Raheem Sterling excelled for Chelsea in their defeat to West Ham United on Sunday afternoon and football.london takes a look at how he can help solve a major problem at Stamford Bridge

Mauricio Pochettino might already have the answer to one of Chelsea’s main problems (Image: (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images))×

Despite Chelsea being defeated 3-1 on Sunday afternoon to London rivals West Ham United, Mauricio Pochettino was evidently pleased when asked about Raheem Sterling.

“He’s a player that can deliver what we want and today, he was fantastic,” the Argentine told reporters on Sterling. “For sure, we are not happy and he is not happy because he performed but we didn’t win. But that is the way we expect a player to perform, to be bold and committed with the team.”

The 2022/23 season was absolutely dismal for Chelsea as a whole. Finishing in 12th place after spending more than £600million in the summer and winter transfer windows, it simply was not good enough and there was no hiding from that.

Sterling, who was signed for around £50million when Thomas Tuchel was in charge in the summer of 2022, struggled to settle in at Stamford Bridge, which came as a surprise to many. After such success at Manchester City previously, many expected the 28-year-old attacker to fit in seamlessly.

That was not the case, however. Too often he was a distant figure in games. It meant Sterling finished the season with nine goals in all competitions – which was the joint-most for the Blues alongside Kai Havertz. But either way, it fell drastically short of Sterling’s sky-high standards.

In fact, it was Sterling’s lowest scoring season since 2012/13, what was his breakthrough campaign at Liverpool. The Jamaican-𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 England international described the 2022/23 season as one of the “lowest points” of his career.

In an interview with Sky Sports back at the start of May, Sterling said: “Personally, this is one of the lowest points in my career. This might sound a bit weird, but it is also a great learning curve. It’s been pretty smooth sailing winning, winning and winning but sometimes in life stuff gets thrown at you and it is a challenge that I’m looking forward to, hitting it head on and not trying to hide from it.

“It will only make me stronger and also the group stronger. These challenges, not just in football but in life as well, it’s crucial to how we deal with things and how we kick on after.”

So going into the new season, Sterling knew the next nine months or so were going to be crucial to his time at Chelsea. During the pre-season tour of the United States, Sterling once again failed to impress – with many Chelsea supporters on social media seemingly losing their patience with the former Man City attacker.

When Pochettino chose Sterling in his starting line-up for the opening game of the season against Liverpool, it may have come as a surprise to a few people. Especially because it was in a slightly different role to what we had seen him used in last season under the likes of Tuchel, Graham Potter and Frank Lampard.

He showed glimpses of quality against Liverpool. Sterling and Reece James linked up well on the right-hand side at times to isolate Andrew Robertson at left-back. But it was against West Ham where Sterling began to excite supporters – finally.

Sterling was excellent against the Hammers. It was a long time coming but Chelsea fans finally got to see the sort of player they thought they had signed over 12 months ago from Man City. With 83 touches, 12 duels won, 35 accurate passes, six dribbles and one key pass, Sterling excelled in east London.

The Chelsea winger was a constant menace against the Irons, particularly in the first half. He won the penalty, that Enzo Fernandez eventually missed, just before the half-time break, with a nimble and unstoppable run into the West Ham box.

“It’s about being aggressive,” Sterling said after the game following being handed the Player of the Match award. “A lot of the time it’s back to goal so it was nice to get on the half-turn.

“I’m a player that needs to be driving, action after action. If I’m not doing that I’m nowhere near my best, so that’s what I need to keep doing every time I get the ball. I have to turn, drive and be aggressive.”

Sterling’s performance reminded Chelsea and the club’s fan base that there is indeed one hell of a player in there. To use the old cliché, Sterling looked like a new signing on Sunday.

Chelsea are now without Christopher Nkunku and Carney Chukwuemeka for the foreseeable future with the duo having respective knee injuries. The likes of Mykhailo Mudryk still needs time and Noni Madueke is coming back from an injury.

Pochettino perhaps already has the answer to his problems in attack in Sterling – especially if he can continue the kind of form he produced at the weekend. Sterling has gone from being all but written off by Chelsea fans to practically being the first name on the team sheet for the Blues when they take on Luton Town on Friday evening. Football is a funny game.

Soucre: football.london