How Arsenal could line up with Raheem Sterling as Mikel Arteta gets major attacking boost
It was an incredible turn of events on transfer deadline day that saw Raheem Sterling’s proposed move to Manchester United break down and the Chelsea winger instead head to London rivals Arsenal on loan.
Sterling had been frozen out at Chelsea, told he was not part of new manager Enzo Maresca’s plans. This was understood to be for footballing reasons, though Sterling’s wages — of which the Blues are still paying a percentage even while he is at Arsenal — also factored into their decision to move him on.
At Arsenal, he joins a team hunting for the Premier League title and where options in his favoured positions are less plentiful than at Stamford Bridge. Plenty of game time looks likely to follow.
Option one – right wing
4-3-3: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Sterling, Havertz, Martinelli
In this formation, Sterling would be playing down the right flank as cover for Bukayo Saka.
Much of the thinking behind Arsenal’s recruitment of the experienced England international comes from wanting to provide another option on the right so that Saka can be rested from time to time.
Not, by any means, a traditional ‘get to the byline and cross’-style winger, Sterling is nevertheless adept on the right, slaloming his way through defences and able to stand crosses up to the back post.
The likes of Kai Havertz could benefit in the air, just as Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane did for years for Manchester City and England respectively.
Option two – left wing
4-3-3: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Sterling
It has been a regular thing within Mikel Arteta’s team over the last two years that Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli are used interchangeably on the left wing. Sterling offers a new alternative down that side.
Though his goal tally at Chelsea was modest, many of Sterling’s more memorable strikes for the Blues came when he was playing on the left, cutting onto his right and firing home.
A member of the Premier League hundred club, Arteta could benefit from Sterling’s dribbling ability as he darts in from the left and shoots at goal. Snappy passing combinations with No10 Martin Odegaard would be similarly hard for oppositions to defend against.
Option three – false nine
4-3-3: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Saka, Sterling, Martinelli
Gabriel Jesus’s injury record in mind, there could come a time when Arteta is either forced or chooses to play Sterling as a false nine, instead of Havertz or Jesus as a conventional striker.
Pep Guardiola and Gareth Southgate have both used Sterling as a withdrawn forward in the past, and his positional excellence makes it a viable option, despite his small frame.
Sterling’s off-the-ball movement has previously been lauded as some of the best in the Premier League, and defences could have a nightmare trying to pin him down as he links play between the midfield and Saka and Martinelli either side of him.
His burst of pace could help him preoccupy defenders by running off the shoulder and into the final third.
