Ethan Nwaneri:Big Push for Starting Shirt

After three losses in their last away games, the pressure is now on Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, to turn to the direction of Anglo-Nigerian teenager, Ethan Nwaneri for a starting role, as the 17-year-old is seen as the Ideal game changer for the Gunners in their quest to wrest the Premier League title from Manchester City and also make an appreciable impact in the Champions League

So far this season, Mikel Arteta has trusted Ethan Nwaneri to play only 52 minutes in the Premier League at Arsenal, even with Martin Odegaard injured. He has earned those minutes across five league appearances for Arsenal, demonstrating how short his cameos have often been.

Of course, it’s a different story in the EFL Cup where Nwaneri has played 170 minutes across two matches, scoring three goals in the process.

The 17-year-old has been trusted against EFL sides in the competition, but played only eight minutes in the Champions League after coming in as an 82nd minute substitute in Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Inter Milan on Wednesday.

Arteta is seen as biding his time with Nwaneri, in similar fashion to how Pep Guardiola helped Phil Foden integrate into the first team at Manchester City.

However, speaking on the ‘Wrighty’s House’ podcast, Arsenal legend, Ian Wright, confessed that he was becoming increasingly frustrated with Arteta’s reluctance to start Nwaneri.

Wright shared his theory that Arteta must have been prepared to hand the youngster a sizable role given he was prepared to sell Emile Smith Rowe and loan out Fabio Vieira. However, the Arsenal icon was perplexed that Nwaneri continues to sit on the bench, particularly against Newcastle United last weekend.

Wright said: “You know something, when you look back at the face that they’ve, okay, they gambled on, for me, Emile Smith-Rowe and Fabio Vieira leaving, I mentioned it hasn’t quite kicked on, it didn’t quite kick on for him. “Then that says to me then, they’re looking at Ethan and thinking, yeah, he must be ready to go. He might be ready to go because why would you get rid of two players like that?

“Not so much Fabio, but Emile Smith Rowe, if you don’t he’s ready to go. Because for me, that game against Newcastle, I would have started him (Nwaneri).

“Because we needed that x-factor, that exuberance of youth, that something that, wow – like what Chelsea did with Cole Palmer.

“Just throw him in there, man, and let him just go and do what he’s doing.”

Speaking before Arsenal’s 1-0 loss to Newcastle at his press conference, Arteta perhaps provided the best insight into his thinking with Nwaneri’s minutes.

The Arsenal manager spoke about pushing the youngster but also the ‘protection’ which is needed right now, something fans might be guilty of underestimating.

Arteta said: “I think the biggest thing is to push him, and then when he is being pushed, you always grab him right behind to make sure that he’s always stable and protected. “But with this talent, you have to push him. The protection is necessary to keep an eye on him and be at the right distance, but he needs to see that he can fly and don’t clip any wings.”

Indeed, former Arsenal Captain, Martin Keown, believes Arteta got one key decision wrong during Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat by Inter Milan in the Champions League.

Most of the Arsenal players underperformed against Inter Milan, with only Bukayo Saka coming out of this fixture with any real credit.

Whilst the North London club enjoyed plenty of territory and possession, they were toothless in attack.

Leandro Trossard ought to have counted himself lucky to have started this match. Had Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard been fit to start, then it would have been impossible to justify the Belgian’s inclusion.

The former Brighton man’s stock did not rise in Italy either. Trossard was arguably Arsenal’s worst player on the night.

Meanwhile, whilst Nwaneri was only introduced to the fray in the dying moments, he added some spark to Arsenal’s play.

The Hale End academy graduate is still waiting for his first Champions League start, but certainly looks comfortable on Europe’s elite stage.

Speaking on TNT Sports in the wake of the match, Keown said: “I don’t think there is a massive crisis for Arsenal. I don’t think they are far away from getting it right, yes they’re not scoring goals, but Ethan Nwaneri coming on, he should have been on a bit earlier.

Speaking in the same vein, Manchester United great, Rio Ferdinand, believes Ethan Nwaneri has made a strong case to be granted more playing time for Arsenal following their 1-0 defeat by Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. “They’ll be hugely frustrated,” Ferdinand said on TNT Sports after Arsenal’s loss to Inter.

“Forty-six crosses in this game, the second-most in the Champions League this season. Second half especially they got into some good areas around the box but again the creativity wasn’t there, the imagination, the pictures, the guile around the box. This has been said far too often this season.

“Ethan Nwaneri came on today and showed flashes. You go, ‘you know what, are they going to give him a little bit more time, a little bit more responsibility? Because he seems to have that little bit of imagination to unlock things when it’s tight.

“But far too often it was the ball slung into the box without any real idea or you look at it and ask have they got the players in that position, in the centre-forward areas, when you throw the ball in the box, or lump it into the box at times, to capitalise?”

Ferdinand later added: “In those areas it’s about being clean, it’s about being clinical, and in those moments you need the players to step up. They’re getting into good areas around the box but then it’s about the underlaps, the overlaps, creating two-vs-ones, overloads in wide areas, I don’t think they’re doing that enough to create openings in the final third.”

Meanwhile, as Arsenal toiled away in the second half at St. James’ Park, the man Arteta turned to in order to change the game was telling.

It was neither the Brazilian international, Gabriel Jesus; It wasn’t the Champions League winner Jorginho nor was it the four-time Premier League winner, Raheem Sterling. Instead, it was 17-year-old Nwaneri.

Arsenal instantly looked better with Hale Ender on the pitch as they switched from a functional 4-4-2 to a flowing 4-3-3. While he could not bring about the turnaround he hoped for, Nwaneri was able to instantly shift Arsenal up the pitch. The improvement left many questioning why he didn’t start in the first place.

This clamour is a continuation from weeks gone by as Arsenal have struggled to look at their flowing best without the creative presence of Martin Odegaard, particularly on the road. The Gunners have managed just 37 shots away from home this season. Only Brentford, who have played one game less, have managed fewer.

In the Carabao Cup, however, Arsenal have looked closer to their free-flowing best. Admittedly they’ve played a lower calibre of opposition, but for many, Nwaneri’s impact is a key driver behind that. This has led to calls that the 17-year-old should be starting in the league.

Arteta remains steadfast that he won’t be playing the Hale Ender from the off just yet. This is because the Spaniard wants to protect Nwaneri from the physicality of regular first-team football.

“It is a huge jump and we need to understand where he is coming from,” Arteta said of the step up facing the 17-year-old last week. “If he has had any issues in the last three to five years in his growth, and development in the physical part are really important to take care of because a lot goes through the roof straight away without you knowing.

“Then you look back and see what he has done in four months compared to the last 18 months so we need to keep an eye on that.”

It is clear that Arteta will be willing to give Nwaneri a chance when he feels he’s ready. The fact that he has already turned to him in games where Arsenal have been trailing, like Newcastle and Bournemouth, shows that he will not be shy of throwing the youngster into tough situations.

But those clamouring for the 17-year-old to start must remember it’s a huge step up to play in the Premier League. Nwaneri was cramping after 80 minutes against a Preston side who never came close to putting their foot on the gas in the Carabao Cup. In a high-octane league match things would be different, and Arsenal don’t want to risk damaging their most exciting academy talent in years.