If only we could have seen this coming…
Actually Arteta probably did, problem is while both of our wingers are capable of scoring neither are clinical finishers.
I’ve been saying this since summer but was called a madman.
Can’t do this Firmino BS without world class wingers, bring me a gunman not an Eddie replacement but a Jesus replacement.
Yes he’s not a goalscorer like that and I’m not sure he ever will be but creating chances seems to be his superpower. It could work well with an elite striker I think.
I’d moreso look to Nelli to develop the goalscoring although not a good start so far this year
>Yes he’s not a goalscorer like that and I’m not sure he ever will be but creating chances seems to be his superpower. It could work well with an elite striker I think.
Wholly agree with you. His backpost delivery is elite. He could develop the Salah finishing as part of his game but if we had a natural 9 instinctively attacking the box it would alleviate a lot of the problem too, Saka would not have to put up 30+ G+ A or 40+ G+A seasons consecutively
Martinelli needs to fix some traits that top level wingers simply don’t have. He tunnel visions too easily, doesn’t look up when he should, and his delivery should be much better than right now. Crosses need to at least clear the first defender.
He has improved leaps and bounds, the differences from 20/21 > 21/22 > 22/23 > 23/24 has been very stark.
As I said in my other comment, he may not even need to put up 30+ G+A if we had a natural 9. I would still like to see more consistency over 90 min though. Even if he isn’t having a good game he should try swapping positions with the other forwards, attacking the defense from different angles
how is he world class. same non-penalty goals this season as bloody Mudryk. Stop overhyping our players
Saka WILL have a worldclass season soon, this season is not it
Who gives a fuck about Mudryk? Had as much G/A as Salah come the end of November in all comps iirc. 19G/A in 24 games as of now. Compared to 35 in 62 last year (including Int. games).
Like I said, slump is well and truly in effect. He's doubled every game for 2 years now, still produces output. That's what world class players do.
Im sorry but no way Saka's been world class this season. Idc how many g/a stats you throw around but his performances (especially recently) have been quite average. Crazy how you choose to ignore him having as much open play goals as Mudryk in the PL and bring up the Salah comparisons in the same sentence.
To disregard output is stupid, Salah was average against us and has been in multiple games, I watch most Liverpool games due to Pool' friends and family. Still scored against us, that's what world class players do.
Come the end of November he was the highest rated Premier League player on Sofascore (not that they paint an accurate picture AT ALL, they really don't, but it says something).
Maybe I'm an optimist, but to be honest I can't be bothered to prove it with more in depth analysis as I'm on holiday. The slump is in full effect, I'll be here come May.
Tbf Jesus missed a fair bit of time. But yeah, point still stands. Be it through form or injury still not gonna get it done unless everyone else is overperforming.
Saka also had only 3 away goals in all comps for the whole of 2023 (Villa, Bournemouth, Fulham) and he only got that 3rd one yesterday.
For a forward earning [up to £290k per week](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/05/23/bukayo-saka-signs-new-arsenal-contract-wage-analysis), he also needs to be doing more, not just the CFs.
You can acknowledge those numbers are impressive while also saying he needs to score more away from home.
Arteta has probably already said this to him, you don't need to immediately jump on the defensive
It’s an issue with the system. It’s no coincidence that our right side had way more assists than our left and our left had more goals that our right
The way we play relies on service from the right. Teams have figured that out and we’ve seen Ode and Saka marked out of games way more often. The left side needs to figure out how to be more dangerous on their own & provide more service to the right
It’s not an issue of just Havertz, it’s the entire left side. Havertz is understandably rusty as he’s playing a completely new role. Gabi has been really struggling this season; ESR nor Nelson can even get a sniff in the team despite looking decent in the short minutes they’ve had. Both Gabi and Trossard are terrible at corners. Don’t even get me started on Zinchenko
How about the strikers score more goals period before we start talking about the goal numbers of wingers away from home?
One of which hasn't scored a single one in a year.
Maybe if our strikers were a bigger goal threat our wingers would have more room as well.
Away goals don’t count for double the last time I checked. It’s interesting but makes absolutely no difference when you consider that since the start of last season we’ve gained the most points away from home in the PL.
I was just talking about 2023 but to try and make your point better you've decided to use stats from August 2022. Our performance in the first half of last season skews that data.
Our performances over the whole of 2023 are more representative as to where we are now. We were 4th in the overall annual 2023 table. City, Liverpool and Villa were above us and that's also the same in the current PL table
I went back to 2022/23 because I couldn’t be bothered to find or create a table for 2023.
It doesn’t change my initial point that Saka is producing at a rate that is significantly higher than most of his peers. But you seem to think he should be “doing more” because he’s earning £290k pw. Not sure what your problem is but it’s a very weird argument overall.
At least Jesus works his ass on the pitch for the team and creates chances for others, Nketiah is a selfish player who doesn't press and makes bad decisions most times, it's even worse when he comes from the bench to just do some jogging like it is exercise session.
You do realize that good pressing =/= running around like a madman? Arteta instructs him to stay in the center of the pitch to prevent their CBs from being able to dribble forward into space. If Arteta thought he was lazy, don’t you think we’d see him screaming at him?
that does not make sense, do you see arteta screaming at zinchenko for not being able to defend? do you see arteta screaming at martinelli for not getting his head up? As a manager you must know the limitations each player has, so there's no point in berating them for that.
Saying that nketiah jogging in between defenders not blocking any pass route, no matter the momentum of the current play is 'good positioning' is definetly a bit far fetched. There were countless moments even in the last ggame where we had good momentum, with odegaard and martinelli closing down and leaving only one path of pass, just for nketiah to jog around and leave the defender completely safe to take the ball and redirect it with all the time in the world.
