Ian Wright has expressed his belief that Arsenal’s young talent, Ethan Nwaneri, is ready for more prominent involvement in the team, specifically in a playmaker role as the number 10. With Arsenal struggling to fill the void left by injured captain Martin Odegaard, who has been out since the September international break, Wright sees an opportunity for the teenage prodigy to step up and help the team’s creativity in the attacking third.
Arsenal’s attempts to cope without Odegaard have involved experimenting with different players and tactical approaches, but the team’s creativity has noticeably dipped in the absence of the Norwegian. While results have been decent, Wright feels that Nwaneri could bring the much-needed spark in the midfield, capable of unlocking defences with his skill and vision.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Wright shared his thoughts on how Mikel Arteta could utilise Nwaneri in Arsenal’s midfield:
“When I saw [Mikel] Merino, [Thomas] Partey, and [Declan] Rice – I was thinking [Ethan] Nwaneri, the youngster,” Wright said. “Against Bournemouth, you need someone who can do something [in the middle] and create something because that’s what was majorly missing.”
Wright’s suggestion to bring Nwaneri into a number 10 role would provide a different dynamic in Arsenal’s midfield. The young English talent has been gaining more game time this season, and while Arteta has been cautious not to overwhelm him with responsibility, Wright believes the 17-year-old is ready to be given more chances. He thinks Nwaneri’s inclusion could offer Arsenal the ability to beat opponents with individual skill and create scoring opportunities, something that was lacking in recent performances.
However, it remains to be seen whether Arteta will choose to accelerate Nwaneri’s development by giving him more minutes in crucial positions. The Arsenal manager has been easing the youngster into first-team action, mindful of not placing too much pressure on him at such a young age. Although Nwaneri’s potential is undeniable, balancing his development with the team’s needs will be key to ensuring his growth and long-term impact at the club.
For now, Nwaneri continues to impress when given the chance, and Wright’s call for more game time could signal a push for the youngster to become a more integral part of Arsenal’s plans, especially in Odegaard’s absence.
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Lamine Yamal keep knocking my mind while I read this article..
With the FA cup & Carabao cup always an option for using the young talent such as Nwaneri, the stakes will most likely call for not just 1 but possibly 2 youngsters. Even if was for experimenting for them with a time period of 20/30 mins. This could give them essential experience as well as for the coach to decide their mentality from concluding to further ease them into bigger games later.After all, you’ll never know if you don’t try it! The Bournemouth game was a crushing blow for us all, even though it was just with 10 men for mainly the 2nd half.
It’s not a time to panic (despite our key players not available), the players have to all gell together in which/whateveporkr setup they’ve been chosen to go by..
The main thing is to believe in themselves, work together in unison with/without ķey players. It’s sill early days in the Premier league., +verity is needed,put the past games behind and stay focused on getting the job done. This is football and anything can happen.
I seriously don’t know why Arteta is afraid of giving this youngsters a chance, I’m sure Fabregas, Saka, Walcott, Wilshire, Martinelli, all this players were youngsters and got their chances and I firmly believe that Arteta is blocking them that’s why we keep on losing so many top youngsters every season because of lack of game time and no trust at all. I’m not saying only use the kids but some of them are more then ready to step up and Ethan definitely is one of them
Miles Skelly and nwaneri have proven enough they should be given game time I think they are abit starved at the moment why should Arteta wait for an injury to introduce them.