Tag Archives: eddie nketiah

Eddie Nketiah’s lack of game time detrimental to his future

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I am concerned about the future of Eddie Nketiah at Arsenal.

The Englishman is clearly a talented youth player. His record at youth level speaks for itself.

Over the last 2 and a bit seasons, he has been a consistent goal scorer at youth level.

33 games played over various different competitions at youth level for Arsenal; 28 goals. And he has carried that form over into an England shirt whom he averages a goal a game for.

At the age of 19, he has clearly out grown youth level football – even the Premier League 2 which is for U23 players. He is superior than anything there is.

Last season in the PL2 he scored 12 goals in 13 games. He was just 18 years old (playing against men 5 years older). This year he is already 4 in 4.

The huge issue Arsenal face is how does he get senior minutes?

Arsene Wenger was always of the view that 18-21 were the most important years in terms of development. It is at this age you want to be playing senior football to ensure that you progress from talented youth team player to senior professional.

A glance over at Chelsea highlights the struggle players face, and how it can ruin young talents.

Both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nathaniel Chalobah were amongst the best talents of their generation, but they did not play enough between 18 and 21 to progress.

Chalobah is now 23 years old. He has played just 21 Premier League games. Prior to joining Crystal Palace on loan, Loftus-Cheek had just 24 Premier League appearances to his name. Compare this to Dele Alli who had played over 100 Premier League games prior to his 22nd birthday and you will see why the Spurs player has kicked on and the two Chelsea lads have stagnated.

Nketiah faces the same problem that Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah did.

He is too good for youth team football, but has superior players ahead of him to get a chance at senior level. In May next year he will turn 20 with just a handful of Premier League games to his name.

I see people calling for Nketiah to start games, or at the least to get game time, but for that he needs to be better than those ahead of him.

Arsenal play with one up top. Alexandre Lacazette is currently our first choice striker. Were he to be injured, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would slot in. And backing them up is Danny Welbeck.

So for Nketiah to make a Premier League start, he needs 3 strikers to be out injured. He needs at least one to be injured just to make the bench (and even that is not guaranteed).

He is clearly not going to get into the Premier League match day squad ahead of Lacazette and Aubameyang, and you are an idiot if you think he should.

That leaves Welbeck.

Danny Welbeck is one of England’s best strikers. There is a reason he went to the World Cup. And with Jamie Vardy now retired, you would probably say he is 3rd choice England striker behind Harry Kane and Daniel Sturridge (if the Liverpool striker continues his recovery from injury).

Welbeck has hit 4 goals in 9 starts this season, and is able to play the duel role of winger and striker. He has also become key when coming on to protect leads.

He works hard up top closing down defenders, has pace in to get behind on the break, and is big and strong to hold up the ball. He is the ideal man to bring on with 10 minutes to go when you are hanging on to the lead.

You would not want to give these minutes to Nketiah. There is a big difference between giving a kid a go when you are 5-0 up and cruising, and needing to bring on an experienced player to help see out a tight game.

There is only space for one of them on the bench. As games tend to be tighter more often than “easy wins” Welbeck is therefore more important.

Nketiah could get time in cup competitions. But with Welbeck’s Premier League playing time limited, you need to keep the senior man sharp. He has to play in the League Cup and Europa League.

Suddenly the doors are shutting on Nketiah’s first team opportunities.

This is where you need to think with your head, not your heart.

We all want that player to go from youth team level to senior superstar. One of our own. It leads us to believe that young players are better than what they are. It is why so many fans were willing to give Jack Wilshere chance after chance after injury after chance.

But realistically, Nketiah is our 4th best striker. It does not matter what you think, he is not better than Danny Welbeck.

So where does that leave him?

He is probably looking on in jealousy Emile Smith Rowe with a hint of jealousy.

Smith Rowe has played 3 senior games this season, and looks to continue that run as winter draws in. I imagine he will start every single League Cup and Europa League game this side of Christmas.

His advantage is that he does not have as much competition for places.

Nketiah is 4th in line for 1 position (striker). Smith Rowe is 7th in line for a place behind the striker (Aubameyang, Welbeck, Ozil, Mkihataryan, Iwobi & Ramsey). As he is capable of playing in all 3 positions behind the main man, he has plenty of opportunity for game time.

