Has Arteta Already Found The Answer To The Big Question About His Attack In Jesus’ Absence?
This season, Arteta’s attack has been dominant; Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Jesus, who is now injured, have all delivered game after game. Martinelli has 6 goals and 2 assists in all competitions; Saka has 7 goals and 6 assists; and Jesus has 5 goals and 6 assists.
As a gunner, these figures may warm your heart, but Jesus’ long-term injury may make you nervous.
Arteta is expected to sign a forward this winter, but in the meantime, he will rely on Eddie Nketiah to provide goals. Nketiah had the option of leaving as a free agent last summer after a dominant 2021-22 season in which he scored 10 goals in 26 games (league and EFL Cup), but he chose to stay.
With the arrival of Jesus in the summer, Nketiah’s game time was jeopardised, but he’s impressively managed four goals in the limited game time he’s had, mostly as a substitute. Nketiah was outstanding in his first start in a long time a few days ago, scoring one of Arsenal’s three goals against West Ham. He also found himself on the scoresheet against Brighton this weekend.
Yes, Arteta needs to sign an attacker, but we can’t ignore the fact that Nketiah is “smelling goals”; he has two in his last two starts.
Michael Owen, a few days ago, said this about him. “He’s a very good finisher, and I thought his goal was absolutely brilliant the way he rolled his man. But he is all about goals, whereas Jesus helps the team even if he’s not scoring. I think Nketiah is very much a goalscorer, and it will help his confidence. Good attitude.
“When he gets in that position, we said before the game, this guy can finish. This guy does finish. He is a born finisher.”
Gabriel Jesus had failed to score in 11 games prior to the World Cup, despite creating chances and assisting. Is Arteta’s attack strongest with Nketiah, given his goal-scoring ability and Owen’s verdict on him?
Sam P
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LOL at Spurs
“Good Ebening” in North London.
Good move by Aston Villa; 3 wins and an unlucky loss to Liverpool thus far in his return to the EPL.
OT: 75 MINS GONE SPUDS 0, VILLA 2.
Alternative names for Spuds include Rottenham Flopsters, Bottenham Grotspurs, Tottering Rottspurs.
Not that I dislike them of course. Oh no, whatever gave you THAT idea!
come on. the dud is a mediocre player who will not be a starter in any EPL team. he playes for a team that controls games and creates a lot of chances so he is bound to score some goals. every avarage striker that will play for us now will score now and than.
but Eddi is not good enough to lead a top team, pure and simple. his decision making is bad, his first touch is bad, his ability to create a space for himself inside the box is bad, his finishing is far from top nuch.
look at the entire last two games. he lost almost every doual, be it arial or 1v1. his passing in tigth places was bad. his vision is bad. he contributed nothing to our game.
replace Jesus? we need to replace Eddi ASAP because our next few matches will be much more difficult and winning them with Eddi will be very hard.
What came were you watching. Eddie untiring pressure on the WH defense made a huge difference in our possession stats and eventually goals. He forced them to ballon the ball up and hand possession back to us. He is a pure No 9. A goal poacher. 11 out of 11 starts I think.
Your description doesn’t suit the Nkettia who played against Chelsea and Manchester United last season. Has he not shown improvement between the games against Westham and Brighton? I suggest you check your perception of him after the next three matches.
Which match were you watching? The kid gas been scoring goals since he was at the acad we my.he is a batural goal scorer.
the fans in general wants a big name and big tag striker to lead the attack
Nketiah to most fans will juz be a 3rd choice at best
Nketiah could potentially force Jesus play on the left wing, if he keeps scoring
Jesus was one of our main architects, because his tricks, dribbling skills and high pressing efforts wreaked havoc in the opposition’s area. His movements created chances for his teammates to score
Nketiah isn’t as intense as Jesus nor does he possess Martinelli’s dribbling skills, but he works his socks off and has good positioning skills to score in the penalty box
Nketiah surely knows Balogun could replace him next season if he doesn’t work hard now, so I bet we’ll see more goals from him. But I don’t expect a lot of assists from Nketiah, because I don’t think he is a creator as Jesus and Martinelli are
come on. can’t we spot quality or lake of it any more? Eddi is a mediocre player who offers nothing special in any department. he is at best 6/10 in every quality strikers need. a good striker needs to be 8/10 in at least one department if not a few.
Have you taken a look at his recent scoring record as compared to Jesus
so what. you look at goal contribution over 100 games, not 10. like when Willock scored a few for Newcastel every one where asking how did we let him go. a few golas in a 10 games run can be a fluke. there is the question of his abilities, which are plainly mediocre. the guy can’t beat defenders, he losses all his battles, his technique is bad, his decisions are bad. so a GK through a ball at his feet and he scored, so what.
Eddie has bee scoring all his life. Check his English under 21 starts and Arsenal under 21.
