Arsenal Vs Vorskla: Eddie Nketiah provides more than goals

Eddie Nketiah made his first Arsenal start in Thursday night’s 3-0 win over Vorskla. He did not score, but the 19-year-old offers far more than just goals, and he proved it here.

When Emile Smith Rowe scored the opening goal in Arsenal’s comprehensive and somewhat dull 3-0 win over Vorskla Poltava on Thursday night, if you were to look beyond the 18-year-old, who wheeled off to the side to wildly celebrate, you would see another teenager express the exact opposite emotion, one of anguish, not adulation, one of disappointment, not delirious excitement.

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Eddie Nketiah looked unhappy at the fact that his team had scored. I am sure he wasn’t actually unhappy. In the preceding move that led to Smith Rowe’s finish, Nketiah had missed a semi-easy opportunity as he looked to squirm round the goalkeeper, losing the ball under his feet as he did so.

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It was not the most savoury response, I must admit. I was not quite as unnerved by it as the BT Sports pundits were at half-time. I saw it more as a desperation to score, rather than an exclusive and ultimately detrimental selfishness — there is a nuanced difference between those two states. And it does illustrate his almost singled-mindedness, blinkered focus on goals. Sometimes, that striking streak is a good thing; at others, it is not.

What Nketiah must recognise is that a striker’s job is to offer more to the team than just popping the ball into the back of the net. That is not to demean the value of a centre-forward’s goal tally, but it is to argue that the best strikers are those that provide more to their teams than just goals. And the crucial thing with Nketiah is that he does provide more than goals. He proved it here.

Especially in the second half, as his pace and movement in behind the Vorskla defence was a more prominent threat, Nketiah’s play in the general pattern of the match helped Arsenal to open up Vorskla. It was his driving run that set up Smith Rowe in the first place. He also flashed a series of dangerous crosses into the six-yard box, showing good dribbling skills and awareness.

For much of his career thus far, Nketiah has been known almost exclusively as a goal-poacher. He scored twice against Norwich without hardly getting a touch of the ball. His youth record is such that he is often classified as a clinical goalscorer. But here, he showed that his game is far more rounded than just making the net ripple.

Nketiah is closer to a complete striker than he is a pure goalscorer. He has dribbling ability, he boasts intelligence and spatial awareness when dropping deep, he has the touch and end product to partake in play that is not exclusively in the penalty area.

Nketiah has a whole lot to learn, for sure. He is just 19 years of age, after all. But he is more than a goalscorer. He proved that here. Now, he must learn that that is still valuable.