Eddie Nketiah is still Arsenal’s top game-changer off the bench

Is Nketiah’s Form Affected By Gabriel Jesus? by Goonerboy
Hello lovely Arsenal family, what a time to be a Gooner, a controlled, patient, and mature performance against Wolves means we are 5 points clear at the top, MIND THE GAP!  As we look forward to the World cup and the effect it might have on the players, I can’t help but think about my darling Arsenal.
Much has been said about us and our title challenge, many so-called pundits have analyzed and identified our most important players – players that, if we were to lose them, would really derail our top 4 hopes, let alone the title challenge, as we do not have capable replacements for them. If I start naming them, I might eventually call the entire first eleven, so I focus on our backup striker; Eddie Nketiah.
If we have our current starting eleven on the pitch and you take a look at the bench, you would realize that Nketiah is the most exciting option,  if you want to push it further due to recent performances, you would probably include Fabio and Nelson, but we are talking about players that can really make a difference off the bench, can Nelson consistently prove that what happened against Forest was not a fluke? Fabio Vieira, although he assisted the first goal against Wolves, still has a lot to improve, which leaves us with only Nketiah as the first option if we are chasing a game. Fabio would not have featured against Wolves if Xhaka was well in my opinion.
From the last two pre-seasons, and the tail end of last season, there has been a notable improvement in Nketiah’s game. He was also highly prolific in the Carabao cup, playing with swagger and confidence but it was not enough for Arteta to show some confidence in him. He eventually got his chance at the end when Lacazette got injured, and he was so good Lacazette could not get his place back. He proved to be a reliable outlet at the focal point of our attack, his form earned him a new 100k per-week contract. If we are being honest, most fans also supported the move as we do not want to see him leave for free.
To be fair to Nketiah, he continued to show he might be a reliable backup in his cameos earlier in the season, however, he seemed to have dropped off as the season went on and this has led me to question what could have gone wrong with our number 14? could it be inferiority complex or lack of confidence?; personally, I think the former led to the latter. I think it would be unfair to just conclude and say he is not good enough, as I am sure some are already doing.
If you are Nketiah, seeing how integral Jesus has been to our success so far,  you may begin to doubt yourself as a player, these players are humans and they have feelings too. It is a different thing when you watch Lacazette and feel like “I can do better than this guy”  and then watch a brilliant all-round animal in Jesus who has injected great dynamism and confidence into our attack, thereby raising the level of the team, you start asking yourself serious questions.
The truth is, fans are sometimes unfair when they criticize our players. An example is Kieran Tierney. I was surprised at the level of disrespect thrown at the player because of the arrival of Zinchenko, suddenly he is not good enough to play for us anymore. I feel the same treatment is being shown to Nketiah, who I think only needs a run of games and the confidence of his manager.
Now, to be honest, I always thought Nketiah would be an able backup for Jesus before the season began, but seeing as Jesus has completely transformed our attack, I now doubt if Nketiah can remotely replicate that. All our attackers are thriving around Jesus, everyone is contributing goals and assists. The quartet of Jesus, Saka, and Martinelli are well on course to produce at least 10 goals each this season, and I put that down to the impact of Jesus, even Partey and Xhaka are not left out.
That said, it does not mean Nketiah is no longer useful, I believe he can influence our games in his own way. If Martinelli is injured, Jesus can efficiently play LW and Nketiah plays CF, he and Jesus can switch positions during the game to a devastating effect making our attack fluid.
Nketiah is a talented and equally hard-working player who, in my opinion, is the best finisher on the team right now, he needs the support and confidence of his manager and fans. The wise choice is to support him, because there is no way we are getting a good striker in January, the best we can do is add a winger and a midfielder.  Nketiah is one of our own and we have to support him.
What do you think?
Goonerboy

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Tags Gabriel Jesus Nketiah

22 Comments

      1. 2/6(EL) all starts, 1/ 1(LC) however when has come off the bench in the PL he has missed chances unless you believe he can only score goals when he starts games and can’t off the bench and if that is the case he shouldn’t be 2nd choice striker at the club the size of ours.

  1. There’s no way we should be bringing a player as poor as him off the bench for us.
    He’s not good enough and never will be for Premier League.
    He’s just a bully in the kid’s game.

  2. Sooner we improve striker options the better. Nketiah is not top half PL standard
    Nelson is Championship standard

  3. He has trained and played with Lacazette/ Aubameyang/ Jesus, so he just needs more games to rebuild his confidence

    It’s good to have two highly-skilled CFs, but I still believe we need someone with stronger physical abilities on the bench

      1. I think Ivan Toney would be a perfect addition to the Arsenal team. Definitely one that I’d like to see the club approaching ASAP. Whatever you think Nketiah’s positive’s are, at this level and on his wages it’s about results, and Nketiah does not deliver them. Not by a long way. So I don’t even rate him as good enough to be No.3 striker at Arsenal, let alone No.2, for the aspirations that have been set this season so far.

  4. 5 years and there is still the question of Nketiah’s production, and if he should have a place in the squad.

    IMHO he should be showing more than what we see from him. Not worth anywhere remotely the 100k a week wages.

    It’s not bashing him It’s being honest regarding value and production. We need a plan B striker, someone who offers something different than Jesus; a strong presence in the box and aerial threat.