He will still have this January month to show what he can do
If he can make substantial contributions to the team this month, I believe Arsenal won’t sign a new CF
OxinThe Box,This looks strongly to me as if you have a personal agenda against Eddie !
I see no other reason why you post two very similar posts within mere minutes of each other.
Sober analysis of how you use emotive language leads me to believe what I think is PROFOUNDLY TRUE.
Jon, I like Eddie, he is a nice guy and I want him to succeed. but I am an Arsenal fan and want’s to win the league, and I know Eddie is not the guy to do that.
the emotional language is because I an baffled by the inability of some fans to spot the level of playres. we have some top class young players, Eddie is not one of them.
OX etc. Thanks for the explanation. Not convinced that my mind is in any way changed though!
It’s the same we said about Xhaka, he has now proved about 98% of we fans wrong. Never say never, he could become a good goal scorer in future.
I know this is probably beyond your comprehension, but his xG of the last 3 seasons has always been very good. That means he know how to get into goal scoring positions.
And what do you know, his scoring record when he gets a start shows that. He’ll probably outscore Jesus before he returns from his injury which will make your nonsense even more hilarious.
your xG is bound to be good when you play 10 games, you are not getting into almost any goal scorring opportunities, and every now and then you get a fluke when defenders give you an easy goal (his 2 goals vs Chelsea and the one yesterday), and you get a once in a lifetime goal vs West Ham.
10 games run can not tell you about his xG.
Poachers score easy goals because they have superior positioning, anticipation, and pressing. That’s why it keeps happening.
And, no, very few players have good xGxA after about 180 minutes game time. Nketiah does.
right, Eddie is a poacher. but as far as poachers go, he is mediocre one. his positioning and anticipation are no more than 6/10 and his pressing is at best 7/10. all the rest of his qualities are 4/10 or bellow.
I don’t see him making it, not in Arsenal, but in any EPL team. that’s not his level. and the sooner we stop rely on him the better.
if your positioning and anticipation are good you reach 4-5 goal scoring opportunities in a game like yesterday, not only one, from a GK mistake. and positioning and anticipation are usualy not enough to score if you have a poor first touch and you are unable to score from anything other than a 90%+ goal scoring opportunity.
Love your made up ratings: Solid 4/10
Love to revisit you mind after 15 games..same like arteta and xhaka prove people with result.
What exactly is your problem with Eddie? Is it purely hatred or something else? Eddie Nketiah is not a fancy player but first he possess the strength of a fox, always closing down on the opposition. He scores whenever he should. What more do you want from that dude if I may ask you?
Not this “hatred” rubbish, for just expressing a less than positive opinion of a player!
Wow, couple goals and he is ready to supplant Jesus?
How soon some have forgotten what Jesus did in his first few games.
Who thinks that Saka and Martinelli would have not benefited from Jesus drawing defenders and creating space for them?
I’m glad for us and Nketiah that we continue to get 3 points, but thinking Nketiah can replace Jesus is ridiculous.
When Jesus returns let’s see then if this ridiculousness still stands.
Sheesh, score a couple goals and some go crazy. Next will be Nketiah in England squad and threatening Kane and his spot.
Let’s stay grounded and enjoy our current success and Nketiah doing well in 2 games. No need to spill fantasies and be ridiculous.
Kane took 20 minutes in a home game today to have a first touch of the ball.
Stats don’t lie. Eddie is a goal poacher than GAbi.
With the players around him, he will score more.
ZAMIND surely the whole truth is that, far from being two comparable players , they are very different types ofplayers.
I see Eddie as primarily a fox in the box , which despite his all round brillaince , Jesus definitely is not. If you ask which is the more effective player, than to me it must be JESUS.
BUT TO DISS EDDIE, AS SOME ARE DOING – NOT YOU OF COURSE – IS FOOLISH, UNJUSTIFIED AND UNFAIR.
Would it make sense to say that they have similar playing styles, but different strengths?
I think they play the position similarly, it’s just that jesus is better at the approach play, whereas Eddie is perhaps a better finisher (I’m not 100% convinced he’s *much* better to be honest) and certainly has better instincts for a goalscorer.
I think we saw some evidence in preseason that they could play very well together – I’d be interested to see them play as a strike pair at some point
DAVI No, it would NOT be fair to say that. Both have very different playing styles. Jesus is a nonstop workholic and opponet worrier with great feet , ggo dribbling skills and enormous energy but is not a deadly finisher.
Nketiah is hard working but less of an opponent worrier and less hard working than JESUS, DESPITE STILL PRESSING WELL AND CHASING DOWN WELL.
NKETIAH IS A BETTER MORE, CLINICAL FINISHER, BUT OVERALL JESUS is still a far more effective all round player. But NO real similarity between their styles at all, IMO.
.he is born to score goals unlike Jesus.