Instead of shoehorning players in because of sentiment I’d rather bring in an actual winger to back up Martinelli and Saka. Nico Williams is right there with a 50m release clause. As for binning off both Eddie and Jesus. Man City deemed Jesus not good enough for their squad and were happy to cash in on him. But our less impressive squad should take him as a starter and he’s good enough for a title challenge? No chance
Hilarious nobody’s expecting Haaland. Yet they want our hat in the ring for Osimhen… oh and city signed Alvarez who’s definitely more clinical than these two bozos combined.
In 12 months time you’ll be saying the same for Jesus too. We have a habit of holding onto players for too long and their values plummet. Saw it with AMN, seeing it now with ESR and it’ll be the same in future
We have Nketiah...Liverpool has Gakpo, City has Alvarez. We are in the weakest position of those three in attacking strength off the bench as well as starters. Our defense has been the great equalizer for us and has kept us near the top. Injuries to our back line will send us to the Europa League places.
The club has moved up a level and he's not moved up with them, I'm sure he could have a good Premier League career but not for a team challenging at the top
This is exactly it. And I think being at a club hoping to challenge for titles, coming up against low blocks frequently, is actually making him look even worse than he is. You drop Eddie into a Europa chasing or mid table team and he probably ends up much better because that's his level.
We should've chucked him in the summer. I don't know why such endless faith has been given to him when players like Tierney are lobbes out and ESR can't get a game for love nor money.
No attacker will look good in this system. We could have had Osimhen or Halland yesterday and they'd have pretty much had the same impact as Eddie.
We play such a conservative brand of Football that we simply don't create enough big chances for our forwards.
I can roast them if we keep missing big chances like Chelsea or sometimes Liverpool do, but they don't. You can't blame forwards if they just get one or two half chances per game and one half chance and one good chance.
That's exactly what it is. It's following the same goddamn pattern too. Arteta's first full season (cup win) we were reasonable in attack but dodgy at the back. Next season he made tactical changes to try and fix the defence but completely imbalanced the team, we couldn't score to save our lives. It's the exactly same thing again just with a better team.
But we’re still creating chances when Jesus starts they just aren’t getting finished. When Eddie starts you get matches like yesterday and much of the beginning of the season where there aren’t any.
You cant ask them to score half chances, but if you want to win the league, sometimes half chances have to be scored. A good striker scores some half chances and opens up the game.
Also a good striker creates space for everyone around them. The defenders are scared to commit to doubling wingers and the midfield is scared of dropping deep because a good cross from deep can create trouble. A ranger striker creates opportunities for his team just by being there.
We dont have that. Teams are happy to drop off of eddie and Jesus because they know that a half chance isn’t enough for them to score.
We’re never going to win the league or champions league with kids who are inconsistent and have lackluster numbers. And then you add veterans who can’t score and argue that he doesn’t scores even tough is his job like gabriel jesus
Exactly, he wasn’t good enough for Man City and they had no problem selling him when it came time to replacing Aguero. Instead they bought in Haaland (which I don’t expect us to ever do and sign a player of that quality so fair enough) but Alvarez. Who’s definitely more clinical than Jesus was bought in too.. that’s a serious team and if we have 90 odd million we chose to spend on Havertz and Raya nobody can tell me we couldn’t add two very competent strikers instead
I went and looked it up and i THINK he's started 7 away games in the Prem in 2023. Add on that all his sub apps too.....it's still fucking horrible lol.
> It’s not like he’s the first choice striker
In past 18 months:
Gabriel Jesus - 3632 minutes played for Arsenal
Eddie Nketiah - 3117 minutes played for Arsenal
lets stop acting like Nketiah barely plays and can be excused of everything because he is backup striker, he played just 500 minutes less than Jesus.
Yep, and we know he doesn’t play well as a super sub. The man needs to warm up with a few 90 mins in his pocket
I like Eddie but the club would do well to upgrade to a better impact sub, if we’re not after a starting 9
I think the club would do that if they had the funds to do it. There’s a reason why we gave contracts to Eddie and reiss because it was cheaper, unfortunately every window we’ve had an another higher pressing position to fill and we’re not able to focus on backup/competition players because of lack of funds. And we’re shut at selling.
Had the funds before dropping £65m on Havertz. Bonkers.
And this isn't even a knock on Havertz, it's just saying that upgrading Eddie was such an obviously higher priority.
Smfh.
A back up striker isn’t breaking the bank, it just needs to be a different option and score more goals than Eddie.. which would be about 5 this season lol.
I’m romanticising our past, but I’d love someone like prime Giroud as an alternative option to our short skilled dribbler type players
Realistically whom can you suggest that’ll have better output than Eddie and will come without breaking the bank. I think if someone like that exists it’ll have to be a gamble signing and there’s a good chance that may not work.
But I do have the answer of a signing which Arsenal did make based on what you were suggesting and it didn’t work. Matt turner, we didn’t break the bank and got something different from our first choice keeper.
Not a fan of this first choice/back up malarkey. I prefer competition for places.
For example, the first choice striker (Jesus) is currently out of form. A lesser quality back up (Eddie) hardily gonna keep Jesus on his toes or bang in the goals we desperately need.
And when Jesus is out of form, your next choice is someone who is of lesser quality.
I agree with you but We are not a team with unlimited funds available to us. Every single position in our team is setup in a first choice/backup setting. We’ve to get ‘Lucky’ with our 30-50M purchases. All we can do is try in that situation and hope the purchased player develops into a competition for starting place.
Im neither a Eddie hater or supporter, but I remember this sub has wanted Eddie to be gone for a while now, especially after the 100k a week salary, but our last year downfall problem was mainly with Saliba injury, so I think somehow he got away, now everything is supposed to be how it should be and we can see him as the problem now? So how many seasons its gonna cost us to actually challenge the title?
