Eddie Nketiah emergency protocol: how Arsenal are killing off matches

Eddie Nketiah is yet to score this season, but that doesn’t reflect the impact he’s had.

Naturally, a striker’s role is to score goals, that’s obvious. However, there is just so much more that a striker can do to influence a match. We’ve already experienced this with Gabriel Jesus with what the Brazilian has brought to the number nine position being way more than just goals and assists. We had this problem for years with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. When he didn’t score, he felt invisible.

The goals will come for our two strikers, but even when they don’t, they’re making a difference. That can’t be more exemplified by Eddie Nketiah’s pair of cameos this season.

How Eddie Nketiah is being used to kill off games

Eddie came on at Selhurst Park on opening night with Arsenal struggling to defend a 1-0 lead against an impressive Crystal Palace in the second half. Nketiah came on with ten minutes left and was an immediate difference make. His energy and pressing galvanised the Gunners before he had a hand in Arsenal’s second which killed off the contest.

Not only this season, but we saw Nketiah make a huge impact in matches without scoring last season as well – best exemplified in the 2-1 comeback at home to Wolves. His energy willed a fightback late on and his display wasn’t too dissimilar to his showing against Fulham on Saturday.

Arteta acted quickly after going down 1-0 to Aleksandar Mitrovic’s pick-pocket goal of Gabriel, bringing on Eddie for Kieran Tierney. The Spaniard switched Arsenal’s possession structure to a more aggressive 3-1-6 which allowed Nketiah to work in close proximity to Gabriel Jesus.

Deploying Nketiah in the front line added further ambiguity to Arsenal’s front line. The striker dropped deep to get the ball and link play but he also made his presence known in the box where his relentlessness created several scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to finish when said chances arose but he was still an inspiring sub for the team to get the winning goal.

Once again Eddie is subbed on, this time against Aston Villa. Coming on at the same time as Rob Holding and switching to a 5-3-2 meant that his job was a bit different. He made some solid attacks out of nothing but his main job was to be a lone high outlet and retain the ball, which he did excellently. Pepe was tasked with something similar away to Villa last season and his lack of retention gave Villa a chance to steal a point. It is not an easy role and Eddie executed it to perfection.

I have not hidden how much I love this player and the huge strides he’s made. Nketiah’s making an impact with limited minutes and he’ll absolutely start bagging goals again the more time he gets. The Europa League starts soon, and I’m looking forward to Eddie’s top scorer campaign.