former Liverpool star mustered a combined expected goal and assist figure of 0.08, had a single blocked shot, failed in 100% of his dribbles, made just 19 passes, lost all of his ground duels, lost the ball 13 times and was offside twice.

It was nothing short of shambolic, made to look more so by the fact that a 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri on the other flank was a constant threat. Oh, and that it was his replacement that eventually won the game for Arsenal.

The Arsenal star who has to start over Sterling

So, with the absurd number of attacking injuries Arsenal are currently dealing with and the manner in which Saturday’s game was won, it’ll come as no surprise that we think Mikel Merino simply has to start over Sterling against West Ham.

Now, the Spanish international is no striker and was only told that he may have to play up front on the morning of the game, but the way he scored his two goals suggests that he might have what it takes to hold down the position until the likes of Martinelli and Saka return.

For example, his first goal came thanks to a sensational cross from Nwaneri and the Spaniard’s ability to get between two defenders and make the perfect connection with his head. The second came from a well-timed run and a perfectly placed first-time finish.

Moreover, having the 6 foot 2 “monster,” as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, down the middle might help those around him get into the game more, as, according to Squawka, he was the only player in Europe’s top seven leagues to win over 300 duels last season.

Just imagine Martin Odegaard or Declan Rice sending it long for the former Real Sociedad star to bring it down and play in Nwaneri or Trossard.

Ultimately, there is no perfect solution at the moment, but based on what we saw of him on the weekend and Sterling’s performances all season, Arteta simply has to start Merino in his place on Saturday.