Very hard to make an impact as a sub when the team is chaotic in the game and in bad form overall.
He needs to get starts in every cup comp and in the odd league game, not just 5-20 mins as a sub here and there. Yesterday he obviously got more time to impact the game which is fair enough, but often he gets brought on around the 84th minute which is a complete waste of time development wise.
Thatās what I felt too. Against Everton, the first 11 themselves looked bereft of ideas and sharpness. Expecting Nwaneri to have any impact in such a situation is unrealistic. Ideally, we should bring him on when we are comfortably winning and thereās no pressure on him to do anything. Or play him from the start, if Mikel thinks heās ready for that.
What mainly irritates me about him and the way his plays atm is his positioning, but I think thatās more down to Arteta than him.
Just as against Newcastle he did the same the other dayā¦ Why is he spending so much time in the box in the crowded areas as if he some kind of 9? Heāll pull off some finish, win a header? What is Arteta expecting of him there?
When you look at his profile as a player thereās no way he wants to play there. Iām sure he wants to recieve the ball much deeper where he can face players and take them on, try to find some positions to shoot outside of the box.
Itās a tragedy to see him in the crowded box while that area just outside the box is empty and he should be asking the ball there.
Again, Iām totally blaming Arteta here. Even if Ethan was doing that himself Iād be screaming at him to get outside of the box, but I donāt think Arteta is doing that.
Playing is such a way makes him totally useless and pointless on the pitch.
I think youāve misprofiled the kid. That is who he is. Heās closer to a second striker than a midfielder. Itās why he gets in the box so often and often tries his luck at goal.
Heās played up top for club and country before too.
Yeah, Nwaneri is much more a Palmer type shadow striker than he is a playmaker. He is very much more a final third predator than a creative hub like Odegaard. His time on the ball in deeper positions will be significantly less than Odegaard who will scan and take more touches.
Essentially what Fabio Vieira was brought in to do (according to Edu).
This is why when @SuperArsenal1886 says to bring in a striker and it magically fixes our problems, refer to this kind of performance for a guy that he thought should be playing more.
This is exactly what is expected from a young player. Peaks and troughs are to be expected for someone so young. Saka was never as influential (as he is now) at a similar time in his career and it would be naive to believe Nwaneri can drag us out of the shit like some think.
He has a Carlos Vela role in the team whereby itās great to bring him on when a game is well and truly won. It slowly builds confidence for the player and he gets the minutes he needs.
To be fair to him when youāre throwing him in the game in a team that doesnāt have a fluid, cohesive attack thatās what you can expect
Could easily be the same for a more seasoned player, playing Nwaneri in a well oiled attack could potentially produce different results
Donāt think many have been asking or expecting him to save the day in what has typically been limited minutes
Foden is the closest example for me.
Would have preferred to see him replace Merino vs Everton but unsure if Ode went off due to injury.
Even if he was a second striker/scorer he shouldnāt be in those positions in those situtions.
Never said he was exactly like Ode. But no matter how you look at him a small technical, skilled, dribbler like him, who also has a great strike from half distance shouldnāt be battling with opposition CBs in a crowded penalty are while our wingers have the ball and while the space around the box is empty.
His positioning was totally off.
Foden just confirms what Iām talking about.
When City are after a goal heās the main guy who creating stuff around the box and scores a ton of goals from those positons. He acted nothing like Foden (positonally) although he should.
If you even go further and take him as a Messi-esque player, you donāt want Messi battling with CBs while have the ball up the pitch. Heās the guy to drop deeper and make stuff happen.
I think itās Arteta trying to help Saka get further up the field by having Nwaneri drag a couple of defenders away.
Try a midfield of Nwaneri - Partey - Odegaard for one game against a set of park the bus cunts.
Letās see how it works. Rice for partey if they have an energetic midfield with a threat on the break.
They have when nothing has worked in the past (demanding that he plays to help with a result).
Itās also why he gets the āVelaā role and should only be relied on when things are going well. The problem herein lies with a number of other aspects which have been spoken about to a good degree already on this forum.
The solution isnāt binary in that Nwaneri is good = Arsenal do good. And itās exactly the same as saying that X striker is good = solves Arsenalās problems. It certainly helps of course but it not so black and white as it absolutely does. Which is why I am not surprised that when Nwaneri does get minutes in the team, it doesnāt always result in a good performance.
The criticism of Nwaneriās appearance on Saturday is proof in itself why it was correct that he didnāt feature heavily in the 7 weeks Odegaard was out.
The bigger negligence was coming into this season with only Nwaneri as a potential backup, quite ridiculous really.
Until I see Nwaneri put in consistent shit performances week after week like some of our seniors have, Iām not gonna be critical of him.
One bad performance doesnāt undo all the good ones heās had so far.
The senior players & Arteta should be ashamed of themselves that theyāre relying on a kid to save their season.
Relying on two kids if you include MLS.
The team isnāt trying to rely on a kid. The Nwaneri pressure comes from the fans.
and we simply think getting Gyokeres will solve our scoring issue also.
Arteta canāt win in this situation. If he plays him, he is relying on him. If he doesnāt play him, he isnāt putting faith in him and helping him to developā¦when Odegaard was injured loads of fans were complaining that Arteta wasnāt using him as his direct replacement. He was given a good 30mins on Saturday to try to have an impact on the match, and it didnāt happen. For what it is worth, I thought it was the right sub on Saturday as Odegaard was usually having a stinker!
I agree in that Odegaard was disgustingly bad and needed to be subbed. But my point about the players relying on him is more from the angle of āwhy canāt these players show Nwaneri, MLS etc what the standard is here at Arsenalā.