When you think of Arsenal’s biggest goal threats, a few names spring to mind. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka to name a few.
However, there’s one man who is trying to work on that side of his game, and it seems like his efforts are paying off.
After Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Olympiacos on March 11th, Mikel Arteta revealed that Mohamed Elneny had been working on his shooting with Steve Round.
Arsenal’s official website quote the Spaniard as saying: “He’s been training so hard to improve his shooting range with Roundy [Steve Round] and he got his reward tonight. It’s very important for the team.”
The Egypt international isn’t the most spectacular of players within the Gunners squad, to say the least.
However, while the £7 million man will admirably do the dirty work for his team, two recent incidents have shown he has the potential to become a match winner as well.
Firstly, Elneny’s wonder-strike in that aforementioned game against Olympiacos seemed like icing on the cake at the time, but it ended up being the fundamental sponge of said cake following a second leg disaster.
Youssef El-Arabi’s winner at the Emirates Stadium saw Arsenal scrape into the quarter-finals by a 3-2 scoreline, all thanks to Elneny’s long-range screamer.
As aforesaid, there were two incidents which proved his work with Round is paying off, the second of which happened on Monday night.
The 28-year-old curled in a gorgeous strike against Comoros in Egypt’s 4-0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, another sign that he’s becoming deadlier and deadlier from long range.
Why does this mean he can become a match winner?
Well, when sides are sitting deep against Arsenal, this could be a secret weapon for Arteta.
If Round can continue to improve Elneny’s already impressive shooting ability, opponents may soon feel the need to rush out and block his shots, therefore creating gaps for Arsenal.
If they don’t come out to press, then there’s a good chance the Egyptian will pop one in from long range, based on his recent exploits.
Whatever him and Round are doing at London Colney, they should keep it up.
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