Eddie Nketiah: 2019/20 Performances

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

There might be something special to him, but is it worth it to play both Auba and Saka out of position for him?

My answer is no.

 

[Maybe]

Aubameyang's goalscoring record speaks for itself. Saka should be on the left but played on the right so Auba could play on the left win so we could fit Eddie at centre-forward. If this was the single most important consideration in determining the forward line then one would expect more from him. Messi might not be great if you played him at centre back.

OK, let's be honest a bit here. Auba is not an alien and he has the ability to screw more chances than the average 17y old, although with his other abilities he will probably end up with more chances with his movement. His conversion is not perfect for sure and Auba needs service just like Laca and Eddie, the service none of them would receive on that day.
None of them is Henry who will take the ball 50 yards out and score.
Let's not pretend anything would be different with Auba playing CF and Eddie on the bench.
This post has absolutely nothing against Auba-Laca-Eddie, my point is that without a strong midfield, all of them will struggle

 

[Leo_ense_]

Will make a fine striker for Middlesbrough some day

 

[Mo Britain]

OK, let's be honest a bit here. Auba is not an alien and he has the ability to screw more chances than the average 17y old, although with his other abilities he will probably end up with more chances with his movement. His conversion is not perfect for sure and Auba needs service just like Laca and Eddie, the service none of them would receive on that day.
None of them is Henry who will take the ball 50 yards out and score.
Let's not pretend anything would be different with Auba playing CF and Eddie on the bench.
This post has absolutely nothing against Auba-Laca-Eddie, my point is that without a strong midfield, all of them will struggle

I agree with your point on the midfield, I don't agree on your views on Auba. Players don't just score 49 premiership goals in a couple of seasons playing for a pedestrian team. Whatever his conversion rate it's the goals scored that count because surely he is being supplied by the same midfield?

It's not an anti-Eddie post, I never do anti-Arsenal player posts and I would love if it he succeeds with us, it's simply an observation that when you need points you are obliged to put your most effective players in their best positions. Eddie is not our best centre-forward now, he's 3rd or 4th in line, and his appearances should be from the bench or in games against weaker opposition.

Arteta could have taken another view that this game was lost even before it started and that Brighton was our cup-final but I don't think he did because he probably reckoned that a bad performance would knock the stuffing out of us. Which I suspect this game did.

 

[Aussie_gunner123]

Eddie is quite a good player & certainly think he has good potential to be starting over Lacazette but not at the expense of playing Saka out of position. That was a pretty bad mistake by Arteta to play Saka on the right against a team like City. If he wants to fit Saka in up front somewhere then take Eddie out, play Auba in the middle & Pepe on the right. Otherwise if he wants to keep Eddie in then keep Auba on the left & have Saka come in as a super sub. Take Eddie out, shift Auba to the middle & Saka come in on the left.

Auba Eddie Pepe/Nelson (Saka sub)

Saka Auba Pepe/Nelson

 

[Dutch D]

Eddie is quite a good player & certainly think he has good potential to be starting over Lacazette but not at the expense of playing Saka out of position. That was a pretty bad mistake by Arteta to play Saka on the right against a team like City. If he wants to fit Saka in up front somewhere then take Eddie out, play Auba in the middle & Pepe on the right. Otherwise if he wants to keep Eddie in then keep Auba on the left & have Saka come in as a super sub. Take Eddie out, shift Auba to the middle & Saka come in on the left.

Auba Eddie Pepe/Nelson (Saka sub)

Saka Auba Pepe/Nelson

Agree. The Saka on the right experiment has shown that the idea didn't work.

I get what Arteta was trying to do though. The first 25 minutes or so should be the benchmark of what we saw against City. Willock and Nketiah were disrupting their build-up play, they had trouble getting into their rhythm (when they found it we were ****ed obviously). It did lead to two or three opportunities to punish them on the break, but we missed the opportunities. I thought Nketiah was a handful for Garcia and Laporte, Garcia should've gotten an early yellow for holding and I think he torpedoed Laporte off the ball once. With no build-up play or through-ball potential in midfield our attack was isolated the entire time, though and ultimately incredibly ineffective. We lost the game in midfield, which immediately was my biggest worry when I saw the line-up.

 

[Beksl]

There might be something special to him, but is it worth it to play both Auba and Saka out of position for him?

My answer is no.

The only thing special about him is the price we'd get if we put him on the market.

 

[Aussie_gunner123]

Agree. The Saka on the right experiment has shown that the idea didn't work.

I get what Arteta was trying to do though. The first 25 minutes or so should be the benchmark of what we saw against City. Willock and Nketiah were disrupting their build-up play, they had trouble getting into their rhythm (when they found it we were ****ed obviously). It did lead to two or three opportunities to punish them on the break, but we missed the opportunities. I thought Nketiah was a handful for Garcia and Laporte, Garcia should've gotten an early yellow for holding and I think he torpedoed Laporte off the ball once. With no build-up play or through-ball potential in midfield our attack was isolated the entire time, though and ultimately incredibly ineffective. We lost the game in midfield, which immediately was my biggest worry when I saw the line-up.

