Now, there has been a lot of hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing and, I’m made to understand, garment-rendering over the fact that Gabriel Jesus jetted off to Qatar, barely played, and got injured anyway. Our entire season is falling apart before our eyes. First this. Then, the loss to Juve. Then, the loss to Luton Town. They’e a Championship side. Clearly, Arteta’s been exposed as a fraud, and it’s all going to get worse when we return to Premier League action against West Ham on Boxing Day because we have only Nketiah to play striker. Hold that thought. No less an expert on playing the position has a few words.
Here’s our legend describing the would-be laggard who has taken his number:
I worked with Eddie Nketiah when I was with the Under-18s, and I was delighted to see him grab two goals in the Carabao Cup over Norwich in midweek. Delighted but not surprised. He is a great kid and was a pleasure to work with. He was always on time, listened hard, and was a good worker, willing to learn and improve. He will always score goals, even when he’s 60! He is just a killer in the box, as he showed against Norwich. He’s not a fancy player, all He gives and moves, is quick, he is a fighter—but in the right way—and has an amazing leap on him, as we saw for his second goal at the Emirates. And he has just the right amount of confidence.
That of course was way back in the olden days of yore, 2017 if memory serves. He was but a lad. Fast-forward five years, and it’s a bit difficult to admit that he’s progressed from the kind of player who can pounce on an inferior opponent to net a goal or two.
Then again, when he was called upon at the tail-end of the 2021-22 campaign, he acquitted himself admirably. He netted five goals in eight starts, each goal proving crucial to us securing maximum points. In fact, our record during the run-in with him as our centre-forward was 5W 0D 3L, which includes away-losses to Tottenham and Newcastle. On the flipside, he helped us to a vital win at Stamford Bridge, another at home against Man U, and another away to West Ham back when they were relevant.
Simply put, the kid does produce. As it stands, we have no choice but to support him. Sadly, there will be a small but vocal (that is to say spiteful) contingent who will insist that he fail so as to further an axe-grinding agenda. According to them, the more he struggles, the more they succeed. Succeed in what? I don’t know. Call me old-fashioned, but I support anyone who wears the kit until he shows us that he’s disloyal, until he’s actively sabotaging the club. Nketiah isn’t cut from that kind of cloth. He may not be good enough to elevate us to the next level, but he’s growing and learning and, yes, contributing.
In the longer term, we do need reinforcments as well as upgrades. Neither is likely in the next week or two, what with the January transfer window opening ten days from now. ‘Twixt now and then, Nketiah is our best bet against West Ham and again against Brighton. We’d do well to take our cue from Thierry Henry, who knows a thing or two about what it takes to score goals. We could do quite a bit better than Nketiah. Then again, we could do a hell of a lot worse. Ask yourself which you would prefer: for Nketiah to struggle and for our campaign to crumble so as to “prove” your anti-Arteta agenda valid, or for Nketiah to deliver if only in the short term so as to support our campaign until reinforcements arrive, heaven forfend, he become the kind of striker we can actually rely on?
