RAHEEM STERLING’S deadline day move to Arsenal was, without doubt, one of the most intriguing deals of the entire window.
The 82-cap England international sealed a season-long loan transfer to the Gunners after being frozen out by new Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca.
Deals between the big six clubs are often few and far between given how much is at stake in terms of competitive advantage.
However, for Sterling, Arsenal represents the fourth big six team he has played for, having also turned out for Liverpool, Manchester City and the Blues.
It’s understood there is no option or obligation to buy the 29-year-old, but Arsenal have secured an attacking player who adds both depth and quality to their attacking options in wide areas.
Indeed, one of the biggest concerns for Arsenal fans in recent seasons has been the sheer number of matches talisman Bukayo Saka has had to play with little real depth in their position.
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But now Mikel Arteta may be given the chance to give his star man a rest from time to time, with Sterling able to play across the attack.
Arsenal play Tottenham in the North London derby this weekend, and below we take a look at what Sterling could offer ahead of his potential debut.
Stretching the width of the pitch
As Sterling has progressed through his career he has moved from being an out-and-out winger to an inverted wide player comfortable in the channels and central areas to support the striker.
Crucially, this means that Arsenal have essentially signed a wide attacker who will offer them both options depending on the specific attacking shape and structure that Arteta is looking to get.
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Often we see Arsenal have their wingers hold the width of the attack staying on the outside and forcing the opposition fullbacks to defend wider than they would like.
By doing this Arsenal force the opposition to move their fullbacks more outside and this will, in turn, create spaces in the defensive line of their opponents that they can attack through movement from the striker or the more advanced midfielders.
Against Spurs this weekend we are likely to see Arteta again look to use his wide attackers as options to stay outside, at least in the initial phase of the attack and the build-up, and spread the Spurs defensive line out before attacking through those spaces.
With Sterling likely to start on the outside on the left of the pitch, his ability to attack the Spurs right-back either on the outside or the inside has the potential to generate real threat.
Arsenal will likely look to build from the back and into the middle third of the pitch before quickly looking to access their wide attackers isolated on the outside against the opposition fullbacks.
They are able to use their wide attackers in this manner because of the presence and work rate of Kai Havertz as the central striker.
But having players in wide areas who can be as effective as Sterling, on the left, and Saka, on the right, should have a genuine impact on the game.
Sterling’s ability to play wide as a more traditional winger type will be effective for Arteta in creating space centrally in the attacking phase.
Goal threat
Sterling has chosen to move to Arsenal to reignite a career that appeared to be stalling when he was at Chelsea by reuniting with Mikel Arteta.
Arteta previously worked with Sterling when he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City, with the Spaniard being credited with turning him into a goalscoring attacker.
A large part of their 1v1 sessions was thought to centre around shot locations and asking Sterling to take his shots from more central areas as opposed to shooting from wider angles.
This period of Sterling’s career saw him become much more effective in front of goal and elevated his performances to the next level, and he will be hoping for the same impact the second time around.
If he is played regularly as part of the starting attack at Arsenal then there is nothing to stop him from contributing 10-15 goals this season as Arsenal chase the title.
For Arsenal last season they had inconsistent production from the likes of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli who typically played from the left side of the attack.
Adding Sterling in the final third and in the penalty area will, of course, bring added quality in the final third and a more consistent goal threat.
This coming weekend we are likely to see Pedro Porro start at right back for Spurs, and as much as he is an effective attacking threat, he can struggle at times against direct attacking wingers.
This is an area of the game where Arteta can create a real advantage with the use of Sterling from the left of the attack.
The fact Arsenal were able to add a reliable source of goals late in the window could be a huge bonus as the season goes on.
Intelligent positioning
As much as Sterling is effective when he is asked to stay wide and position himself on the outside of the opposition fullback, as we have already discussed above, he also has the versatility of movement and positioning to be able to drift and take advantage of the spaces that are open to him on the pitch.
This essentially means that when using Sterling from either the left or the right of the attack we will see Arteta be able to be more versatile in his attacking approach.
If he decides to play in this weekend’s North London derby with a more traditional left-back who gets up and down the flank effectively then Sterling may be more free to come inside in order to find pockets of space in which he can receive the ball to hurt the Spurs defence.
There is every chance a coach of Arteta’s calibre will look to create situations and positions where on the right side they have a fullback who stays deep and narrow and a right-winger who stays wide while on the left side the fullback moves higher and the left-winger comes more inside.
This kind of positioning and movement in the attacking third can help to create attacking overloads and opportunities.
The fact that Arsenal have been able to add an international level forward with the experience and output throughout his career to date means that Arteta has far more options in terms of how he can set up his attack.
This will make them harder to predict coming into this weekend’s derby against Spurs.
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Conclusion
The signing of Sterling may well go down as one of the pivotal moments this season for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta as they look to close the gap on Manchester City and challenge for the league title.
Arsenal fans will be excited to see how Arteta plans to use Sterling starting this weekend against their biggest rivals.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