As 4 of the 6 ahead of Smith Rowe will be playing in the first team and therefore not considered for the League Cup / Europa League sides, a situation is created where the youngster will always make the team sheet.

Nketiah is being hamstrung by the increased competition.

Arsenal may well look at a loan deal for Nketiah in January. They will see Reiss Nelson getting game time in the Bundesliga and know how important it is for him to be playing.

But where could Nketiah go?

You would not really want him dropping down to the Championship, and would a lower league Premier League side take a risk on a youngster when facing a relegation battle? There will not be too many options for him to get regular, top flight game time.

There is light at the end of the tunnel for Nketiah though.

With Welbeck’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, a decision will have to be made.

If the club gives Welbeck a new contract, they might as well sell Nketiah on. My take is that Welbeck will leave, and Nketiah will be 3rd choice striker.

But at 20-years old, this will not solve Nketiah’s game time problem. He will still be sitting on the bench behind two world class finishers.

You then get into a Benik Afobe / Chuba Akpom situation where the talented young strikers age is creeping up, and he is being caught up by players younger.

Afobe’s career at Arsenal was ended when Akpom – 2 years his junior – started to break through. Akpom started get to get taken on pre-season tours and Afove was let go at 22.

The same also happened to Akpom. He was finally sold on this summer, also at the age of 22, as Arsenal looked to develop Nketiah.

The next generation below Nketiah is itching to progress.

Tyreece John-Jules (17) looks a talent. Trae Coyle (also 17) scored 7 goals in 13 games for the U18s last season. You then have 16-year old Sam Greenwood – signed from Sunderland last summer. He scored and got two assists as England U17s beat Brazil and has been in very good form recently.

Whilst these players at not yet ready to overtake Nketiah, you can see history repeating itself.

Role forward to the summer of 2020. 18 months time. Nketiah is still struggling for game time as Arsenal’s 3rd choice striker. He is 21. These lads are 18 or 19, they are banging in goals at youth team level.

They will do to Nketiah what he did to Akpom, and what Akpom did to Afobe.

Without regular first team football, Nketiah will stagnate. But with so much competition ahead of him, it is not obvious where that game time will come from.

And eventually Arsenal will have to decide whether to continue investing in his future, or starting giving chances to the next generation.

Keenos

Another Arsenal youngster leaves for foreign climate

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So another talented youngster is set to leave Arsenal.

Stephy Mavididi joins Marcus McGuane (Barcelona), Chris Willock (Benfica), Donyell Malen (PSV), Kaylen Hinds (VfL Wolfsburg), Daniel Crowley (Willem II) and Vlad Dragomir (Perugia) to have left the club in the last 12 months for a new challenge abroad.

On the face of it, the mass exodus of Arsenal youngsters would be a concern, but when you dig deep, you realise things are not as bad as they seem.

Whilst some of the players might have gone to some of Europe’s stellar names – Barcelona and Juventus in the cases of McGuane and Mavididi – none of yet to really make any sort of break through to prove Arsenal were wrong in letting them leave.

In Marcus McGuane’s case, there was plenty of fake new surrounding a “first team debut” in a game that was not competitive.

Making the Arsenal first team squad is not an easy task, and nor should it be.

Some will say these players should have been “given their chance at Arsenal” but none of them have exactly yet been given a chance at their new club either.

In the case of Stephy Mavididi, should he have been “given a chance” at Arsenal? Should he have got game time ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette? Clearly not.

Expecting him to get minutes ahead of these two is just silly.

“but he could have played in the League Cup” you cry. Yes, he could have, but it was Eddie Nketiah who got those minutes playing 10 games last season across the League Cup, Europa League and Premier League.

Meanwhile Mavididi spent the first half of the season on loan at Preston (11 games; 0 goals) and the second half of the season at Charlton (15 games; 2 goals). He got chances at these clubs and did not really take them.

So he is behind Eddie Nketiah in the pecking order at Arsenal. I think we can all agree with that.

Moving into this season, you can only really give one of them the minutes in the Europa League and League Cup – especially if you are trying to give game time to both Aubameyang and Lacazette.

Nketiah is a year younger than Mavididi and a better player.