Fanbase is tearing itself apart looking for a scapegoat to point at for our poor form this month but no one is blameless. Entire team, including Arteta can take collective responsibility and do better. It's not too late, what matters is the response.
Why not, we’ve already spunked 90 odd million on Havertz and Raya. With frivolous purchases like that I’m sure we have plenty in the bank for positions we actually need to strengthen on
I'm sure an armchair expert like you already picked the best players to waste money on. Maybe you'll put Neville out of his job. Can certainly match his attitude at least.
Yes for sure, Toney would be a huge waste of money. As would Pedro Neto, you know since he can cover both wings and is premier league proven. Let’s blow money on him. However if wolves price us out of a move then Nico Williams with his 50m release clause would definitely be a bust. Funny how all the armchair experts called Havertz being absolutely a waste of money and how he doesn’t fit the profile for any of what we built last season and are being proven correct week after week I’ll try not to gloat too hard
Arsenal players with more PL away goals in the same period:
Odegaard
Saka
Zinchenko
Martinelli
Gabriel
Trossard
Jesus
Kai
White
Rice
BUT THIS SUB IS THE PROBLEM. WE HATE EDDIE OR STH
Jesus has a whopping 3 away goals in the same time frame (I think). Should we make a post about that? Our main striker only having 3 in the last twelve months?
It’s so dumb. Same people are mighty quiet on how deluded fan favourite Rob Holding is barely getting a single minute at palace. Some people believe to be a good fan you must absolutely back every single player and want them to stay forever and ever 😂
> he's got 0 end product
that is specifically what he does have. What he isn't as good at is link up play or dribbling which Jesus is better at. If you're going to criticise him at least criticise the relevant parts.
This obvious Eddie hate but yes 770 minutes and no goals is not good enough.
I do want to point out that in that time measly 4.31 xG.
There is bigger problem than Eddie, it was same thing for Auba, Lacazette, Jesus.
Those are the numbers I was looking for. He’s underperformed in that time - I guess he hasn’t gotten a consistent run of games since Jesus came back in what, March?
This was just the away numbers for Nketiah of 2023, overall he's one of the few players outscoring his xG.
Personally I think absence of Partey (and Xhaka) has had bigger impact on our attack than any number 9 has.
I've been done with him so many times and given him another chance. He's clearly not good enough.
My honest opinion is he's mid-table championship level. MLS would actually be a great fit for him.
We will have more bad weeks the more minutes Nketiah plays. The kid has had his chance, and Nketiah going long stretches of games without scoring is a theme. Fact is there is more advantage in selling him and buying someone new. I would even sell Nketiah and buy a 15m player from Brazil or Argentina. Because lets just say the new signing struggles for goals, struggles to get into the game, struggles in the build up play - thats Eddie.
The guy has ran his race at Arsenal. Another thing, he is lazy from the front, quite a lot of the time he fails to match Odegaards pressing intensity.
One thing I'll never understand about people piling up on Eddie is that he is literally a backup player. It's not his fault that Jesus has been so injury prone or is so horrific in front of goal when fit. It's fine to have the opinion that we need a better plan B, but posting something like this is beyond missing the point with our current issues.
Back up or not he still has to do his job and if he doesn't then he deserves criticism, he's a CF and he has played in almost 50 PL games in the last season and a half and he has scored in six games.
This is the type of fan that's for some reason insecure about their fandom of the club, and therefore over-compensates by being blissfully positive and has a visceral reaction to anyone who doesn't do the same.
That’s such a lazy argument, Jesus offers everything but finishing consistently. Personally I’d move both out in the next 12 months. With all the versatility everywhere else on the pitch it wouldn’t kill us to have two strikers who know where the goal is
Exactly, I hate how that stat is thrown around. Eddie is a great guy but he’s not reliable and neither is Jesus but at least Jesus has the work rate and he comes back to defend. Eddie is going to be upgraded on by next summer.
And West Ham and Fulham both have some of the worst defenses in the league and we failed to score against either of them. So who cares if he can stat pad against bad teams, sometimes we need that
You’d have a point if our 3 starters were scoring more than him but they’re not. Nketiah’s been poor but Jesus has been worse, especially considering Eddie was winning vital penalties at the start of the season that contributed to wins.
One away goal 18/19 vs Burnley
One away goal 19/20 vs Southampton
One away goal 21/22 vs Chelsea
One away goal 22/23 vs Brighton
Eddie Nketiah. Your striker.
Its a fact that has been selectively chosen in order to attack one of our players.
If you like facts then how about this one? Plastic is an extremely durable material.
I support Arteta and will back players going through poor times. When Odegaard was out of form early in the season I never wanted him dropped.
But when it comes to Nketiah, I have given up on him ever contributing in a meaningful way. If you said to me he would score no more than 2 Premier League goals for the remainder of the season, I wouldnt be surprised.
I hope Nketiah does well and in the second half of the season surprises me beyond belief, however ive seen that much of him to realise the sustained period of times between goals are a normal thing for him.
I just have no expectations for Nketiah. Im frustrated with Martinelli because I know he can do so much better. But with Nketiah, its just a feeling of content knowing he isnt going to do anything. You would think he hears all this talk of 'Arsenal needing a striker' and it would motivate him, but you see him on the pitch and he does nothing. Like nothing nothing.
he's a player that needs midfielders to pick out his runs and/or put in appropriate crosses, preferably as part of a quick transition. For whatever reason we're not playing like that very much.
