Nwaneri not the Saka answer for Arsenal as teenager struggles despite goal against Brighton

Mikel Arteta has been criticised whatever he’s done with Ethan Nwaneri. He should have let him be a kid rather than making him the youngest player in Premier League history and pretty much ever since that debut over two years ago he’s been slammed over failing to manage by the If You’re Good Enough, You’re Old Enough mantra.

Taking him off at half-time here was also met with predictable outrage from a select group of Arsenal fans (before Arteta confirmed after the game that it was down to injury), after the teenager put the Gunners ahead with his second Premier League goal for the club on just his second start, despite a performance which exemplified why Nwaneri didn’t sub in for Martin Odegaard during the captain’s injury absence and shouldn’t be considered the answer to their Bukayo Saka problem.

The blinkered and entirely understandable view given he’s One Of Our Own and a hugely talented footballer was that Arteta subbed him because of the yellow card Anthony Taylor brandished his way for dawdling over the delivery of a corner, but that can only have put the seal on the decision to take him off had it not in fact been down to a muscle problem anyway.

Nwaneri’s only completed dribble of five was his goal, which was also his only touch in the Brighton box, he lost possession more than any other Arsenal player (3), completed the fewest passes (12) and – perhaps most damning of all with Nicolas Jover no doubt chuntering in Arteta’s ear on the bench – didn’t get either of his corners right.

He was far better against Brentford than he was here, but even in that game there were some poor decisions and times when his youthful exuberance boiled over. And that’s fine. It’s more than fine. It would be extraordinary if that wasn’t the case. He’s 17 and has played 19 games of senior football.

The second half will add to the clamour for him to start again against Newcastle on Tuesday. Arsenal were winning at half-time and ended up drawing, looked uncomfortable having been in control, were less threatening in attack, weaker defensively and Nwaneri’s replacement Gabriel Martinelli did little to stake his claim for that spot, with Arsenal fans needing no invitation to disparage him in favour of of the teenager.

But the Nwaneri enthusiasts are reaching if they believe him being hooked had anything more than a minor impact on their dip in performance. Brighton’s increase in intensity courtesy of their substitutions was the key to the turning tide.

Yankuba Minteh and Georginio Rutter also came on at half-time and were joined in the three behind Joao Pedro by Kaoru Mitoma on the hour mark. They shook an apparently shakable Arsenal defence, with the Gunners midfielders chasing their tails while the Arsenal front three looked increasingly isolated and ineffective.

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It was such a contrast in performance that we wondered whether Kai Havertz was doling out virus-infecting kisses in the dressing room. They looked tired and as though they weren’t thinking clearly, with no-one as short of their best as Odegaard, who came off the bench while suffering with The Illness and contributed very little.

Joao Pedro equalised from the spot having won the penalty himself thanks to William Saliba heading him rather than the ball – a decision Arteta wasn’t best pleased with – and Brighton were then dominant to the point where Arsenal should leave the Amex happy with the point despite the damage it does to their title challenge.

It’s not over. Brighton away is a tough game and when their health issues abate Arsenal have enough quality without Saka to at least cling to Liverpool in their title charge. They were hugely impressive against Brentford and while this is a blip, it’s no more than that.

What it’s definitely not is confirmation that Nwaneri is the solution to their problem. Half-time was the turning point in this game, but the teenager coming off was incidental. If anything this game proved Arteta right in limiting his game time up to now.

Being an option at all for Arsenal at the age of 17 shows what a talent he is, and it’s nigh-on impossible for Arsenal fans (and neutrals for that matter) not to get carried away when he plays in place of another academy graduate who’s become one of the best players in world football and scores a goal Saka would be proud of.

But he wouldn’t be the first and won’t be the last young player to fall by the wayside having burst onto the scene. And while Arteta will receive pelters after taking him off having been criticised over his use and then his lack of use of Nwaneri in his short career, what we’ve seen of the wonderkid – here against Brighton and in other more impressive performances – the Arsenal boss is managing him well, giving him enough minutes to develop, without exposing him too much to hamper his development.

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