“Plays like he woke up 10 minutes before kick off”, “Useless at every single thing” - Fans hit out at Arsenal star for display in loss to Bournemouth
Many Arsenal fans were displeased with Raheem Sterling's performance as the Gunners registered their first loss this season on Saturday, October 19. Playing most of the match with 10 men against Bournemouth in the Premier League, the Gunners lost 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium.
Raheem Sterling joined the north London side in the summer on a loan deal from Chelsea after an underwhelming stint with the west London outfit. In 81 games across competitions, he scored only 19 times and registered 12 assists. Many fans considered the loan deal to be the Englishman's chance to show his mettle in a new club.
However, his time with Arsenal hasn't started well for the forward, registering just a goal and an assist in five games across competitions so far. Against Bournemouth on Saturday, he had a passing accuracy of just 60%. He was rendered ineffective by the fiery pace of players like Antonie Semenyo in the Bournemouth squad. He played for just 37 minutes before being substituted by Jakub Kiwior.
After the game, many fans took to X to share their opinion on Raheem Sterling. Some popular comments are as follows:
"Sterling plays like he woke up 10 minutes before kick-off," wrote a fan on X.
One fan compared Sterling to Gabriel Jesus, opining:
"Sterling is worse than Jesus athletically."
"Sterling’s decision making and end product absolutely stinks," commented another user.
One fan quipped about William Saliba's red card in the game, tweeting:
"Petition to swap Saliba's ban with Sterling for next week."
"Watching Sterling try play football ain’t for the weak. He’s literally useless at every single thing. Doesn’t even track back," one fan opined.
"Sterling is just another Gabriel Jesus, but with a bigger ikebe and longer hair," declared another Arsenal faithful.
"Sterling looks so lost and doesn’t look like he knows what he’s doing," one fan wrote on X.
Arsenal conceded their third red card of the Premier League season against Bournemouth
Arsenal were reduced to ten men in the 30th minute against Bournemouth. Centre-back William Saliba was given marching orders after bringing down Evanilson in the 27th minute, denying him a clear goalscoring opportunity.
While referee Rob Jones initially cautioned the Frenchman with a yellow card, a quick VAR check made him change it to a straight red. It was Arsenal's third sending-off in just eight league games, making them the club with the most red cards in Premier League 2024-25 so far.
Declan Rice was sent off in their 1-1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. Meanwhile, Leandro Trossard suffered the same fate in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad.
However, William Saliba has been handed just a one-match ban since the foul didn't involve offenses like dissent, violent tackles, or gross misconduct. The French defender will miss the game against table-toppers Liverpool on October 27 at the Emirates Stadium.