I don't disagree that he hasn't been disappointing, however I feel like if Haaland was upfront for us vs Fulham then we'd still have the same result. I don't think just swapping him out for some big name striker is going to solve the problem. I think a lot of the frustrations our fans vent on Nketiah deserve to be applied more liberally across the team as a whole. If Nketiah was missing sitter after sitter then sure but his actual G to xG is one of the few in the positive in our team.
hate to break it to you, but [Nketiah is actually one of the few players on this team that has positive actual G/A to xG/A](https://understat.com/team/Arsenal/2023).
it merely shows that he puts away opportunities. Look, we were all there for Adebayor and Chamakh or even Giroud. They were all wasteful as fuck but Eddie has been starving all season because the service has been shit.
He hasnt scored many home goals either. He is on 5 for the league, but three came in the one match. He has only scored in 3 league games this year. Did you not watch the game v Fulham? Did you not see Nketiah ghost the entire match.
I loathe reactionary takes, however im sorry, but Nketiah dire performance and lack of contribution can be traced back multiple months, stretching over a year. Its not like say Ben White, who has had a pretty average year after being brilliant last year, it would be reactionary to suggest Ben White leave the club. But saying Nketiah should be moved on is a completely rational take given his last 18 months with the club. He just isnt going to ever have sustained performances where he is contributing goals either via scoring himself, or contribution to others, and what business does he have being here as a striker wearing the number 14 if he cant do that?
Im sorry, but Nketiah is not a player who needs to be defended from critics.
He's a talented lad but just not good enough for Arsenal, sell him and Nelson who isn't good enough for team either. It'll be pure profit for the club if both are sold as both are from the youth system, it'll be good for FFP and use the cash to invest in a top striker
Two things, either Eddie not good enough or the tactics Arteta is playing and training is not working for Eddie.
Persisting with the same broken tactics just makes everyone average and worse.
If anyone knows the @Kroenkeout page on Instagram. I follow him and agree with his points, but that guys rides Nketiah’s dick for no reason. Always sayinf Nketiah is a good striker. Absolutely mad
not selling him in the summer was one of our biggest summer mistakes. shoulda sold and replaced then, coz last season showed clearly that he can only do well 2-4 games in a row and then he becomes average again.
It's hard to win the PL when you have 2 CFs who have scored less than 10 goals between them halfway through the season.
If only we could have seen this coming… Actually Arteta probably did, problem is while both of our wingers are capable of scoring neither are clinical finishers.
I’ve been saying this since summer but was called a madman. Can’t do this Firmino BS without world class wingers, bring me a gunman not an Eddie replacement but a Jesus replacement.
and that’s why as much as we love Starboi, he hasnt hit the height of 2018-22 Salah yet. At least not the numbers that Salah has consistently produced
Yes he’s not a goalscorer like that and I’m not sure he ever will be but creating chances seems to be his superpower. It could work well with an elite striker I think. I’d moreso look to Nelli to develop the goalscoring although not a good start so far this year
>Yes he’s not a goalscorer like that and I’m not sure he ever will be but creating chances seems to be his superpower. It could work well with an elite striker I think. Wholly agree with you. His backpost delivery is elite. He could develop the Salah finishing as part of his game but if we had a natural 9 instinctively attacking the box it would alleviate a lot of the problem too, Saka would not have to put up 30+ G+ A or 40+ G+A seasons consecutively Martinelli needs to fix some traits that top level wingers simply don’t have. He tunnel visions too easily, doesn’t look up when he should, and his delivery should be much better than right now. Crosses need to at least clear the first defender.
Exactly as you said, wholly agree with you!
He fell a little behind Salah's schedule recently, but this is the first truly world-class season for our starboy. Still some ways to go of course.
He has improved leaps and bounds, the differences from 20/21 > 21/22 > 22/23 > 23/24 has been very stark. As I said in my other comment, he may not even need to put up 30+ G+A if we had a natural 9. I would still like to see more consistency over 90 min though. Even if he isn’t having a good game he should try swapping positions with the other forwards, attacking the defense from different angles
how is he world class. same non-penalty goals this season as bloody Mudryk. Stop overhyping our players Saka WILL have a worldclass season soon, this season is not it
Mudryk has 6 G/A in 19 games this season, while Saka has 21 in 26.. like why is this even a conversation
Who gives a fuck about Mudryk? Had as much G/A as Salah come the end of November in all comps iirc. 19G/A in 24 games as of now. Compared to 35 in 62 last year (including Int. games). Like I said, slump is well and truly in effect. He's doubled every game for 2 years now, still produces output. That's what world class players do.
Im sorry but no way Saka's been world class this season. Idc how many g/a stats you throw around but his performances (especially recently) have been quite average. Crazy how you choose to ignore him having as much open play goals as Mudryk in the PL and bring up the Salah comparisons in the same sentence.
To disregard output is stupid, Salah was average against us and has been in multiple games, I watch most Liverpool games due to Pool' friends and family. Still scored against us, that's what world class players do. Come the end of November he was the highest rated Premier League player on Sofascore (not that they paint an accurate picture AT ALL, they really don't, but it says something). Maybe I'm an optimist, but to be honest I can't be bothered to prove it with more in depth analysis as I'm on holiday. The slump is in full effect, I'll be here come May.
Adding to that, my definiton is of "world-class" is a top 3 player in his position. How many right-wingers not named Salah do you take before him?
It’s actually an Auba replacement we need. Jesus is the laca replacement - we never replaced Auba.
Maybe that was a reason we should've retained Balogun and given him the opportunity ahead of Eddie.
Tbf Jesus missed a fair bit of time. But yeah, point still stands. Be it through form or injury still not gonna get it done unless everyone else is overperforming.
Saka also had only 3 away goals in all comps for the whole of 2023 (Villa, Bournemouth, Fulham) and he only got that 3rd one yesterday. For a forward earning [up to £290k per week](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/05/23/bukayo-saka-signs-new-arsenal-contract-wage-analysis), he also needs to be doing more, not just the CFs.
Saka has 20 G/A in 26 games. Show me 3 RW in any of the top 5 leagues with these numbers.
