Arsenal: Overshadowed Reiss Nelson perfect reality check

Reiss Nelson was overshadowed by a number of other young prospects in Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United. It is the perfect reality check for the talented, but raw, attacker.

There was a myriad of youngsters fielded by Arsene Wenger against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. Clearly with an eye to Thursday night’s second leg trip to Atletico Madrid — Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Alexandre Lacazette, Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny all stayed at home –, the changes in the Arsenal line-up were rung.

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That afforded the opportunity for those far less likely to frequent the first team to enjoy an experience not only of Premier League football, but Premier League football in one of the most prestigious and historic grounds in world football against one of the best teams in the country. This was a challenge.

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A number of players flourished. Ainsley Maitland-Niles was excellent in midfield. Both centre-halves, Calum Chambers and debutant Konstantinos Mavropanos, were sound and controlled in defence. Alex Iwobi stepped up as a more senior player in the XI, leading the team forward from a deeper-lying midfield role. But there was one who was a little disappointing: Reiss Nelson didn’t quite flutter the heart like I, and many others, hoped he might.

That is not to say that the young winger making only his second Premier League start in his career disappointed. But he did not have the driving, speed-inducing, fear-striking influence that his talent suggests he is capable of. Playing on the left flank, rather than his more natural right-sided position, Nelson was up against a wily old defender in Antonio Valencia, someone who could match him for pace and outwit him with his experience.

It was an individual battle that Valencia regularly got the better of. There were a few occasions when Nelson had the chance to drive at the United defender, but he struggled to ever get much change out of the Ecuadorian, struggling to shift him out of balance and drive either side of him.

This, I believe, is because he is now not the superior athlete on the pitch. At youth level, Nelson will consistently be one of the quickest, sharpest athletes. He can simply run by defenders purely because of his superior speed, balance and quickness. But at the senior level, against players like Valencia, he no longer has that natural advantage. He must work for his space in other ways.

And that is the perfect reality check for him. He needs these type of matches where he comes to learn the pace and physicality of the senior game, adapting to it and improving because of it. Contrast his display to Mavrpanos, who has played in the Greek senior league, and Maitland-Niles, who has started intermittently at full back in the Premier League this season, and it is clear to see the greater acclimatisation to the senior game that these slightly older players had.

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And so the learning curve begins for a player with undoubted talent. Arsene Wenger speaks awfully highly of him. Arsenal have high hopes for his development. While it may seem a little underwhelming at the time, it is these reality checks that will serve him well in the future. Nelson might just be a better player because of days like Sunday.