Noni Madueke has been linked with a January move away from Arsenal, and the attacker could be open to leaving as he continues to struggle for regular game time.
Given their performances this season, it may be more sensible to give Max Dowman opportunities over the former Chelsea winger. Mikel Arteta is known for giving opportunities to players who deserve them, regardless of their status within the squad.
Madueke faces a battle for minutes
Arteta is a fearless manager, and Madueke knows he must improve if he wants to stand a chance of earning a place in the team over the coming weeks.
In January, Madueke and the club will decide whether it makes sense for him to stay, but Arteta already appears to have an idea of which decision would be best for the attacker. The player still has time to change the situation before that point arrives.
Football Insider reveals that the Spanish manager does not want to sell Madueke, even though he is struggling to offer him a guarantee of regular game time this season.
Arteta wants Madueke to fight
Arteta wants Madueke to remain at Arsenal and fight for minutes like every other player in the squad. He does not intend to entertain interest in the attacker during the January transfer window, meaning Madueke could remain part of his plans beyond the winter.
That stance gives Madueke an opportunity to demonstrate that he can compete for a place rather than looking for a move elsewhere. However, the attacker will need to make the most of the opportunities available to him if he is to convince the manager that he deserves more playing time.
Between now and January, Arteta expects Madueke to apply himself and prove that he is good enough for the team. The coming weeks could therefore be important for the attacker, as his performances and attitude may influence what happens when the transfer window opens. For now, Arsenal appear prepared to keep him, while Madueke must focus on showing why he should remain an important part of the squad.
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I mentioned this on another article.
I have my concerns over Saka’s form, and the fact that Madueke isn’t doing enough to push him is a problem.
I would love to see more of Max Dowman on the right, he is hungry for minutes and will take every opportunity he gets. I think he could give Saka a bit of a wake up call.
He’s our top earner and needs to be setting the standard. It’s okay to have a bad game here and there. But it seems like he hasn’t been the same since his injury last season.
@Kia
Our whole play goes through the right side. All the teams know that by now. So they just sit and wait, pack the right with defenders and neutralise Saka. Meanwhile Saka has been playing full matches all season. And it’s all of a sudden his fault for his drop in form. His fault if we don’t score. His fault if we lose. What about the managers lack of alternative tactics?
@ NY_Gunner, I understand your point about most of the play going down the right flank, but I think there’s more to it than just Saka. It seems Havertz also likes to play the triangles on the right side as well.
I am not blaming him for the loss against Brighton, it’s just a general observation of late. It just seems he doesn’t have the explosiveness in his legs anymore, which is why I am concerned there’s still a mental block after the long injury layoff.
Not sure if it is a mental block. He also played a lot. Only turned 25 a few days ago and 320 games already for AFC and 56 for england. 400 professional games so young, not that surprising if he would be past his peak.
If Madueke gets the kind of minutes Saka gets in the right wing, He will do much better. Saka has been playing shit football of recent, but Arteta keep using him for ninety minutea. Same thing with Hervertz over Gyokeres. You cant shine while sitting on the bench so Arteta should try to be more flexible and give everybody equal chance. Favoritism will not take Arsenal anywhere this season…Arteta beware!
I see Saka has been the new guy to dump on. We continue play a slow build up on the right side which is choked off with opposition defenders, then we expect Saka to work miracles. It’s the only tactic we use. Teams have copped on and yet we continue to force that play. Folk on here keep going on about the players, when they should be questioning the managers tactics.
The team ,as a collective, was poor against a Brighton side which pressed relentlessly and ran off the ball a lot more than we did to create spaces.Our possession based tactics are founded on players who are comfortable with the ball at their feet, but in the Premier League of today, lower profile sides such as Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth are prepared to challenge the hierarchy by putting them under pressure with their sheer athleticism .In my.opinion there is a lack of pacy players who take the game to the opposition by running hard off the ball in the Arsenal squad,particularly in midfield where Rice may be the only exception.The Manager’s tactics has delivered the Championship and got us to the European Cup final, so to point the finger at him after one drubbing would be unfair.However, teams other than Brighton, will try to emulate their swarming tactics against us and unless we bring in more athletic players, i doubt if Arteta will be able to change tactics to counteract the pressure we were under last Saturday.I may, of course be wide of the mark, and one very bad day at the office is not a crisis and i have no doubt our attitude and intensity will improve substantially when we face Leeds.
@Grandad, you are 100% on the spot with the teams that you mentioned that are willing to take bigger teams on. This is why the Premier League is the most exciting league in the world in my opinion.
Look at Brentford, they beat Chelsea 3-0. Look at City, yes they won but it wasn’t at all comfortable against Sunderland.
So I am not too worried about this result against a well drilled Brighton. I mentioned earlier that the players would rather play as soon as possible to right the wrongs from that game, but I am sure Arteta will enjoy the break in order to analyze this, as I am sure other teams will try replicate that performance against us.
We need wingers that can step up and produce, Looks pretty short-sighted selling Martinelli without having cover and pace as a replacement.
Production wise Dowman running circles around the other wingers, interesting to see if he gets chances; opportunites come from play and production, or so I have heard.
Not calling for Max to be a starter, but bench Saka and let him watch Dowman and Madueke have a go, Saka has been terrible lately, but apparently undroppable.
Same for Havertz; both are virtually undroppable, even if carrying a niggle. I wonder how Madueke and Gyokeres responded if given a run of games; would they have a short lease and dropped next match, or given patience to play through their doldrums like Saka and Havertz?
Martinelli sale looks so disappointing. He was fast, he was still young (only turned 25 this summer) he loved the club and planned to stay forever and was pushed out of the club. He was mayhe not world class but was capable of magic. He scored against city for example last yzar and maybe saved us the title. He paid the price because arsenal does not succeed in selling players (contrary to Chelsea for example) and we lost money on many (vieira, kiwior., Nelson…) while sometimes overpaying others : we got konsa for 54m while city got Guehi for 20m or got Madueke for almist the same price as semenyo.
We now have just three natural wingers in the squad: Tzolis, Saka & Madueke, with Eze being more suited as an attacking left mid and Dowman, who’s not even a squad member, now being groomed as a central attacking mid, and rarely chosen as a starter anyway, so it would be rather unwise to get rid of Noni. Given that he can play effectively on both sides, he’s become quite important (IMO).
Spot on Jax.Dowman will hit the heights as an attacking midfielder, not as a winger imo.It will of course take him a year or two to fill out physically to enable him to withstand the rigours of the Premier League week in, week out.
Grandad, I think he’s going to be quite a physical specimen, as he’s already a strapping six-footer.