Reiss Nelson came off the bench as Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of FC Koln last night, and the youngster has drawn praise for his performance.
The Gunners limped to defeat in Cologne yesterday thanks to a questionable penalty decision, but the other results ensured that we cemented our place as group winners regardless, and can be play-out the final match much more relaxed.
The loss has seen a few players criticised for their displays, but one player has been singled out for praise in Reiss Nelson.
The 17 year-old has been talked about strongly this season, having convinced Arsene Wenger to play him strongly in the Europa League and Carabao Cup, and is tipped to progress into the first-team in quick fashion.
Former defender Martin Keown is the latest pundit to sing his praises, saying: “Famous victory for Cologne, let them take their night.
“They haven’t had too many good ones.
“But I think Nelson can be something special, little flashes there of brilliance.
“That was a great run, pity he didn’t score.”
Jermaine Jenas followed on with his own praise for Nelson, talking of his effort in which he passed three players before getting his shot away.
“This is a brilliant bit of play from Reiss Nelson,” he said.
“He was a real bright spark when he came onto the pitch. He got himself into dangerous situations, that was brilliant.”
Nelson showed the best of his ability in the final third, and it would be nice to see him deployed in one of the advanced roles in the Carabao Cup next month, but is he ready to challenge Alex Iwobi and his team-mates for a role in the first-team squad yet?
Pat J
let’s take him slow.
We don’t want him to end up like Walcott wilshere chambers and holding
Agree, but I think there are still more to come from Chambers and Holding, whereas we have seen all Wilshere’s and Walcott’s limitations.
haha chambers?
Holding cost £2 millions. Don’t care if he ends up worse than Titus Bramble, since we will 99% likely get profit from his sale.
Well I do care if he ends up worse – and right now he is no better and still very raw. Money(at that lowly level) is not the point but a sub par player playing in the first team definitely is.
I think Wenger might ruin Nelson like he did with other players. Nelson should not be played as wingback but as a right winger. So far this season Nelson impressed in preseason as a right winger but once the season started he was deployed as a wingback. I don’t think that helps his development or confidence.
I would love to hear from those who thumbed me down why they think Nelson is better as a wingback than a winger.
To me, it seems so obvious that his talents lie in the final third.
We just left an era of having wingers who cannot defend and were no good in 50/50 plays. They need to get used to that stuff when they are young, as Walcott Podolski Arshavin have shown, they can’t just pick it up later in life. Nelson has been dribbling and shooting out on the training field and in academy games, but there is no substitute for holding your own against older experienced players. This will help his attacking game, he will not pull out so easy, he will not be knocked off the ball so easy, and he will be more aggressive with his own game.
Nothing Changed, the dullards or loonies who disliked your comment are not fit to read and post on a site like this. Presumably, they must think Nelson SHOULD play wing back and that is a weird way of thinking. That Wenger also thinks it, proves the lunacy.
He’s a great talent without a doubt and he needs more game time to prove his actual quality. But again,he is falling a victim to the amount of attacking options up front. However,I do believe he has shown enough in whatever time he’s had on the pitch that he will only improve with time as still he will be just 17 till the 10th of december….
who is better on the right wing? Theo? Not IMO. Ozil? Not a real right winger. Iwobi? better on the left.
Yes, Nelson is young so we have to be careful with him but as a right winger he might already be one our best options IMO.
I would love to see him get more minutes in the PL as a sub and as a right winger.