Off Topic: normality has been restored Spurs back to what we all know and love. I’d be surprised if Conte is still there come tomorrow. Nobody can save them not Mourinho, Conte or the Lord himself 🤣😭
EastLDN Gooner, it is true that there were a number of Gooners who posted on here that they wished Conte was our manager, insteadof MA at the time Conte took over at Spuds.
I ‘D LOVE TO TAKE A PICTURE OF ALL THEIR “EGGY FACES” JUST NOW!!
Look Nketiah has no reasons to fail, the support/backup he receives from his teammates and coaching staff off the pitch is just outstanding. Some people including me have doubted him but the harmony within the team is class
Ox in the box. Your assertion that Eddie is incapable of beating a player is utter nonsense as he demonstrated by scoring his excellent goal against West Ham
Excellent goal !
It was a tap in from 1 yard and he miss hit it ,which in turn sliced over the line .
Try looking at the right goal.
Yea I see my mistake there now ,thought we was talking about lasts night goal .
Depends what you mean by “beating a man” – wrong-footing someone to make just enough space for a shot is a goal-scorer thing…
What Jesus does it go past players and leave them for dead, in all areas of the field, not only in front of goal – I believe that’s what he meant about “beating” a man. Eddie doesn’t really have the skills in that department.
Are Man City better for Haaland? The stats suggest they’re not and Eddie is a similar type of player (but very much a downgrade even on Haaland). The point is that even when a striker is doing his job in spades, the team may be worse off than they would be with a different type of player who scores fewer goals but contributes much more elsewhere.
I AGREE! I ALSO THINK THE IDEA OF A SPECIFIC ONE MAIN STRIKER WHO SCORES THE VAST MAJORITY OF ALL GOALS IS NOT A GOOD THING FOR A SSUCCESSFUL TEAM.
Yet we have won our last 2 matches in which Eddie started, with him scoring on 2 occasions. I’m not comparing Eddie to Jesus, I’d still prefer Jesus tbh but Eddie is our player and he is doing well so far, the least we can do is support him. That’s not too much to ask.
Nketiah has gotten his chance to show his worth, and it sure looks like he will take it despite the pressure, that is put on him.
But nobobdy can rightly conclude anything just yet. Let’s enjoy it looks promising, and we might have a jewel in the making, if Nketiah continues to do, what he is doing right now.
He has been very, very good in his 2 starts.
Nkettia has always been a poacher. I think he’s been developed in other parts of his game since last season. That’s the reason this strict regime gave him his current contract. He can press which caused his goals against Chelsea last season and his goal against Brighton. Gabriel Jesús is only better than Nkettia in dribbling and footwork.
Gabriel Jesús was already being questioned about his scoring ability before the break. Time will tell if his pressing and footwork will cover for his inconsistency in scoring.
We still need a makeshift third striker in case of injury to Nkettia and to rest him in some games.
Eddie and jesus are a great 1 2 punch, have different strengths to thier games. More strength in depth would be nice though
Personally, I doubt that Eddie will ever replace Jesus as our central striker – but he IS improving in positioning, effort and consistancy, and will continue to do so as he gets a run this month. His confidence, sense of belonging and understanding of how our first team interacts will continue and HOPEFULLY he will be a number 2 we have no qualms about playing. No team in the league has two strikers of the same standard, and I’m sure that even Eddie understands he isn’t at Jesus’s level and possibly never will be – Jesus’s salary of £265k a week vs Eddie’s of £100k surely tells us that. All we can ask is that he keeps getting better, keeps scoring and offers us a slightly different option as a stand-in at a good standard.
Will Conte sign/stay? Hard for me to see how Conte signs a new deal at the toilet bowl!
1. spuds are a complete antithesis of conte’s philosophy that relies on an uninterrupted stream of mullah and old mature players.
2. seems like Conte’s system has been found out by some of the managers and he knows it’s only a matter of time before the entire epl owns him.
3. Levy doesnt seem interested in signing Conte’s players but club players i’e those he thinks fit the club’s philosophy which has pissed off conte going by his last interview.
Counting down the days til St Totteringhams Day, that recent stranger, bounds back into welcome view. It may not be long at all now!
Admin is right a certain level of ranting is acceptable on the threads just lay the frustrations here.
Will Eddie prove Paul Merson wrong .
I will never try and destroy any player who wears our shirt, but one can compare without doing so surely?
Eddie and Jesus are two completely different players, who bring completely different skills to the team.
When we bought the latter, he was a confirmed and successful PL player, with numerous medals to back up his cv.
The former has no such pedigree, failing to impress his former clubs, but MA saw enough in him to award a reported £100,000 a week in order to keep him on our books.
I cannot for the life of me see how that contract is a sensible one, but am quite happy if Eddie keeps scoring goals (no matter what degree of skill needed to put the ball into the net) while we await Jesus’s return.
