Five games into the season, ahead of Tottenham’s visit to the Emirates, we’ve found ourselves debating about a lot of issues, most notably Arteta’s team selection. One major debate we’ve had is over who should lead the attack: Gabriel Jesus or Eddie Nketiah.
We all know that Arsenal paid out a good sum of money last summer to get Jesus off Man City, and Eddie may not be respected as much because he came through our academy, so Arteta didn’t have to win a jackpot at an online casino Canada real money website to bring him into the squad, and his place in the team has always been the subject of heated debate.
Gabriel was injured at the start of the season, so Nketiah was left to lead the Arsenal attack. He did a good job of it, scoring two goals in four starts. Anyway, even if he displayed a flash of brilliance in guiding our attack, we just weren’t efficient. Apart from squandering numerous chances, he failed to inspire our fellow attackers, and as a result, we haven’t scored many goals this season.
That said, Gabriel Jesus got his first start of the season on Wednesday in the Champions League, and bang! We had three goals by halftime, all of which were scored by our forwards (Saka, Jesus, and Trossard). That’s no coincidence.
Unlike Eddie, the Brazilian understands how to impact our aggressive play. Even though his last-minute goal against Manchester United suggested otherwise, he appears to be the key to our attacking approach. Ian Wright, one of our legendary goal scorers, recently stated that Gabriel Jesus should just play whenever he is available, remarking that the Brazilian elevates our attack to new heights. Wright tells Nketiah to take his chances, but it may be difficult to displace Jesus from a starting berth because he is so good.
He said on his Wrighty’s House podcast, “If I’m Eddie (Nketiah) and I’m in Eddie’s shoes, I make sure that when I’m on there, whatever half chance I get, I take it, and I’m ruthless with it. Because if this guy is fit, he must play. He brings it to another place.
“I’m not saying this as a knock to Eddie, but he has to do something like that so people aren’t so worried when Jesus isn’t around. Jesus is an entity on his own with the way he’s playing.”
He added:
“His work rate, his finishing, everything he does—that is his main strength. Eddie’s is taking chances. He could’ve had a couple more at the start of the season to put him into that, and he has to do that, because if Jesus continues like he is, there is no conversation; he’s so good.”
We have a North London derby to win on Sunday afternoon, and after the 4-0 success over PSV, hopefully Arteta will start with a Trossard, Gabriel, and Saka attack, which was so effective against PSV, and we can expect to see Eddie on the bench again for when Jesus needs a rest.