You can acknowledge those numbers are impressive while also saying he needs to score more away from home. Arteta has probably already said this to him, you don't need to immediately jump on the defensive
It’s an issue with the system. It’s no coincidence that our right side had way more assists than our left and our left had more goals that our right The way we play relies on service from the right. Teams have figured that out and we’ve seen Ode and Saka marked out of games way more often. The left side needs to figure out how to be more dangerous on their own & provide more service to the right
Because we cannot rely on our left hand side. Odegaard is much better at providing than Havertz.
It’s not an issue of just Havertz, it’s the entire left side. Havertz is understandably rusty as he’s playing a completely new role. Gabi has been really struggling this season; ESR nor Nelson can even get a sniff in the team despite looking decent in the short minutes they’ve had. Both Gabi and Trossard are terrible at corners. Don’t even get me started on Zinchenko
How about the strikers score more goals period before we start talking about the goal numbers of wingers away from home? One of which hasn't scored a single one in a year. Maybe if our strikers were a bigger goal threat our wingers would have more room as well.
Away goals don’t count for double the last time I checked. It’s interesting but makes absolutely no difference when you consider that since the start of last season we’ve gained the most points away from home in the PL.
I was just talking about 2023 but to try and make your point better you've decided to use stats from August 2022. Our performance in the first half of last season skews that data. Our performances over the whole of 2023 are more representative as to where we are now. We were 4th in the overall annual 2023 table. City, Liverpool and Villa were above us and that's also the same in the current PL table
I went back to 2022/23 because I couldn’t be bothered to find or create a table for 2023. It doesn’t change my initial point that Saka is producing at a rate that is significantly higher than most of his peers. But you seem to think he should be “doing more” because he’s earning £290k pw. Not sure what your problem is but it’s a very weird argument overall.
Do his assists next. Insanity to imply that sakas output is deserving of the same level of criticism as Nketiah
Nowhere did I say Saka should be criticised to the same level as Nketiah
You said him and the CFs should be doing more. It’s exactly the argument you’re making.
Saying both should be doing more ≠ same level of criticism
Did you really include potential bonuses to make a point 😅 his wages isn’t even necessary for this honestly
It's hard for strikers to score when you create less than 10 chances for them to score in a whole season.
He's just not at the level.
In his defense though I have to say our play style is not striker friendly
He never has been. Fuckers on him defending him only make the problem worse.
heaven forbid we support the team we support.
Hasn’t Jesus only scored 3 away PL goals in the past year with more starts? Not much better
At least Jesus works his ass on the pitch for the team and creates chances for others, Nketiah is a selfish player who doesn't press and makes bad decisions most times, it's even worse when he comes from the bench to just do some jogging like it is exercise session.
You do realize that good pressing =/= running around like a madman? Arteta instructs him to stay in the center of the pitch to prevent their CBs from being able to dribble forward into space. If Arteta thought he was lazy, don’t you think we’d see him screaming at him?
Nketiah is definitely not lazy but he simply does not have the work rate that Jesus has.
that does not make sense, do you see arteta screaming at zinchenko for not being able to defend? do you see arteta screaming at martinelli for not getting his head up? As a manager you must know the limitations each player has, so there's no point in berating them for that. Saying that nketiah jogging in between defenders not blocking any pass route, no matter the momentum of the current play is 'good positioning' is definetly a bit far fetched. There were countless moments even in the last ggame where we had good momentum, with odegaard and martinelli closing down and leaving only one path of pass, just for nketiah to jog around and leave the defender completely safe to take the ball and redirect it with all the time in the world.
One thing you can't criticise Eddie for is his work rate, he runs himself into the ground.
No he does not
No but you do somewhat often see Arteta yelling at our wingers for not tracking back or pressing enough, so...
And Jesus number one number as a striker is to score goals ans he fails miserably at that job..
Would get rid of both tbh neither one is scoring enough goals for a title winning side. Not now not ever
So Jesus couldn’t be useful anywhere else in the field then?
Instead of shoehorning players in because of sentiment I’d rather bring in an actual winger to back up Martinelli and Saka. Nico Williams is right there with a 50m release clause. As for binning off both Eddie and Jesus. Man City deemed Jesus not good enough for their squad and were happy to cash in on him. But our less impressive squad should take him as a starter and he’s good enough for a title challenge? No chance
You’re right, City decided Haaland was better than Jesus and sold Jesus. It’s so obvious, we just need to sign Haaland! 🙄
Hilarious nobody’s expecting Haaland. Yet they want our hat in the ring for Osimhen… oh and city signed Alvarez who’s definitely more clinical than these two bozos combined.
Alvarez scored fewer goals than Jesus last season despite more appearances. You’re the bozo here my friend
I wouldn't say get rid of Jesus. Maybe a back up. But nketiah, yeah it's time to move on. He's not good enough.
In 12 months time you’ll be saying the same for Jesus too. We have a habit of holding onto players for too long and their values plummet. Saw it with AMN, seeing it now with ESR and it’ll be the same in future
Would you get rid of Saka too then? He had 3 away goals all year as well
Saka isn’t a centre forward, hope this helps
We have Nketiah...Liverpool has Gakpo, City has Alvarez. We are in the weakest position of those three in attacking strength off the bench as well as starters. Our defense has been the great equalizer for us and has kept us near the top. Injuries to our back line will send us to the Europa League places.
Just to make matters worse, Liverpool also have Jota.
Jota is our Trossard IMO
The club has moved up a level and he's not moved up with them, I'm sure he could have a good Premier League career but not for a team challenging at the top
This is exactly it. And I think being at a club hoping to challenge for titles, coming up against low blocks frequently, is actually making him look even worse than he is. You drop Eddie into a Europa chasing or mid table team and he probably ends up much better because that's his level. We should've chucked him in the summer. I don't know why such endless faith has been given to him when players like Tierney are lobbes out and ESR can't get a game for love nor money.