For me, Jesus has been the main reason for the outstanding team performance this year…. his 100% commitment has resulted in every other player doing the same, including Eddie!!
If I had to choose 10 Eddies or ten Jesus’s, there would be no hesitation on my part, but good luck to both of them and their careers at The Arsenal.
Spot on Ken, you saved me writing pretty much exactly that.
Plus 1, Ken & IDKWIC.👍👍👍
👍👍
No he cannot. Jesus is more effective for a greater part of the final third than Nketiah
Can people cut Nketia some slack.
It seems like many just can’t wait for him to fails so that they can start celebrating with “I told you so”.
Lets get behind our players that are trying their best instead of trying to put them down.
Having both strikers fit and available will be a good headache for Arteta to have. Jesus has been a revelation not only by his style of play – but his winning mentality and leadership is invaluable. Nketiah is a different mould of striker who reliably scores goals primarily from inside the penalty box – but he scores them by being in position.
Jesus may be considered the main striker by virtue of his experience and fees, but there will be games where Nketiah can be more effective, which is why I am happy he is still at the club.
Bottom line: Nketiah is going to shut a lot of people up by the end of this month. The manager believes in him and the team believes in him. Time for fans to do the same.
Well said
Putting down our own, artificially inflating them is looking bad.
At some point haven’t we all been guilty of over inflating some players while downgrading others?
I am certainly guilty of this, so anyone that isn’t feel free to cast the first stone.
Hypocritical stances we have sometimes; whether Nketiah or any other player at Arsenal.
Strikers are responsible for so much more than just scoring in Arteta’s system. That’s why Jesus is thriving, Nketiah is finding success, and why Laca and Auba failed.
Can’t we be happy Arsenal is golden at the moment, rather than comparing Nketiah and Jesus?
Having Jesus and Nketiah in competition is not a headache for our Manager .On the contrary, he will be delighted.
I watched Nketiah’s 22 goals before restart of EPL and saw
1. He collected the ball from 2 goalkeepers 2ru pressing + 2 vs Chelsea.
2. Some interesting flip goals.
3. Inzaghi like goal poaching.
And I concluded we have a good backup for Jesus even though I never believed he was good enough for arsenal.
Spot on Tomi…but he won’t be backup for long…Jesus might eventually end up as a winger just like in city…
We need a striker that scores consistently whether pretty or not, and Eddie is the man….
yes he wasn’t bought from a big league for a big fee so it’s normal that he gets underated, but he is steadily growing into a dangerous striker that puts d ball in the net ….
a lot more gametime would show everyone what arteta saw before offering a new contract…
Both players are different with different skill sets. Why not keep both? To keep humility and competition within the team. Just look at how Benny went above Tommy. Both Jesus and Nketiah can play together and we guaranteed CL next season. At least, Gabriel Jesus can rest if needed to.
The fact that most of us are more eager to comment on Spurs’ woes than focus on the articles debating point pretty much says it all regarding its validity. There are so many ifs there. Will Eddie’s “red hot” form continue in the big games to come and will Jesus be able to return fully fit without any loss of movement? These are key factors which we won’t be able to judge untill at least April.
Eddie will be the breakout star for us this season….the signs are there
We have a world-class striker in the making, stats don’t lie and Eddie sure knows how to score goals right from academy days…game time is key to unleash our new no 14 great…
All d talk has been about haaland ,Nunez, Alvarez rivalry…watch Eddie get into that discussion come end of the season…
Arteta spots gems easily… Balogun and patino next in line
Nketiah is not replacing Jesus but so far he doing great with his task, scoring 2 out of 2.
We need another striker in case of injury, you can argue that Martinelli can be moved in the middle but wouldn’t that be disrupting the havoc he always creates in that left wing? I hope we can get at least 2 quality signing to help the team.
Nketiah is certainly a strong finisher but Arsenal really need another forward, the season is still long and hard for Nketiah to carry on alone.
Nketiah is certainly a strong finisher but Arsenal need to sign another forward. The season is still long and hard for Nketiah to carry on alone.
Am so far surprised at Nketia’s performances. I hope he will continue to disappoint some of us who strongly believed that we need a better striker in the absence of Jesus. Everything points to arsenal success. No fan is a looser in this situation.
Nkeitah playing style is different than Jesus which makes him a better finisher. He seems to be a “Box striker,” but he can’t create spaces or give the opponent’s defenders a hard time like Jesus.
I don’t care who is there as long as he can score and help the team; I would love to see them both scoring as long as we are getting the 3 points.
Jesus playing style is a little bit similar to Martinelli’s. With this being said, I can see that MA got many options if he is looking for something, but we need to remember that most of our left-side players are injured right now. I’m talking about Nelson and ESR .. I guess MA can’t try anything or risk the next game !