That leaves Arsenal with 3 choices when it comes to Mavididi:

  1. Keep him at the club, playing youth team games – Although this would then reduce playing time for some of the talented 17 and 18 year olds, and Nketiah will still be stepping down to the U23s this season, starting ahead of Mavididi
  2. Loan him out – Do we really want to be like Chelsea, giving 18 year old lads 5 year deals and then loaning them across Europe for the duration of their contract. The average age of Chelsea’s 32 strong long contingent is 22. They have a 24 year old on loan who will never play for them
  3. Sell him – Give him the chance to make a permanent move somewhere, to start afresh, whether it be at home or abroad

I really do not agree with Chelsea’s policy of hoarding lots of talented young players and loaning them across Europe.

Lewis Baker is now 23-years old and onto his 5th loan deal. Kenneth Omeruo is 24 years-old and on his 6th loan deal. 22-year old Joao Rodríguez is in his 9th loan deal since Chelsea signed him 5 years ago.

The way Chelsea treat these players is unfair. If a player is not good enough, let him free, release him, sell him. that is what Arsenal have done.

Arsenal let Kaylen Hinds leave because they had Mavididi and Nketiah coming through. Chris Willock got overtaken by his younger brother Joe.

Marcus McGaune left after seeing his chances of breaking through reduce due to the development of a player 6 months older than him – last year Ainsley Maitland-Niles played 28 games.

You can not develop them all, give them all the game time that they demand. So what you need to do is focus on the better ones. Those that are ahead of the rest. Those most likely to make it.

Players like Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson got some game time last season.

To get a chance at Arsenal, firstly you have to be better than those 3, or better than Kostadinos Mavropanos (still just 20) or better than Matteo Guendouzi (just 19). you actually need to be good enough to get your chance. We are no Make a Wish Foundation; giving players minutes just for the sake of it.

Emile Smith Rowe is just 18-years old. He massively impressed during pre-season and is clearly the top young talent at the club in terms of attacking midfielders. This season, if there is a chance to play a young number 10 in the League Cup, should we give that chance to Smith Rowe, or someone older than him who is not as good?

Focus the development on those players who are best, or show the most potential.

And if that means the likes of Mavididi or McGuane leave the club before “getting a chance” then so-be-it. If there are better players ahead of you, you have no right to “get a chance”.

I prefer quality over quantity. It would be better to concentrate on developing the best 2 or 3 youngsters at the club, than continuing to develop a dozen players who ultimately will not be good enough.

This season I want to see Maitland-Niles, Willock, Nelson, Mavropanos, Guendouzi, Nketiah and Smith Rowe get the game time.

This would be an exciting young XI to play in the League Cup, and if you are older than those below, and not ahead in terms of develop, it is probably time to move on.

Macey
OseiTutu Mavropanos Holding Bola
AMN Guendouzi
Nelson Willock SmithRowe
Nketiah

I wish every Arsenal player who has left the club a lot of luck, especially those who have made a decision to go abroad. It is a brave decision that more young English players should do.

More youngsters need to look at Willock, Hinds, McGuane and Jadon Sancho (ex-Manchester City) and shun the British academies at 18. Rather than sign a new deal with your English club, to spend 4 years being loaned around the hell holes of the country, pack your bags and go abroad.

It will make them better players in the long run and, worse case scenario, if it does not work out, they have a fantastic experience behind them.

And eventually, if enough do it, the English national team will improve.

England players lack culture. Lack different footballing skills learned having played in different countries.

Not just at youth level, but at senior level English players do not move abroad. They would rather play for Stoke earning £60,000 a week, then go and join Celta Vigo, Bordeaux or Genoa.

If more English players, especially youngster, move abroad, the English team will improve. They would have had a different education, learnt new skills, and be a more rounded footballer.

Whilst none of Willock, Hinds, McGuane or Sancho can yet be labelled as a roaring success, all 4 should be congratulated for being brave and making that move.

As for Mavididi, going to Juventus is a huge move for him. He is a long way from the Arsenal first team, so a move to Italy will be much better than staying at Arsenal, and spending another season on loan somewhere in the home-counties.

For youth players, it is so hard to go from prospect to first teamer. More fail than make it. Mavididi has found himself behind a younger talent in Nketiah and has decided to move on.