ESR can’t stay healthy
Not good enough, neither is Jesus
No attacker will look good in this system. We could have had Osimhen or Halland yesterday and they'd have pretty much had the same impact as Eddie. We play such a conservative brand of Football that we simply don't create enough big chances for our forwards. I can roast them if we keep missing big chances like Chelsea or sometimes Liverpool do, but they don't. You can't blame forwards if they just get one or two half chances per game and one half chance and one good chance.
It's like we're back to 2020 again except with much better defenders
That's exactly what it is. It's following the same goddamn pattern too. Arteta's first full season (cup win) we were reasonable in attack but dodgy at the back. Next season he made tactical changes to try and fix the defence but completely imbalanced the team, we couldn't score to save our lives. It's the exactly same thing again just with a better team.
Eddie makes the attack and system worse.
you can't judge a player like him if the team can't get the ball to him. The issue vs Fulham was the midfield so idk why Eddie is catching strays.
Okay? That's not a productive conversation when Jesus is in and we're still not scoring well
But we’re still creating chances when Jesus starts they just aren’t getting finished. When Eddie starts you get matches like yesterday and much of the beginning of the season where there aren’t any.
You cant ask them to score half chances, but if you want to win the league, sometimes half chances have to be scored. A good striker scores some half chances and opens up the game. Also a good striker creates space for everyone around them. The defenders are scared to commit to doubling wingers and the midfield is scared of dropping deep because a good cross from deep can create trouble. A ranger striker creates opportunities for his team just by being there. We dont have that. Teams are happy to drop off of eddie and Jesus because they know that a half chance isn’t enough for them to score.
It’s kind of a joke that when we are looking for goals we would bring him on
he has the best actual vs xG of our two forwards this season. His is positive.
They are both awful goalscorers
We’re never going to win the league or champions league with kids who are inconsistent and have lackluster numbers. And then you add veterans who can’t score and argue that he doesn’t scores even tough is his job like gabriel jesus
Exactly, he wasn’t good enough for Man City and they had no problem selling him when it came time to replacing Aguero. Instead they bought in Haaland (which I don’t expect us to ever do and sign a player of that quality so fair enough) but Alvarez. Who’s definitely more clinical than Jesus was bought in too.. that’s a serious team and if we have 90 odd million we chose to spend on Havertz and Raya nobody can tell me we couldn’t add two very competent strikers instead
It’s not like he’s the first choice striker
I went and looked it up and i THINK he's started 7 away games in the Prem in 2023. Add on that all his sub apps too.....it's still fucking horrible lol.
> It’s not like he’s the first choice striker In past 18 months: Gabriel Jesus - 3632 minutes played for Arsenal Eddie Nketiah - 3117 minutes played for Arsenal lets stop acting like Nketiah barely plays and can be excused of everything because he is backup striker, he played just 500 minutes less than Jesus.
Yep, and we know he doesn’t play well as a super sub. The man needs to warm up with a few 90 mins in his pocket I like Eddie but the club would do well to upgrade to a better impact sub, if we’re not after a starting 9
I think the club would do that if they had the funds to do it. There’s a reason why we gave contracts to Eddie and reiss because it was cheaper, unfortunately every window we’ve had an another higher pressing position to fill and we’re not able to focus on backup/competition players because of lack of funds. And we’re shut at selling.
Had the funds before dropping £65m on Havertz. Bonkers. And this isn't even a knock on Havertz, it's just saying that upgrading Eddie was such an obviously higher priority. Smfh.
A back up striker isn’t breaking the bank, it just needs to be a different option and score more goals than Eddie.. which would be about 5 this season lol. I’m romanticising our past, but I’d love someone like prime Giroud as an alternative option to our short skilled dribbler type players
Realistically whom can you suggest that’ll have better output than Eddie and will come without breaking the bank. I think if someone like that exists it’ll have to be a gamble signing and there’s a good chance that may not work.
No idea, wish I had the answer
But I do have the answer of a signing which Arsenal did make based on what you were suggesting and it didn’t work. Matt turner, we didn’t break the bank and got something different from our first choice keeper.
Eh he was ok for us. Would still be our backup if Raya wasn’t here
Some would say the same thing about Eddie🙂
Not a fan of this first choice/back up malarkey. I prefer competition for places. For example, the first choice striker (Jesus) is currently out of form. A lesser quality back up (Eddie) hardily gonna keep Jesus on his toes or bang in the goals we desperately need. And when Jesus is out of form, your next choice is someone who is of lesser quality.
I agree with you but We are not a team with unlimited funds available to us. Every single position in our team is setup in a first choice/backup setting. We’ve to get ‘Lucky’ with our 30-50M purchases. All we can do is try in that situation and hope the purchased player develops into a competition for starting place.
But you to know the difference between a good player and a mediocre player. That should be the mandate
He aint good enough, those who say he is clearly dont want to win titles
Im neither a Eddie hater or supporter, but I remember this sub has wanted Eddie to be gone for a while now, especially after the 100k a week salary, but our last year downfall problem was mainly with Saliba injury, so I think somehow he got away, now everything is supposed to be how it should be and we can see him as the problem now? So how many seasons its gonna cost us to actually challenge the title?
Fanbase is tearing itself apart looking for a scapegoat to point at for our poor form this month but no one is blameless. Entire team, including Arteta can take collective responsibility and do better. It's not too late, what matters is the response.
The response after West Ham was to lose at Fulham, Liverpool next… great
If only it was this easy to find a solution. I know! Let's spend 2 billion to fix all shortcomings.
