Arsenal

That is the view of Gunners expert Charles Watts, who spoke to Sports Mole about the 30-year-old's repeated struggles in the wake of Arsenal's 2-0 triumph over Leicester City, where Sterling started on the left-hand side of the attack.

However, the ex-Liverpool man was toothless at the King Power Stadium and was soon replaced by Mikel Merino, who taught Sterling an attacking lesson with a late double to win the game for the Gunners.

Merino has now been tipped to start over Sterling against West Ham United this weekend, and Watts has conceded that the latter appears to be more of a "hindrance" than a help for Arteta right now.

Asked if Sterling has likely had his last chance from the start, Watts said: "I don't think he can have had his last chance just because of the situation Arsenal are in. This is a player who we've all seen do great things in his career, win so many trophies, score so many goals for Liverpool, for City. But the decline at the moment, it just looks irreversible.

"I'm watching a player here who in his head, he knows what he wants to do, but he just can't do it. And that second half, when he was squaring up the full-back and trying to take him on, there were no tricks, no stepovers, no drop of the shoulder. He didn't know how to do it, or that's how it felt.

"The defender just stuck his foot out and took it off him every single time. It was a really tough watch. You could see when he came off, I think he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders. He knows he's really, really struggling. He probably went into this game knowing it was a really big opportunity for him.

'Sterling more of a hindrance for Arsenal'

"The first half, he got himself caught offside a couple of times when you just don't need to be in that situation. It was just really, really careless and was stopping a promising looking attack. It felt like he was more of a hindrance than anything else for Arsenal on Saturday. And that's not good."

Sterling benefitted from the absences of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli to make just his fourth top-flight start of the season against Leicester, but the statistics told the story of a struggling player.

The 30-year-old failed to complete any of his two dribble attempts, was caught offside twice and did not win any of his five ground duels, in addition to registering just 0.02 Expected Goals and 0.06 Expected Assists.

Sterling's only Premier League goal contribution this season came against Nottingham Forest, an assist for Ethan Nwaneri in that 3-0 home win, and his only other involvements for the Gunners so far were a goal and assist in the 5-1 EFL Cup third-round victory over Bolton Wanderers.

The Englishman's struggles evoke memories of Willian, who spent one year in North London after leaving Chelsea but was a shadow of his old self in a red and white kit, although Watts does not feel that Arsenal are seeing Willian 2.0 with Sterling.

"If you drop him, is that the final nail in his coffin confidence-wise? You've got to balance that up," Watts added. "But I didn't get the sense from the fans that there's this massive annoyance with Raheem Sterling, which sometimes happens especially with players who've got the Chelsea links when they've come to Arsenal.

Can Sterling be compared to Arsenal flop Willian?

"Willian, there was a very different feeling towards. It genuinely felt like he wasn't trying at times. The fans never took to him at all. And I don't get that sense with Raheem. There's just this sadness of a once great player who is trying, he's trying to do everything that he did well, but he just can't do it.

"Either his brain's not working, connecting to his legs well enough, everything's swirling around in his head so quickly because he's just got zero confidence. It's a really tough one for Mikel, but it was a bad day for Raheem Sterling. How he bounces back from that, I don't really know.

"There have been some performances of Sterling, albeit mainly against lower league oppositions where he has looked threatening. I think back to the Preston game away when he didn't score, but he had a decent game, causing lots of problems, was running at players, beating them. The Bolton game when he scored and he got an assist, he was looking good.

"It's just recently, it seems like the little confidence that he did have has just drained away even more. We're seeing a real shell of a player, it's pretty sad to watch."

The youngster who once had the world at his feet at Liverpool is now one of the most experienced players in Arsenal's ranks, as he is just one of five current Gunners over the aged 30 or over alongside Neto, Jorginho, Thomas Partey and Leandro Trossard.

Sterling is therefore capable of having a positive impact off the pitch for players such as 17-year-old Nwaneri, but Watts has stressed the fact that the Chelsea-owned attacker must also start to deliver on the field as Arsenal chase Premier League and Champions League glory.

To do that, the Englishman could try to take a leaf out of Jesus's book, as his former Manchester City teammate scored six goals in the space of four games over the festive period after previously going almost a full 11 months without a Premier League effort to his name.

Does Sterling just need a "slice of luck"?

"He's one of the few experienced players who have been in this situation, he can be a good role model off the pitch," Watts added. "Nwaneri, what better player to speak to about stuff he's going through right now than Raheem Sterling, who came through at a similar age and was thrust into the spotlight.

"He can be an influence off the pitch, which would be good, but in the position Arsenal are in with the lack of attackers, they need their attackers to be influential on the pitch. If he starts on Saturday and just finds his way to score a goal, if one just bounces off him or he gets a slice of luck where a ball drops to him in the penalty area, I'd be really interested to see if we then see a different Raheem Sterling.

"Think back to Gabriel Jesus. Before he got injured, he couldn't do a thing. He couldn't finish a chance and suddenly, bang, scores one goal against Crystal Palace. Within 20 minutes, he scored a hat-trick. Then he goes and scores a couple in the Premier League as well. A player who we had basically given up on being any sort of threat suddenly scores six goals in the space of four games.

"So it can happen. Confidence is a stupid thing, even at the very elite level of the game."

Arsenal do not have an option or obligation to make Sterling's deal permanent, meaning that the 30-year-old is due to head back to Chelsea at the end of the season ahead of an expected permanent exit from Stamford Bridge.

For now, Sterling could help Arsenal move to within five points of former club and Premier League leaders Liverpool with victory over West Ham in Saturday's London derby.

Written by

Ben Knapton