    Many believe if Jesus gets injured Nketiah can’t pick up enough of the slack to keep us going. I’d rather see Martinelli as striker and ESR (when returns) on LW than Nketiah as striker.

    Sorry but Nketiah should have been replaced in the Summer, juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

  5. I still rate him highly and believe he has a natural goalscoring ability like Aubameyang. I followed him from the academy days and I know even if its not at Arsenal he will do very well for himself. He scored 5 goals in 7 starts last season in the EPL and was the Carabao highest scorer. He started the season well but dropped off. I know his time will come and he’ll play a key role in our success this season.

  6. Nketiah is not a top player. He is OK, but not of the quality to play for Arsenal at the top level. Simply a fact. He is a good player but not a top player. Not like having Jota or Firmino or other quality back ups. We need depth like the big boys have. January will show if we are going to sign TOP notch players.

    1. Very true, quality not just for depth, but also for competition. We had Giroud for years with no competition or offering anything different up top. Jesus does so much, but we lack anything different in the striker position.

      IMHO this should be addressed this January or in the Summer if we hope to remain amongst the top clubs in the PL.

  7. I am in the camp that thinks Eddie is useful and on a good day, against lesser Prem teams, can at times look very good.

    But, to actually BE very good, he needs to be far more consistent than he is and achieve far more than he does. He is worth keeping but we need FAR better too, besides him and Jesus, in order to have a proper attack with at least SOME true depth. He is, in reality, well short of Jesus’s level.

  8. Unfortunately Eddie has no premier league goals this season. Now some people will jump to his defense and say he has had limited minutes off the bench but he has spurned chances in those cameos to get on the score sheet and I don’t buy that excuse as plenty of subs come and score for teams all the time unless we are saying he is only capable of scoring when he starts games which is a problem in itself especially when we trying to compete against Man City at the top of the table btw he only has 2 goals in 6 starts in the EL group stage.

    Now I would love us to try to sign Toney in January but that ain’t happening, he is too important for Brentford, so I doubt they would be willing to sell for anything less than around £60M, therefore best case scenario would be to target a goal scoring winger any of Mudryk, Trossard or Zaha would do just fine and with the return of ESR that should add the goal scoring fire power that Arteta was quoted as saying that we needed last summer.

    1. You people say he waste chances, compare his wasted chances to Jesus’ , bring out the stats, he is our best finisher along with smith Rowe, Jesus can not do two things at the same time, he cant work for the ball and also be in the box, nketiah however is very conscious of his position, he doesn’t go deep except we are defending, and that’s what a striker needs to do, he has to be present close to the box to get chances.
      Nelson is a very good natural dribbler that just needs to find his confidence and play casually, Nketiah is very good and if given the chance, is the best number 9 the club has presently, zinchenko is too weak and very hyped that I’m 200% sure tierney is better with overall chances created and defensive ability, Smith Rowe is the best number 10 we have at the club presently, no disrespect to odegaard, odegaard’s approach is very predictable while smith Rowe is unpredictable. Stats and video analysis back all these claims. Folarin Balogun is also very good if he gets some confidence and game time.
      However, nketiah and Smith Rowe I love the most, if you can’t see how good nketiah is, check his goals and technique, he’s coming to Henry’s level in terms of technical goals soon, he strikes from outside the box and in the box with a far better accuracy than Jesus, his equalizers against Everton, norwich some seasons ago is enough for you to analyze his game reading and where his confidence level can get to if given the chance.
      Do something for me and check the chance conversion rates of nketiah, Gabriel Jesus, folarin Balogun, smith Rowe, odegaard, lacazette, Walcott, aubameyang, even martinelli is going to be surprisingly ahead of Jesus… And after confirming these claims I made, please, boost up their confidence by making correct statements about them

  9. Can’t think of anything positive to say about Eddie Nketien. He’s either going to be a very very late bloomer or one very lucky dude.

  10. Let me take a case study at Arsenal under Arsene Wenger. When he bought Sylvinho from Corinthians to replace Winterburn, no one thought the homegrown Ashley Cole will come in and knock the Brazilian off the first team to be become one of the greatest leftback in history. Such things happens. Eddie Nketiah got the talent but he needs to tune in his temperament as soon as possible. Next season, Arteta definitely will buy another striker if Nketiah don’t up his game to Jesus level. The club and its prestige comes first.

  11. Hang on a minute. If NKetia comes on as sub and scores does he then start next game? I think not. He is great to have as a back up striker who can play wide and is not scared to shoot on sight. His energy and hunger is excellent. Keep doing what you do Eddie. People will always hate.

  12. I think Toney would be a great addition…HOWEVER he umis first name on team sheet for Brentford….so would he want to swap that? Who else is out there that Arsenal could buy to give competition to Jesus who would be happy knowing they will be on the bench so long as Jesus is fit? Nketiah deal at the time was very good considering no transfer fee and ensuring Arsenal can get a decent amount if they sell him to fund a new striker.

  13. Nketiah is not a good striker at all. He is too lazy, he cannot run, he is not dangerous on or off the ball, he does not open spaces to be passed and he does not share the ball with team mates. Bolagun is far better than him.

  14. Nketiah is a good striker though he has not done much this season. Given enough time on the pitch he will gain his form as to the end of last season. The manager en the entire club should have confidence in the forward since we have a long time to go to finish the season. He will assist.

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