Arsenal confused Dean Ashton with the lack of service Mikel Arteta’s squad afforded Eddie Nketiah at Aston Villa. He felt the Gunners left the striker starved of chances this Saturday.
The north Londoners travelled to Birmingham to face Unai Emery’s Villans without Gabriel Jesus once again. Arteta is still awaiting the Brazilian’s return from surgery on a knee injury sustained at the World Cup. He has resumed light training but has no set date for a return.
So, Arteta once again entrusted Nketiah with leading Arsenal’s frontline at Aston Villa. But Ashton felt the Spaniard’s plans for the game restricted what the 23-year-old could offer in the Gunners’ frontline. He also went into the match after three outings without any goals.
Nketiah had stepped in well for Jesus after the Brazilian suffered medial ligament damage in Qatar. The £100k-a-week attacker netted once against West Ham United and Brighton & Hove Albion in the first two games after. But he had only hit home two in the following six.
Those two goals also came with a brace as Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-2 at Emirates Stadium on January 22. Nketiah then failed to stretch his tally over a 1-0 defeat at Everton, 1-1 draw with Brentford and 3-1 defeat to Manchester City before then visiting Aston Villa.
Arteta’s plans confused Ashton as Nketiah struggled as Arsenal visited Aston Villa
Nketiah rarely seemed likely to score as Arsenal visited Aston Villa as Arteta’s and Emery’s teams went toe-to-toe. The striker enjoyed a great chance to beat Emiliano Martinez after 56 minutes. But he sent his back-post header onto the bar from Ben White’s brilliant dink.
Ashton felt Arteta would have benefitted more at Aston Villa had Arsenal played passes for Nketiah to run onto. Yet the Gunners rarely sought to attack the centre of the pitch as play often went wide to the north London natives’ wingers, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard.
“Nketiah keeps making these runs into space but Arsenal aren’t making those passes,” said Ashton on talkSPORT (18/02, 13:41). “Why aren’t they looking for him more? They keep passing to feet but Nketiah is a willing runner and they aren’t finding him.”
Soon after Ashton’s remark, Martin Odegaard produced a perfectly weighted pass behind the Aston Villa backline for Nketiah to chase. But the striker’s run took him away from the goal as Martinez charged out. The forward would then lob his hurried effort over the bar.
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