Arsenal truly missed the services of Martin Odegaard during his 6-week absence. At first, the Gunners managed to cope well without Odegaard, but as the games continued to pile up, his absence became increasingly noticeable.
It started becoming clear there was no proper link between the Arsenal midfield and attack. The Gunners lacked someone who could unlock low blocks; they lacked someone who had a knack for playing that final pass; they lacked someone who could hold to the ball and release it just at the right time; they lacked someone who was press-resistant, someone who could drop deep, receive the ball, and look to only pull off an attacking move.
While some of us argued that Arsenal already had someone who could try to offer what Odegaard does, coach Mikel Arteta was having none of it. Despite Nwaneri’s brilliant cameos, the Arsenal technical bench wasn’t prepared to fully “unleash” him, leaving some of us frustrated.
Martin Keown, a former Arsenal star, believes that Ethan Nwaneri is not yet ready. He possesses quality but may require additional time to refine his skills. He notes that the next six months will be crucial in his development. Keown expressed these sentiments while acknowledging that Odegaard’s unique skill with the ball at his feet makes his absence a big loss.
Keown admitted, “With the ball and without the ball, he’s [Odegaard] probably the most significant player in the Premier League… What Arsenal need to do now is build upon that. They haven’t been able to cope.
“It’s about the development of Nwaneri. If you give it another six months, I think he’s almost ready to replace — that’s a big call—Odegaard. He’s got a lot of ability. He’s 17, so he’s being protected.”
Keown’s claims make it simple to understand why Arteta did not assign his team’s creative burden to Nwaneri, despite fans calls.
People forget it was the Spaniard who gave Nwaneri his debut while he was still just 15 years old. He surely has a plan for the young Gunner, and we’ve got to trust him. Nwaneri will contribute significantly to this Arsenal team, as the Hale End star has already indicated in his limited time on the pitch. His time will come, and the Arsenal team then will build around him.
Daniel O
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‘Despite Nwaneri’s brilliant cameos, the Arsenal technical bench wasn’t prepared to fully ‘unleash ” him.
There’s where the gaffer problem lays, his man management craft, but the gaffer has to improve this important craft quickly.
His opposite number across the Bridge , The Italian excel in this department.
Maybe if we where in the EUROPA LEAGUE CONFERENCE Arteta would field the kids but we aint.
How does this work? Nwaneri is 17. He’s being given playing time with the first team. So what is wrong with this picture when considering that Nwaneri still has some developing to do?
Nwaneri has been the shiny new youngster that our fans have latched onto. They wanted him in in the team since last season when he was just 16 years old. And one might ask themselves, how many 16-17 year olds are in the Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man United, Spurs, Newcastle, Villa teams currently?
In football, whoever is good enough for a level is old enough. Let’s stop highlighting the fact that he’s 17. His mates are being nominated for Golden Boy and Balon D’or awards. And if Odegaard is injured and he doesn’t get a sniff, how can we know his true abilities. Where would Saka be if Emery hadn’t given him the chance at that age?
I think that’s true. We’ve basically had “snapshots” of Nwaneri so far, what we need to see is how he performs across whole games. That’s not the same as just throwing him in at the deep end regardless, but Arteta and the coaching staff, along with the fans, need to see more of him.
If Martin Keown truly said that Nwaneri would take over from Odegard in six months, it’s a faulty assumption. Odegard a raw tarlent at a tender age didn’t get to stardom overnight he went through circles. Six months is too short for Nwaneri to be that kind of star capable of taking over from Odegard he must also go through processes.
It starts from Arteta giving him more playing time, after playing 90minutes Epl games we can assess him better. Playing 90 minutes for under 18/23 is no Epl matches the demands is higher and risk greater. But Arteta need to give him more chances.
I want to see him play for 45 minutes in Epl and then we”ll see.
It’s not a question of Nwaneri replacing Odegaard, but its how our Manager can somehow integrate such a hugely talented youngster into our side.Martinelli, Jesus and Trossard have not been particularly convincing so far this season, and it does not take much imaginative thinking to use Nwaneri in a Bernardo Silva type role on the wing to improve our creativity prospects along with Odegaard.A front three of Nwaberi, Havertz and Saka could well be a solution to our failure to produce clear cut chances, particularly if they are given the freedom to interchange and negate our current predictability in attack.I don’t suppose Arteta would go along with such an idea as he seems set in his ways as far as using our wingers is concerned.I am perhaps doing him a disservice and maybe he will give Nwaneri an opportunity up front with Odegaard calling the shots as our attacking midfielder.
After seeing Oshimen trash Spurs, get him to our club asap.. Ethan is not jet ready to become a first team regular.. get Kudus from west ham for next year .
ESR was a better choice. Arteta was a fool to let him go.