Arsenal’s 22 year old homegrown center forward Eddie Nketiah has been the talk of the rumor mill in recent weeks as the player will be a free agent come the summer of 2022 and has yet to sign a contract extension with the Gunners – having been offered an extension multiple times and rejected it multiple times.
Manager Mikel Arteta continues to push for that contract extension – his opinion of the player is well-known, having immediately recalled Eddie from loan upon being hired a little over two years ago. However, Nketiah’s playing time has dwindled over the past year or so which has led to the main sticking point between Nketiah and signing the contract – playing time.
As Arteta put it at the start of December when asked about Eddie’s contract renewal:
“Eddie knows how much I rate him and I would like him to stay at the club. He has the Arsenal DNA in his blood, and he loves the club so much. His reason is that he wants to play more football, and that’s a genuine reason, it’s nothing to do with anything else. He wants more minutes, and he feels he is able to contribute much more, and that’s why I like him.”
Further, Arteta has commented on Nketiah’s commitment and level of training as more reasons he badly wants the player to stay.
Eddie’s desire for more minutes is fair and expected especially considering he’s now at the point of his career where he’s looking to take that next step and fulfill his potential. His play this season has further shown flashes of that potential and development, beginning in pre-season where he looked very lively on the left wing and playing up top and more recently to a substitute spell at Old Trafford in which he made an immediate impact on the left – driving and turning into space to create two great chances for others and one for himself (a header he certainly should have put away on a great ball from Bukayo Saka).
That level of play continued into the Carabao Cup quarter-finals where Nketiah was an absolute menace vs the Sunderland defense, creating havoc with his positional awareness, anticipation, and movement. Those attributes combined with composure and cheeky finishing earned him his first hat-trick as an Arsenal player.
Lets take a look at each goal to illustrate those key skills and how they unlocked each of his three goals.
Goal #1
The first goal began from a set piece – which has been a major strength of Arsenal this season, already netting seven times off them. The ball was played into center back Rob Holding who won his 1v1 matchup.
He was able to cleanly direct his header on target – perhaps courtesy of his new hair? – and force a save. The key here is to notice that there’s only player – Nketiah – who physically reacts to the header and anticipates a potential rebound rather than being stuck in place and just watching what happens.
It’s that anticipation and reaction that enables him to be in position to clean up the rebound with his knee and score the opener.
Case in point of Eddie’s poacher’s instinct.
Goal #2
Nketiah’s double begins with left back Nuno Tavares winning a duel out wide which leaves him in plenty of space to cross. Notice Nketiah’s positioning and patience here – sitting right in front of the backline but taking his time to read the situation.
As Tavares gets closer to the box and the nearest defender on the backline turns his back to Nketiah to get eyes on a potential centering ball, Eddie turns up the gears and accelerates hard towards the near post.
Tavares recognizes the run and plays the ball into that space Eddie is sprinting into and the young striker redirects the ball exquisitely off the outside of his foot into the net.
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Elite technique and composure here from Nketiah.
Goal #3
Eddie’s third and final goal came from an absolutely superb move from all three parties involved – Martin Ødegaard playing a gorgeous, arcing ball to right winger Pepe who undressed the defender by going through the 5-hole and then a gorgeous backheel from Nketiah.
Lets start with the pass. As Martin goes to play this pass, Nketiah already recognizes the approach and begins to sprint and mirror Pepe’s farside run and continues that run into the box.
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However, and this is critical recognition, Eddie realizes that Pepe won’t receive the ball cleanly enough to play him in immediately so he holds up his run.
If he continues this run, he’s either going to play himself offside or into a worse position for when Pepe does gather the ball. Rather than do that, Eddie again positions himself in the pocket immediately in front the backline and behind the nearside backline defender who has turned towards the ball. Once Pepe beats the defender, Eddie’s patience and recognition has created a wide open passing channel.
Pepe plays the ball and Eddie again remains composed, finishing in elite style with the backheel. Hat trick complete.
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These examples exemplify Nketiah’s off-ball anticipation, awareness, recognition, and patience.
This level of performance will only instill more confidence in Nketiah and could be the springboard to more minutes and playing time as well, particularly with Arsenal potentially facing a striker shortage as former captain Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang continues to train away from the team (with recent reports suggesting a possible move away in January) and participating in the AFCON tournament leaving only Alexander Lacazette as a true out and out striker option.
Fin. COYG.
Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT, (@3cbperformance) is a physiotherapist, movement expert, fitness trainer, sports scientist and mindfulness coach. He runs the LA and online based physiotherapy and athletic performance clinic 3CB Performance, is an avid Gooner since 1995, and you can subscribe to his Youtube channel (which posts a variety of Gunners’ related content).