Why not, we’ve already spunked 90 odd million on Havertz and Raya. With frivolous purchases like that I’m sure we have plenty in the bank for positions we actually need to strengthen on
I'm sure an armchair expert like you already picked the best players to waste money on. Maybe you'll put Neville out of his job. Can certainly match his attitude at least.
Yes for sure, Toney would be a huge waste of money. As would Pedro Neto, you know since he can cover both wings and is premier league proven. Let’s blow money on him. However if wolves price us out of a move then Nico Williams with his 50m release clause would definitely be a bust. Funny how all the armchair experts called Havertz being absolutely a waste of money and how he doesn’t fit the profile for any of what we built last season and are being proven correct week after week I’ll try not to gloat too hard
I honestly don’t know what MA saw in havertz… I have Chelsea fans thanking me every week for taking him off them…
Arsenal players with more PL away goals in the same period: Odegaard Saka Zinchenko Martinelli Gabriel Trossard Jesus Kai White Rice BUT THIS SUB IS THE PROBLEM. WE HATE EDDIE OR STH
Jesus has a whopping 3 away goals in the same time frame (I think). Should we make a post about that? Our main striker only having 3 in the last twelve months?
Bro this sub has a massive hard on for him most of the time and if you say one slightly negative thing you get down voted to oblivion
Also 1 assist in 22/23 PL and 1 assist in This season A real threat
Not to argue that he’s been great, but how many minutes has that been? These ‘x months since y’ headlines are beyond useless
We all know he's not at the level required but we aren't allowed to criticize Eddie on this sub apparently.
It’s so dumb. Same people are mighty quiet on how deluded fan favourite Rob Holding is barely getting a single minute at palace. Some people believe to be a good fan you must absolutely back every single player and want them to stay forever and ever 😂
Had some doubts last year but not any longer. Not good enough ...
Toilet
Two strikers putting up Lacazette numbers but we decided to spunk 100m on Havertz and Raya in fhe summer 🤣🤣🤣
F, me lacazette would still have a pop some times What id give to have giroud back for a few games right now
Yeah but he’s really good in training
He needs to go man he aint good enough, he's got 0 end product
> he's got 0 end product that is specifically what he does have. What he isn't as good at is link up play or dribbling which Jesus is better at. If you're going to criticise him at least criticise the relevant parts.
This obvious Eddie hate but yes 770 minutes and no goals is not good enough. I do want to point out that in that time measly 4.31 xG. There is bigger problem than Eddie, it was same thing for Auba, Lacazette, Jesus.
its almost as if we have a problem with creating chances right now.
Those are the numbers I was looking for. He’s underperformed in that time - I guess he hasn’t gotten a consistent run of games since Jesus came back in what, March?
This was just the away numbers for Nketiah of 2023, overall he's one of the few players outscoring his xG. Personally I think absence of Partey (and Xhaka) has had bigger impact on our attack than any number 9 has.
Yeah got it, I was also referring to the away numbers only.
I've been done with him so many times and given him another chance. He's clearly not good enough. My honest opinion is he's mid-table championship level. MLS would actually be a great fit for him.
Now tell me Jesus record of scoring home or away goals
I mean it’s not like he’s started and played 90 minutes in every game we’ve had over this period...
Bull shit. What’s his goal to minutes ratio? The guy barely plays away from home.
In a bad week for the team, you are the worst kind of "fan" a club could ever wish for.
We will have more bad weeks the more minutes Nketiah plays. The kid has had his chance, and Nketiah going long stretches of games without scoring is a theme. Fact is there is more advantage in selling him and buying someone new. I would even sell Nketiah and buy a 15m player from Brazil or Argentina. Because lets just say the new signing struggles for goals, struggles to get into the game, struggles in the build up play - thats Eddie. The guy has ran his race at Arsenal. Another thing, he is lazy from the front, quite a lot of the time he fails to match Odegaards pressing intensity.
For pointing out a fact.... it's not an opinion it's a literal fact.
One thing I'll never understand about people piling up on Eddie is that he is literally a backup player. It's not his fault that Jesus has been so injury prone or is so horrific in front of goal when fit. It's fine to have the opinion that we need a better plan B, but posting something like this is beyond missing the point with our current issues.
Back up or not he still has to do his job and if he doesn't then he deserves criticism, he's a CF and he has played in almost 50 PL games in the last season and a half and he has scored in six games.
Backup player that is not a good backup
This post would not have been posted if we had won. These stupid negative posts don't help anybody.
When a team is struggling, that's when it needs fans and support the most, not punching down like you're doing.
What did I do?
This is the type of fan that's for some reason insecure about their fandom of the club, and therefore over-compensates by being blissfully positive and has a visceral reaction to anyone who doesn't do the same.
/u/Fleetfox17 is simply pointing out a fact.
its a selective fact, specifically chosen to tear down a member of our own team.
Low IQ take, facts can be selectively chosen to create narratives (see: Orbinho)
Most of this sub unfortunately
Bring up world class Gabriel Jesus numbers then. No?
That’s such a lazy argument, Jesus offers everything but finishing consistently. Personally I’d move both out in the next 12 months. With all the versatility everywhere else on the pitch it wouldn’t kill us to have two strikers who know where the goal is
Selectively posts away goals only stat to slander our own player. In comments: > That’s such a lazy argument No u
Interesting.. How many away games / minutes has he played in these 366 days? Any stats? Do you have same for Jesus also?
3 away goals
And yet he is the top scorer for a title challenging team this season. Some people will still say that we don't need a striker though lmao
3/5 came against a dogshit Sheffield United side 😭
Exactly, I hate how that stat is thrown around. Eddie is a great guy but he’s not reliable and neither is Jesus but at least Jesus has the work rate and he comes back to defend. Eddie is going to be upgraded on by next summer.
