Could Nketiah’s emergence be the difference between fourth & fifth?

Alan Smith claimed that Eddie Nketiah is doing ‘fantastic’ work leading the Arsenal attack at present, but would we still be on course for fourth without him?

Alexandre Lacazette tested positive for Coronavirus ahead of the clash with Southampton, and while we lost that the match of his first start this term, he has been impressive in helping us to three straight wins since.

Alan Smith claims that the timing of his revival could have been ‘just at the right time’, and given his role in our win over Chelsea to get back to winning ways, it is hard to disagree.

“Nketiah’s emergence has come just at the right time for Arsenal,” Smith said on Sky Sports (via TBR).

“Because Alexandre Lacazette looked like he’d done all he could do this season.

“To come in and do what he’s done is fantastic.”

Thinking about it, Lacazette has never played as much regular football since joining the club, regularly being a substitute or coming off after 60-70 minutes for much of his time in north London, and we may now see the main reason why.

On Eddie however, it is refreshing to see him doing so well in the side, and we can hopefully put off the distraction of his current contract, although if we are lucky, he will play his heart out in hope of earning a key role in our playing squad.

Without those wins over Chelsea, United and most recently West Ham, we would likely be out of the race for fourth, and possibly even at risk of dropping out of the European places altogether.

Could Nketiah prove to be the difference between us playing Champions League football or not? Should we be trying to persuade him to stay?

Patrick

CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, please contact us through this link

Video – Mikel Arteta Talks about Arsenal’s massive win over West Ham, injuries and the team’s “character”

Tags Alan Smith Eddie Nketiah

13 Comments

    1. I agree that we need to look at the bigger picture. I’ve always felt he’s not good enough, but to be fair, hasn’t often started games. We also have to accept that young players are still developing and that maybe that’s part of his recent improvement in performances.

      We still need a top quality striker in the summer, but I am gradually be convinced that Nketiah would make a decent backup.

  1. Nketia should stay. The coach has always said it. now is his turn. these last few games plus pre-season should enable him to lead the line like any other top striker.

  2. well he never actually got his chance has he? and still hasn’t but think it’s stupid to loose him for free try to tie him on a contract imo. possible gem but lomg way to go.

  3. Mikel is working wonders with his players. Real magic from the magician. who would have dream of Eddie to the rescue, a solid Xhaka, etc?
    Join me in congratulating Nelson for reaching double digits in goals and assists.and wish him well to win the conference cup!

  4. They have all played as a collective with every one of them contributing in their own way, it will be rather unfair to the likes of BS, ESR, GM, MO, KT, AR & many others if one player is given the credit for everything they have all achieved this season. As our game against West Ham showed, this is a team and not a collection of individuals, our 2 goals came from our centerbacks. Surely EN is an exciting prospect but don’t hang him out to dry so fast, these mouths that are saying these shall be the ones to crucify him tomorrow.

  5. What about those that contributed throughout the season to get us into this position?
    Everyone has contributed a certain amount when called upon.

    How many games has Nketiah played for us this season? And how many points has he won for us in the last 34 games?

    Auba contributed and fell off , Laca came in, contributed and fell off, then Nketiah has come in, is contributing until the period he might fell off..
    We don’t know.

    Lets just stay humble, we still have a another tricky period to navigate. Lets concentrate on the prize (Top 4) then if we achieve it then we can start handing out our subjective trophies..
    Top 4 is still a long way off. Lets relax, focus and concentrate.

  6. We should work to get Nketiah’s contract renewed after all he’s only 22 and has more room to improve as a back up striker. He will get chances to play in the league, FA, League Cup and Cl.

    As for Laca, we should let go as his time is up. Laca’s goal tally for 180k a week is robbery.

  7. Yeah! we can give him contract as a backup and not as main striker. Even at that, games should be giving to players for their improvement

  8. Collectively his contribution is timely.

    And his efforts from all indications is an A grade keeping Laca out of the team, he has really made significant improvements in recent time and his efforts already helps to put us in the driving seat.

    He looks the best number nine we have on current form, once we continue as a team that will make the difference landing in this elusive spot

  9. If he helps us secure UCL with continue good form absolutely we should be looking to keep him around to supplement the top tier striker I trust we will be bringing in. Ideally, the lure of UCL football and having seen he now has the confidence of the manager will be enough.

    Again, provided he continues to perform well. It’s still a relatively small sample size but early returns have been pretty good and hopefully he can keep it up.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors