It has been coming for a while now, Ethan Nwaneri has finally announced himself to the Premier League!
The Gunners welcomed back club football with a resounding win against Nottingham Forest. This was exactly what we would’ve been expecting after some time to reflect on our form prior to the international break.
This was a much improved performance against a team that has been punching above their weight this season. We were playing with confidence and class, moving the ball around with fluidity and a certain guile that we have become accustomed to Arsenal in recent seasons.
Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with an emphatic finish back accross the keeper, while our second came minutes into the second half from a Thomas Partey banger from outside the box. While the third one wasn’t as good as the first two, it would’ve been a very special one for the gooners indeed and also for the goal scorer himself, Ethan Nwaneri.
The Hale Ender came on as a 81st minute substitute for Martin Ødegaard and boy did he continue from where he left off. Right off the bat, he threatened the Forest backline with a lovely run, skipping away from a defender before pulling his curler a bit wide of the post. He would continue to push and eventually he got his goal, finishing from a cut back from Raheem Sterling.
Tthat goal meant that the young midfielder has become our second youngest scorer in Premier League history with only Cesc Fràbregas beating him to the record outright. Two years on from his Premier League debut, he could’ve taken that title away from the Legendary Spaniard but Arteta has had to ease him in. With that said however we would’ve been far much better in Ødegaard’s absence with him in the side.
Our hopes will be that he becomes the next Hale Ender since Bukayo Saka to establish and propel himself to stardom as an Arsenal player, We’ve had the likes of Smith Rowe, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah breaking into the Arsenal squad in recent years, but none of them showed that consistency like Saka did. Hopefully Nwaneri will follow his foot steps into Arsenal Stardom!
Will Nwaneri be the next big thing out of Academy since Saka?
BENJAMIN KENNETH.
The gaffer says he’s tempted to start the kid, Nwaneri blew away the record for the youngest ever premier league player when he came on in an Arsenal 3 nill win against Brentford, at the tender age of just 15, oh much the gaffer is just obsessed with stats.
It was wildly believe at the time for just being a vanity project for the gaffer as the manager to have given the youngest ever player his first minutes
Almost two years on the gaffer decision is looking more and more justified, with the young Englishman starting to make an impact on the first team.
Am beginning to understand his style of play, a swift drop of the shoulder as he dance past defenders bearing down on goal.
Yes he could be the next big thing coming out of Notth London
He’s the real false 9 ( not a midfielder) that can make things happen: Just too confident of himself. Let Arteta just give him more minutes. He’s played only 60 so far in his 5 appearances.
Nwaneri looks like the real deal. The only problem is he plays in the Odegaard position so will he really ever get a proper run in the team? Or maybe he can operate on the left wing for now or we try 4-1-4-1 with him and Odegaard infront of Rice/Partey. A bit OT but I’d like to see Kieran Tierney back in the team NOW! One of the best LBs we have had at this club, certainly better than Timber and Zinchenko.
i doubt Arteta will change formation and system, but I can see Nwaneri playing the left #8 (of Arteta favoured 4-3-3), he has both the creativity and eye for goal that an #8 needs, and is more direct than Odegaard, i think they can play together
He’s too small to defend. If we put him at 8 I fear opponents will be driving through our midfield at will. That said, I might be wrong given Cazorla was really tiny but still managed to play the 8 behind Ozil and do a good job.
Quantic Dream:
how much bigger than Nwaneri is Ødegaard?
Much bigger. Nwaneri is the size of Messi.
lol
@QuanticDream:
no no no.
Nwaneri isn’t in any way smaller:
height and weight.
Nwaneri also seems to have more balance and aggressiveness ( not rough play ) on the move.
Stamina is where I might have some questions . . . and that is because he hasn’t been handed the opportunity to play match after match so we see if he can survive travelling, training and running around the pitch for ten straight games whilst playing well.
I looked it up he is about 5’9” which isn’t exactly tall but may still be growing.
He certainly looks like he has the talent to be “the next big thing”. We’ll have to see how he develops over the rest of the season.
It’s a little dispiriting to read that he’d be the next big thing after Saka though – given Saka came through from the Acadamy back in the 2019-20 season.
I think the lad is a big deal for Arsenal.
I think continuing to give him sub appearances is the right way to give him minutes.
I would also sub him on as a LCM to see how he plays, and also some appearances on the wing; you know Arteta loves versatility.
Build him up so he can have a larger role for next season. A talented player with huge potential, and if developed properly, can fill a rotation spot and save the club some money in Summer transfer business.
How lucky are we that we’ll have Odegaard and Nwaneri fighting over the same position? That’s what people want a bit of depth in AM We also have two box-to-box players in Rice Merino Good squad-building
He is the next big thing from Academy. Only that Arteta is not giving him proper chances. Even when Odegard was injured and Arsenal was craving for creativity, Arteta did not had guts to play him. He just allowed the boring game and lost few points which made us so far behind in title race.
Nwaneri isn’t the ” next big thing “.
He is the current man, who will show how very large he is, if given opportunity.
He is definitely something special. I am looking forward to his continued growth. When, where and how much needs to be managed, but I hope see more of him soon. He can cause havoc running into the penalty box, he has such silky dribbling skills and great one touch passing vision. He is such a natural talent.