Arsenal: Reiss Nelson restarting on the right foot at last

This Arsenal season was meant to belong to Reiss Nelson, but thanks to a solid restart against Everton, there’s still some hope that it might.

It’s hard to get back into the mindset fans were in at the start of the Arsenal season, but there was such an aura of optimism helped out by a strong start. A lot has changed. A lot, a lot. That includes smaller plot lines not involving competing for a Champions League space as well—like Reiss Nelson.

Literally just five months ago, we thought we could count on Nelson to hold down a winger position for the season, with Nicolas Pepe his partner. Needless to say, that hasn’t worked out either. But while Pepe has shown some glistening promise, Nelson has struggled to get back to a state of relevance. He’s needed a restart like nobody’s business, and he may well have finally got that against Everton.

The attack was not in a good place at Goodison Park. No one should be arguing that it was, and Nelson wasn’t going to change that all on his own.

Though if you go back and look at some of the more inquisitive moves, you may be surprised to find that Nelson was the instigator of a lot of them.

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When there was no space to play with, Nelson showed tremendous footwork to make space and while his deliveries rarely led to chances (just one on the day), the fact that he was even able to shake defenders, not be bullied off the ball, and make something remotely resembling a threat gives us cause to believe that he has restarted on the right foot.

His early appearances this season were characterized by being pushed off the ball far too easily, not being able to retain possession and lacking the confidence to dribble—his primary attribute.

But against Everton, if nothing else, we saw his confidence return. He lead the team with five dribbles completed, and as I mentioned, these weren’t idle dribbles. These pressed the issue, they were performed and completed in and around the box, and if the objective was to help him get back to place of being dangerous, this did the trick.

Now we just need more of that to see him all the way back. There’s still time this season to see it be exactly what it was meant to be—Nelson’s year.