Fair enough if he was trying an experiment but if that was just an experiment then I hope he realises that it didn't work & doesn't do it again especially not straight away against Brighton, they are a decent team actually & already beaten us this year at home so we cannot underestimate them at all & go with a strong lineup with more experience. Eddie did look very strong when we started off well in the first bit but then everyone just collapsed.

 

[Maybe]

I agree with your point on the midfield, I don't agree on your views on Auba. Players don't just score 49 premiership goals in a couple of seasons playing for a pedestrian team. Whatever his conversion rate it's the goals scored that count because surely he is being supplied by the same midfield?

It's not even the same midfield anymore. I didn't think I would say this, but I would take Iwobi - Özil - Mkhi -Ramsey midfield over this **** show that we have these days. This has to be the worst midfield for the last 30 years that we've played on Wednesday, and both Auba and Eddie struggled

 

[Maybe]

Agree. The Saka on the right experiment has shown that the idea didn't work.

The same thing goes for Saka, how can you tell it has failed? You just can't know it until you get a proper midfield and defense. Not saying it was a success, but we need some control of the game to see if our attacking formations works or not. Saka, Eddie and Auba played in their own half, barely touching the ball. Midfield was a complete failure, that's for sure.

 

[Dutch D]

The same thing goes for Saka, how can you tell it has failed? You just can't know it until you get a proper midfield and defense. Not saying it was a success, but we need some control of the game to see if our attacking formations works or not. Saka, Eddie and Auba played in their own half, barely touching the ball. Midfield was a complete failure, that's for sure.

Fair enough, you could try the experiment again with different conditions (better midfield players), but with the current squad it didn't seem to work as a strategy against a dominant team. Not saying it is Saka's fault.

 

[dashsnow17]

It's too early to judge Nketiah. Eddie's at the point where he needs next season to be given about 1000 minutes or so to show what he can do. At the end of next season you can then decide if he's good enough or if you sell him to reinvest elsewhere.

 

[Maybe]

Fair enough, you could try the experiment again with different conditions (better midfield players), but with the current squad it didn't seem to work as a strategy against a dominant team. Not saying it is Saka's fault.

No, it didn't look right at all. Even a more dominant player like Pepe would struggle. I would like to see something like that again, or Saka left and Pepe right. Think both of them can create chances, but Arteta needs to rethink his midfield approach asap.

 

[truth_hurts]

Jury is out as to whether Nketiah is ready to be leading the line for a Premier League team. However, playing him upfront at the expense of Pepe, Martinelli, Lacazette and Özil is a huge show of faith in him from the manager.

Playing Saka and Auba out of position to accommodate Nketiah is a huge call though.

I think he needs a run of games in order to be judged fairly, but how is he expected to perform with Auba playing wing back and a cm trio of Guendouzi, Willock and Xhaka creating?

 

[progman07]

It's too early to judge Nketiah. Eddie's at the point where he needs next season to be given about 1000 minutes or so to show what he can do. At the end of next season you can then decide if he's good enough or if you sell him to reinvest elsewhere.

I don't agree - we aren't in a position as a Club where we can gamble on mediocre talents like Nketiah. He just doesn't have the ability to be world class, it's obvious after several performances. He doesn't have the strength, touch or vision that's needed and he doesn't run as much as a Suarez-type aggressive striker.

Maybe he is going to be a good player 5 years later, maybe not - I really hope he will be as he is such a nice guy -, but at the 9th place losing to Brightons, we cannot be relying on strikers like him to make the difference.

 

[truth_hurts]

Be interesting to see who starts cf next game. Strikers need a run of games. So far 2 matches and 2 different starting cfs

 

[dashsnow17]

I don't agree - we aren't in a position as a Club where we can gamble on mediocre talents like Nketiah. He just doesn't have the ability to be world class, it's obvious after several performances. He doesn't have the strength, touch or vision that's needed and he doesn't run as much as a Suarez-type aggressive striker.

Maybe he is going to be a good player 5 years later, maybe not - I really hope he will be as he is such a nice guy -, but at the 9th place losing to Brightons, we cannot be relying on strikers like him to make the difference.

I get that, but you don't make big decisions on young players like Nketiah based on a game like Brighton today.

 

[MutableEarth]

He's fine man, not the problem at all and I'm quite annoyed that people are already on his case.

 

[Geofranco]

There might be something special to him, but is it worth it to play both Auba and Saka out of position for him?

My answer is no.

There is nothing special in his game. Nketiah is currently a better option than Laca, but I never rated him as a top talent. His ceiling is prob a less gifted Jermaine Defoe.

 

[progman07]

I get that, but you don't make big decisions on young players like Nketiah based on a game like Brighton today.

I don't argue with that, I formed my opinion on Nketiah based on his general game and characteristics. He is not the biggest, nor the strongest, nor the fastest around. You can make up with great vision, passing, control, finishing, positioning.

He does have great finishing and movement, but nowhere near consistently enough (yet), and he is a very limited player in the respect that you won't see great combination play, through balls, one-twos with him.

Basically you either want a Mbappe/Haaland (immaculate physically) or a van Persie (immaculate technically) as your young talent, if you aim to rely on a young striker to contribute and help you finish top4. Otherwise you are into pure gambling.