On the first day of his first transfer window as Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta recalled Eddie from Leeds.
It was a decision that upset Marcelo Bielsa & Leeds, who had planned for a season-long loan & didn’t receive a refund.
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🏋️♂️ PHYSICALITY
As well as his work at the club, Eddie & family hired independent coaches to improve his strength, conditioning, nutrition & sleep.
@chrisvarnavas: “There was definitely a dedication, commitment and hunger to work hard and better himself every day.”
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💪 MENTALITY
“His mentality was the thing that made us decide to give him a chance as a scholar,” said Andries Jonker, former academy director.
Eddie says it comes from his Lewisham roots: “That mentality just comes from the way I was raised, the area I grew up in.”
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📍 TACTICS
Nketiah has worked on his all-round centre-forward play practically every day.
Among the main focuses for Arteta and his staff has been how he receives the ball with his back to goal, and the areas of the pitch in which he can help his team-mates.
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📝 STRATEGY
#AFC chose to put faith in Eddie rather than sign new striker in January.
Research from @TwentyFirstGrp suggests that was wise: 34% of strikers signed in Jan don’t even score for their team that season.
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There’s loads more interesting bits in the piece, including:
🔴 The thinking behind Arsenal awarding him contract
🔴 Video sessions with Albert
🔴 Upcoming international future dilemma
The thing about saying a manager should go is that you will always be right eventually. It’s a nice easy position.
So when do the people who said the manager should stay get to be right?
I say that if you said that after the first three games, or after Everton, you were right.
Obviously he shouldn’t stay FOREVER. Obviously things change. January looks pretty tough for a start.
But those people - the ones who showed patience or understanding - deserve to get to enjoy being right sometimes. And right now feels like one of those times.
Obviously it is bullshit that online football discourse is about being “right” rather than an actual nuanced discussion.
I’m just saying: patience is not a position that gets a lot of love, a lot of attention, a lot of reward in this world. So shout out those guys.