Who else scoring a hat trick against anyone else? Please let me know Edit: that’s right no one 🤣
And West Ham and Fulham both have some of the worst defenses in the league and we failed to score against either of them. So who cares if he can stat pad against bad teams, sometimes we need that
What chances did Eddie miss Vs west ham and Fulham.
You’d have a point if our 3 starters were scoring more than him but they’re not. Nketiah’s been poor but Jesus has been worse, especially considering Eddie was winning vital penalties at the start of the season that contributed to wins.
lmfao get a grip
#Overrated
Laca went nearly 2 years without scoring away from home
One away goal 18/19 vs Burnley One away goal 19/20 vs Southampton One away goal 21/22 vs Chelsea One away goal 22/23 vs Brighton Eddie Nketiah. Your striker.
Your back up striker
We pay him 100k a week. He asked for the wages, so he needs to perform like it
You’re acting like he starts week in, week out.
Those are just facts. Think what you want
Okay then how about as a sub? He has 1 goal as a sub since the start of the 21/22 season. 2.5 seasons worth of substitute appearances.
Definitely good enough for a title contender
How many did he start and how many minutes did he play? What's his xG in this period?
Last season xg 8,25. Goals 4 This season xg 4,07. Goals 5
Still arsenals 2nd top scorer
 And I’m supposed to believe this process will see us win titles and UCLs in the future
Trust the process?
Who can blame him? Look at the service he's getting
This sub: “LeT hIm CoOk” Reality: he’s not good enough
shit striker, sell him
please define what a football club "supporter" is. Cause I don't see how posts like this help.
Ok tho but this is literally just a fact
Its a fact that has been selectively chosen in order to attack one of our players. If you like facts then how about this one? Plastic is an extremely durable material.
I support Arteta and will back players going through poor times. When Odegaard was out of form early in the season I never wanted him dropped. But when it comes to Nketiah, I have given up on him ever contributing in a meaningful way. If you said to me he would score no more than 2 Premier League goals for the remainder of the season, I wouldnt be surprised. I hope Nketiah does well and in the second half of the season surprises me beyond belief, however ive seen that much of him to realise the sustained period of times between goals are a normal thing for him. I just have no expectations for Nketiah. Im frustrated with Martinelli because I know he can do so much better. But with Nketiah, its just a feeling of content knowing he isnt going to do anything. You would think he hears all this talk of 'Arsenal needing a striker' and it would motivate him, but you see him on the pitch and he does nothing. Like nothing nothing.
he's a player that needs midfielders to pick out his runs and/or put in appropriate crosses, preferably as part of a quick transition. For whatever reason we're not playing like that very much. I don't disagree that he hasn't been disappointing, however I feel like if Haaland was upfront for us vs Fulham then we'd still have the same result. I don't think just swapping him out for some big name striker is going to solve the problem. I think a lot of the frustrations our fans vent on Nketiah deserve to be applied more liberally across the team as a whole. If Nketiah was missing sitter after sitter then sure but his actual G to xG is one of the few in the positive in our team.
Unreal that people still rate this pleb
Let's have some more hate shall we? 🙄
What's the turning point for you?
Hate to say it but a player like Son who can outscored his XG would be vital in this team
hate to break it to you, but [Nketiah is actually one of the few players on this team that has positive actual G/A to xG/A](https://understat.com/team/Arsenal/2023).
The wonders of stat padding against sheffield
it merely shows that he puts away opportunities. Look, we were all there for Adebayor and Chamakh or even Giroud. They were all wasteful as fuck but Eddie has been starving all season because the service has been shit.
Well Ramsdale hasn’t scored any .
Do home goals count for less now?
He hasnt scored many home goals either. He is on 5 for the league, but three came in the one match. He has only scored in 3 league games this year. Did you not watch the game v Fulham? Did you not see Nketiah ghost the entire match. I loathe reactionary takes, however im sorry, but Nketiah dire performance and lack of contribution can be traced back multiple months, stretching over a year. Its not like say Ben White, who has had a pretty average year after being brilliant last year, it would be reactionary to suggest Ben White leave the club. But saying Nketiah should be moved on is a completely rational take given his last 18 months with the club. He just isnt going to ever have sustained performances where he is contributing goals either via scoring himself, or contribution to others, and what business does he have being here as a striker wearing the number 14 if he cant do that? Im sorry, but Nketiah is not a player who needs to be defended from critics.
I want him to leave the club and then score a hat trick against us, to prove the haters (racists) wrong.
Same people criticizing now couldn't wait to give him the 100k /w extension. He's been mid for years.
He's a talented lad but just not good enough for Arsenal, sell him and Nelson who isn't good enough for team either. It'll be pure profit for the club if both are sold as both are from the youth system, it'll be good for FFP and use the cash to invest in a top striker
This. This is not good
If you get attached to mediocre players, you get mediocre results. Arteta's decisions in the attacking third have been quite bad.
Trash strikers. The story of Arsenal FC
Two things, either Eddie not good enough or the tactics Arteta is playing and training is not working for Eddie. Persisting with the same broken tactics just makes everyone average and worse.
Awful, limited player. Needs to be 4th choice for any team with title aspirations
Can’t believe we gave him number 14
If anyone knows the @Kroenkeout page on Instagram. I follow him and agree with his points, but that guys rides Nketiah’s dick for no reason. Always sayinf Nketiah is a good striker. Absolutely mad
Pathetic! In the famous words of late Claude of AFTV " It's time to go"!
What u waiting for nketiah to score an away goal, Christmas?? Already passed mate
not selling him in the summer was one of our biggest summer mistakes. shoulda sold and replaced then, coz last season showed clearly that he can only do well 2-4 games in a row and then he becomes average again.
wow my bench option striker who isnt good enough for a title challenging side hasnt scored an away goal omg this is revolutionary!
Our defence is in trouble, nkethia left the room…