Arsenal: Reiss Nelson needs his feet to follow his words

Arsenal gave Reiss Nelson a chance and he didn’t take it, but the youngster is saying all the right things. Now if only his feet would follow suit.

Reiss Nelson‘s loan to Hoffenheim was an odd one. The Arsenal man hit the ground with a slew of goals, then promptly disappeared. But in the process, he started to speak up. About maturing, about growing on and off the pitch, and about his desire to get back to the Emirates and put everything he learned into practice.

Nelson had his chance early in the season while Nicolas Pepe was acclimating from his workload at AFCON, but Nelson was unable to take that chance. There were glimpses of positivity, but the final product wasn’t quite there yet and Pepe took Nelson’s spot in just two matches.

That couldn’t have felt good for Nelson, but he continues to speak out about what this all means to him, what it’s doing to him, and again we are seeing more of what we saw during his time at Hoffenheim. He has so much composure, so much intelligence, he just needs his feet to follow his words. Which they will. And he knows that.

Nelson is not bothered by Pepe. He’s not bothered by any of it. In fact, if you look at what he’s saying, he’s more confident than ever that “this is his time.”

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"All the competition that’s here, all the new wingers Arsenal have signed… I think this could be my time. I need to just keep training hard and getting all the information from the coaches and the players. If I do that, I’m going to have a big, big shout this season."

To Nelson, none of this is an obstacle, it’s just a delay. It’s not going to stop him from achieving what he’s here to achieve. And honestly, that’s the best way to look at this, because if you look at it any other way, it won’t bode well.

Again, I rarely put credence into what player’s say, but this season, and under the Emery regime in general, feels different. Nelson is saying all the right things. He is showing class and maturity and an understanding for the bigger picture beyond just what he wants out of his time at the club. He gets the process, he gets all of it. He just needs to put all this knowledge into practice.

The good news is, with so much knowledge, it sounds like nothing external is going to stop his personal journey. And that’s the most you can ask for from a talented young player.