The general impression seems to be that Pep Guardiola’s most well-known disciple, Arteta, is overthinking things.
Gary Neville urged the Gunners to “sort themselves out and get back into a shape that suits them” after Thomas Partey was used in the back four and Leandro Trossard was chosen over the talented Eddie Nketiah against Fulham last weekend.
Paul Merson expressed a similar attitude when he said to Sky Sports: “I do fear for Arsenal. Things are being altered by Arteta.
Just difficult to me. You must have faith in your athletes to carry out this experiment repeatedly. Why wasn’t Nketiah the first to face Fulham?
The season has started off brightly for Nketiah, who scored in the victory over Nottingham Forest and earned the important penalty against Crystal Palace.
The 24-year-old also scored against Fulham after coming on as a substitute. Arteta appeared to realize his mistake in starting Trossard when he substituted Nketiah for the Belgian international at halftime.
But after using Havertz in that position in the Community Shield match against Manchester City, Arteta chose a false nine to lead his attack for the second time in four games as opposed to Nketiah.
Gabriel Jesus’ injury forced him to miss the first few games of the season, giving Nketiah the chance to make a name for himself. Instead, he has only started 50% of Arsenal’s games.
Nketiah has received public acclaim from Arteta this month, who said of him after the Fulham game that he “looks a real threat” and has “fire in his eyes.”
The manager said that “the way he trained this week, he was telling me: Gaffer, if I don’t play, you are blind” following the victory over Forest.
So why does Arteta appear not to have complete faith in Nketiah if he is performing well in practice and games?
The statistics, which suggests that Nketiah is less inventive than his competitors for the No. 9 shirt and also has a worrying propensity to blow good opportunities, may hold the key.
Nketiah contributes less to the development of plays and the creation of opportunities for his teammates than Jesus and Trossard do per 90 minutes in terms of assists and completed final-third passes.
Only Darwin Nunez has missed more huge opportunities per 90 minutes in the Premier League during that time than the academy product, who also has the lowest anticipated goals differential among all Arsenal players since the start of last season.
Nketiah’s numbers rival those of Jesus and considerably outpace those of Trossard, despite the fact that he has missed more than his fair share of scoring opportunities.
Nketiah also has a remarkably high expected goals total, with only Erling Haaland and Callum Willson ranking above him in the Premier League per 90 minutes since last August, while he also ranks ninth among all forwards during that period for passing accuracy.
That suggests Nketiah has the capacity to become more involved in his team’s play, while his tendency to need several chances before scoring is offset by the fact he gets on the end of a lot of opportunities.
But perhaps it is not just the statistics which create doubt over Nketiah’s quality. His status as a graduate of the Arsenal academy could also be both a blessing and a curse.
Nketiah has the benefit of being a homegrown player that supporters want to succeed, but also lacks the lustre of being an exciting new player – like Jesus – that the club signed after impressing elsewhere.
Instead, it’s possible that Nketiah is considered as a reliable player who can hold down a spot on the team but isn’t quite talented enough to be a regular starter.
Nketiah also has a quite limited amount of work to support his claims. Even though he is 24 years old, he has never started more than nine league games in a season. The only football he has played away from Arsenal was a dismal loan with Leeds.
When Nketiah considered leaving Arsenal last summer, it was instructive that Crystal Palace and RB Leipzig were more interested in recruiting him than any of the other big-six teams.
Jesus is expected to return from injury soon, making Nketiah’s path to the regular football he needs to prove his worth even more difficult.
The fact that Manchester United will visit the Emirates on Sunday and that it will be live on Sky Sports may give Nketiah some encouragement as the Gunners face their greatest test of the young season.
The striker scored twice, including the game-winning goal in the 90th minute, as Arsenal earned a 3-2 victory against the same opponents last season, arguably the best performance of his career.
Nketiah’s cameo against Fulham might have helped him earn a spot in the starting lineup on Sunday. He might start to simplify Arteta’s life if he can pull off the same trick versus United.