Mikel Arteta had plenty of praise for Ethan Nwaneri’s performance on Saturday, claiming the midfielder had added another brick to his wall.
Teenage Arsenal midfielder Ethan Nwaneri scored his first Premier League goal on Saturday, netting in the Gunners’ 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
Nwaneri was introduced as a substitute in the 82nd minute, with his team already 2-0 up but perhaps in need of a settler to really kill the game off.
The 17-year-old did just that, putting one shot narrowly wide of the post after clever footwork before finding the net a couple of minutes later.
Fellow substitute Raheem Sterling was involved as well, cutting back for Nwaneri to finish. The goal made the Arsenal academy graduate the youngest Hale End product ever to score for Arsenal in the Premier League.
Speaking after the game, Mikel Arteta made sure to highlight the impact that Nwaneri had on the game with that kind of direct play, as well as the lift he gave to the fans.
“Ethan comes in and he lifts, you could sense the crowd, the energy and how much they love watching this kid play, which is great,” Arteta said.
“What I like is that he comes in, in that context, the first thing he does is take a touch, run forward, run past two players and put it inches away from the post.
“I understand that I am responsible for him, and you have to do that brick by brick. Today he put in another brick, now we have to put the cement, make sure that it doesn’t get dry, so that he can put in another one and another one and that one is going to stick.
“Then we put one more layer, we want to put five in a row. Believe me, it won’t work and we have to manage that with his expectations and his load as well, which is really important.”
The supporters are certainly on board the Nwaneri hype-train, singing “he’s one of our own” after the goal. The strike was Nwaneri’s fourth senior goal of the season in just nine appearances (two starts).
But Arteta added that whilst it’s tempting to give the youngster more chances in the starting lineup, they need to take things slowly.
“I am always tempted (to start him more),” Arteta admitted. “I think he’s the second-youngest player for the club to score in the Premier League.
“It’s giving us all the reason and today is another reason to put him there but that’s when I play him and not somebody else. It’s step-by-step, I would say.”
As for the growing expectations around the youngster, Arteta admitted there isn’t much he can do about that. He and others close to the player just need to help him focus on his football.
“I cannot manage expectations,” Arteta insisted. “I will try to educate him, raise him, and give him the pathway that we believe is the best. His family, his agent, his friends, they will be very important as well.
“Don’t listen too much to the noise, focus on what he does which is to play football and he loves every minute of it and good things will happen to him for sure.”
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