Mikel Arteta labelled Ethan Nwaneri “some player” after the England youth international produced another man-of-the-match performance to help Arsenal secure a Carabao Cup quarter-final with Crystal Palace at the expense of Preston.
The 17-year-old, starting his second game in the competition, was the beating heart of Arsenal’s attacking play and capped off a virtuoso performance with a fine curling strike from the edge of the box.
Arteta was also able to enjoy a first goal for Gabriel Jesus since January. The Brazil international led the line and converted in clinical style from a Jakub Kiwior knockdown to break the deadlock in the 24th minute.
On a night when Arsenal created chances for fun, it was a surprise they had to wait until the second half to extend their advantage. Substitute Kai Havertz rounded off the scoring with a bullet header as Kiwior registered his second assist of the night.
“There’s so much personality there, he wants to involve himself, he wants every ball, he wants to make things happen,” said Arteta when asked about Nwaneri’s talent.
“Outside, he’s still a boy, a bit quiet as is usual for 17-year-olds, very respectful, his work ethic is tremendous and he loves what he does, you can tell that.”
As for the youngster’s goal, he added: “He did it yesterday in training so we’re getting used to that.
“He’s a big talent, he’s got the right attitude, he’s got the right players and context around him and we need to make sure we put brick-by-brick in the right tempo, the right order but we’ve got some player there.
“He’s got this quality, this personality, he’s there to make things happen, he doesn’t care who’s around him, if he needs to make the decision on his own, he does it. He scored a fantastic goal tonight.”
Having made his debut two seasons ago at the age of 15, Nwaneri has been on supporters’ radar for a while. However, with minutes coming more regularly, it feels like he’s on the verge of a real breakthrough.
Arteta agreed with that assessment, saying: “Certainly, if not he wouldn’t play tonight, he wouldn’t play three days ago against Liverpool.
“He’s there, I think, he is showing every day what he is capable of. You see his teammates, they give him the ball all the time, that’s a great sign, we have some player there.”
As for Jesus ending a nine month goal drought, the boss said: “It was since January, it’s been a long time, that’s going to unlock that thing mentally and [allow him] to move on. I think he had a good performance tonight.
“He looks really happy, his performance, his attitude, as always, [was good] but he needed that feeling that he can put the ball in the back of the net.”
A generational talent we have got in our hands: Ethan Nwaneri.
Mikel sold ESR and loaned out Fabio only to not play Nwaneri?? Lol…..play him already… he’s ready…
Mikel knows what he is doing
Very special player though – exciting times!
Looks like a solid guy. No fluff about him. Hopefully he stays grounded and avoids injuries
I’ve seen 40 years of false dawns with academy players with the odd rare gem here and there now and again.
But this one, Ethan, really looks like he’s the real deal to me. So, so exciting to see it.
A little too hornsey you are, don’t you think? But I’ll get what you’re saying. He’s a bright prospect. Still, there were so many of those in the past. I say, let’s keep our hopes high and our expectations low. Doesn’t make any sense. See you!
Usually with a prospect there some obvious sign of what will limit him in the upper tier. Maybe his size. Maybe his motor. Maybe his attitude. Maybe he’s psychologically not ready for the big stage. Most often it’s just a case of needing too long to be ready for the level and getting bypassed by greater talent. I can’t see a single limitation in his profile that might hold him back from being really good for Arsenal, right now. That doesn’t mean though that there is no reason to hold him back. I wrote a long post about why Mikel… Read more »
Mikel: We need to make sure we put brick-by-brick in the right tempo, the right order but we’ve got some player there.
Ethan:
I don’t need no education
I don’t need no thought control
No dark arts practice in the classroom
Hey, Mikel! leave that kid alone
Something something something brick-by-brick in the wall
Upvote for taking the effort to write this!
Copy and pasted mostly, but thanks! Except for the last line, just couldn’t bring myself to say Arteta is just another brick in the wall, he’s kind of literally the opposite.
Shine on you crazy diamond
Woke up, had breakfast, watched Nwanieri’s goal 3 more times.
After suffering the heartbreak of Jack Wilshire never quite hitting his ceiling due to injuries, it is so exciting to have Saka and now Ethan. I read that article in the Telegraph with Per and I genuinely think his mentality, and bringing that German approach of training players, has made our academy jump up another level. So exciting, but I do want to temper my expectations by saying, we need to be gentle. He is obviously good enough, but his body is that of a teenager and he’s up against shit kickers. We do need to be careful and ease… Read more »
He reminds me of Jack at that age.
But something tells me he might have a bit more in his locker.
His body actually looks pretty fully developed, he’s super strong and athletic. But i suppose you never know what ligaments or joints still haven’t fully matured under that impressive physique. I’ll never get over not seeing Jack grow up to be the midfielder we all *knew* he was going to become. After Cesc and Bergkamp, and I suppose alongside Odegaard now, he’s the Arsenal player that most hit the spot for me as far as the type of player I just love to watch, that combo of vision and complete control of the ball and sensing what’s going to happen… Read more »
Last time Gabby Jesus scored was in January? Did he have the ACL that I didn’t know about?
His knee has been swelling up ever since his big injury in the World Cup. Finally seems to be getting over it now.
If that goal was scored by Foden we would have seen it the headline for all media outlets….
Carra or Neville would have said that Foden was a better player than Saka. That goal Saka scored last weekend was different but in the same category as Nwaneri’s, the top top top goal category,