Keenos

What does the future hold for 6 Arsenal youngsters

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Konstantinos Mavropanos

I have seen a lot of people put the 20-year-old Greek centre back into their starting XI’s for next season. This is premature.

Let’s look at it logically. He played 3 Premier League games last season. Was excellent in one (defeat to United), little to do in the second (5-0 win over Burnley) and was sent off after 15 minutes in the 3rd (Leicester).

He looks a strong, talented boy, but there is zero justification to to call for him to start alongside Sokratis against Manchester City.

I saw one fan tweet that “Mavropanos should start to help Sokratis get used to the pace of the Premie League”. But who will then help Mavropanos?

I do expect the Greek man to be involved next year; with Laurent Koscielny out until 2019 he will be battling it out with Rob Holding as 4th choice centre back.

He will get plenty of game time in the first half of the season, with Europa League and League Cup games. Either he or Rob Holding will go out on loan in the second half depending on Koscielny’s return to fitness and the form and fitness of others.

Reiss Nelson

A bit like Mavropanos now, Reiss Nelson suffered from overhyping last season, and did not progress as some fans would have hoped. But this is more due to their high expectations rather than his performances.

It is easy to forget he is still just 18.

I expect Nelson to be evolved more this season.

With our transfer business seemingly over for the summer, it is unlikely we will sign the player to fill the skill gap between Iwobi and Mkhitaryan that I desire. Instead it seems Lucas Perez will be that player, for a season at least.

Like Mavropanos, I expect him to play a big part in the Europa League and League Cup, where he will play alongside Iwobi.

He has a fairly simple to explain task. Over the next 6 months he needs to outperform both Iwobi and Perez in those Europa League games.

That is not to say if he doesn’t he will be written off. This time next year he will still be 19. Just the performances could dictate what happens to him in the second half of the season and what happens to Iwobi and Perez next season.

If Nelson out performs the pair in those early “b-team” games; he might find himself ahead of them in the pecking order for the second half of the season.

If he does not move ahead of them, it would be worthwhile sending him out on loan to a play-off chasing Championship side in the second half of the season. One where he would get 20 or so games.

If he has a solid season, at Arsenal or on loan, Iwobi and Perez should be worried about their futures.

Jeff Reine-Adelaide

The young Frenchman has not built on a promising early start to his Arsenal career.

He joined the club 3 years ago and you do not feel he has progressed too much in that time.

He suffered an injury in early 2017 which ruled him out for 12 months which has hampered his progress.

Jeff’s big issue is Nelson has moved ahead of him in the pecking order. The young Englishman is 2 years his junior.

Nelson already looks better than his elder team mate, so you have to think Jeff will be sent on loan for the entire season.

Eddie Nketiah

Another to suffer from a lot of hype after two goals against Norwich last season.

Still just 19-years-old, you have to wonder where he will get game time next season.

Arsenal are likely to play one upfront. That will leave Nketiah behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Danny Welbeck.

Some will say he should be ahead of Welbeck, those people are idiots. The England international might not be everyone’s cup of tea but he is better than young-Eddie.

With Welbeck’s contract set to expire next season, I would like to see Nketiah sent on loan to a top end Championship side. His task will be to show that next season, when Welbeck leaves, he is ready to be 3rd choice Arsenal striker.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles

He is going nowhere.

28 games last season, I expect a similar amount of game time this season. Only difference is this season he will be a central midfielder rather than a utility man.

I am excited for his future.

Emile Smith Rowe

17-year-old Emile Smith Rowe looks to be this summer’s break through youth player after he was added to the experienced squad for the game against Boreham Wood.

Smith Rowe was Arsenal’s standout performer in their run to the FA Youth Cup final, although he was part of the side that fell 7-1 on aggregate to Chelsea. The attacking midfielder won the Under-17 World Cup with England last summer.

He has described as a mixture of Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain due to his ability to unlock defences with his passing and ability to drive forward with the ball.

Next season will see him hopefully train full time with the first team. Hew is unlikely to go on loan as Arsenal will wish to continue his development training and learning from the likes of Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

A move out on loan will be pencilled in for 2019/20.

Keenos