Not in the premier league.

https://www.premierleague.com/players/1 ... h/overview

He just hasn’t done enough to convince when played in the league otherwise Arteta would have put him in the side like the other youngsters

He looks fresh out of Primary School

Think those stats make my argument. He’s 22 and playing in the most difficult position in football.

He is now beginning to fulfill his potential.

Dirty again from Sunderland. We’ll do well to get out of this without injuries. Sunderland have been good in parts in this game, played good football and carried a threat but since it’s gone to 4-1 I think they’ve really let themselves down with their need to be aggressive and take out their frustrations of being outclassed

Dream come true. Patino!!!

Kismet

That’s kid face

Wot a moment

Patino!!!
Great moment for the kid. Set up by Pépé who has his full back on toast.

What a moment for Patino!

Not at goodison the other week from 5 yards out.

These type of games are a fugazi. League cup and midweek Europa matches versus average opponents. We look amazing and batter the opponents.

Nketiah and Pépé look world class and even elneny starts lamping in 30 yarders. Come Saturday in the league, totally different players who look a shadow of themselves. Pleasing win though

Curate’s egg of a game for Pépé. Very many moments of sublime brilliance offset by occasional nonsense. Much better second half after he totally destroyed the defenders confidence.

100% A microcosm of him as a player.

In the final third he’s superb but if you want to know why he’s not in the side watch his first half display again bar the goal. Just a liability in his own half.

That chance hit the post. It could have gone in or out. It went out.

Don’t judge his career on that moment.

He’s a lot better than that.

Apparently we’ve reached 31 semi finals in the last 30 seasons. That’s a staggering statistic

I’ve never been convinced that Nketiah will make it with us but if he’s leaving it is a travesty we’re not getting a fee. He’s a £20-25m striker very, very easily.
I think he’s added something to his game in that he can play wide left as well. If he’s determined to leave for free then it’s almost pointless to get a nominal fee for him in January as he could be very useful in the second half of the season.

Personally, I would like the club to find a way to keep him.

It’s not as if Lacazette and PEA haven’t missed sitters.

Seems to me Eddie is a similar player to Lacazette. I’d suggest he can be just as effective if Lacazette leaves.

I think Eddie can step up. I’ve always thought that.

I’m not judging him on that incident alone and he may still make it but what I’m saying is that In this type of game playing a team 3rd in league one not even in the championship suits him really well. We’ve seen this on so many occasions.

Getting to the byline time and time again and skimming crosses across the 6 yard box against a team already beaten is just perfect for his style of play but how many times in the league do we cut teams open like we were.

In the premier league you won’t get this and when we have seen him play in games when we aren’t dominating possession he can’t hold the ball up well and doesn’t have enough general attributes to compete.

I hope I’m wrong but I can’t see it and he’s had plenty of minutes now.

Bringing Xhaka on was the right move. I’m not keen on the 4-3-3 yet with the players we have. I think Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe are not quite right yet to play as dual No. 8’s in that team and I don’t think we have a natural holding mid who can play that role on his own like Rodri does for City. Once Xhaka came on I can’t recall Sunderland really having any sustained possession or attacks.

Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe are interesting as a pair. Right now it suits Ødegaard to be the 10 as he’s better at the passing and vision and Emile Smith Rowe is better wider where he can drift and dribble and up the tempo and get in to those outside in runs to score. I thought Ødegaard was very good again tonight, he looks sharp. I noticed how often Pépé had his full backs 1 v 1, which is when he can cause damage, I think a big reason for that was Ødegaard finding him with quick passes. He’s doing the same with Saka.

That's not staggering ......... it's awful .

Out of that lot , we progressed to the final just four times and lost 3 off those . 31 semi finals for ONE ultimate win .

Think you’ve misunderstood the post kiwi. We’ve reached more than four finals since 1991 and won more than one cup. Semi-finals are not only in the FA Cup and League Cup, but the European tournaments as well.

Doh okay ...thanks Bernard .

I maybe a bit picky after a 5 - 1 win but I still think Mikel should encourage the back four and defensive midfield to pass forward more .

I don't see how the aforementioned can improve their distribution if their first instinct is to play the safe pass across or back to the keeper ........ and when we have Leno between the sticks it isn't so safe .

I'm always waiting for a calamity to happen .

Having said that I thought Xhaka did well from substitutes spot ... pinged the ball around quite nicely at times .

Gidday Dec ..... who knows what the correct procedure is .

Sweden [ correct me if I'm wrong ] I thought were going about business as usual no lockdowns . some US states Texas and Florida I think are the same .... are they all faring so much worse than the lock downed ....?

I'd guess a lot of deaths attributed to Covid ; people were pretty sick in the first place and a decent cold would have pushed them over the edge .

Missed the game, saw the result in the morning, happy to see Nketiah get a hattrick.
I feel we should stay the course with him. He can get better with more games under his belt.
Feel sorry for Balogun, in that he is still unable to impose himself. Wonder if it is a psychological block?

3 games in 6 days coming up. It will be interesting to see where Arteta rotates.
If we take the 11 who started the last 3 games as the first 11, then thinking about players who can step in to that 11 without much drop in team performance. We can’t put them all in at once and we’d want to be full strength for the City game on New Year’s Day.
Emile Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Holding, Tavares, Pépé, Lokonga are the ones who should be able to come in and give the first 11 a rest.

Nketiah is the first academy player to score a hat trick since Ray Parlour in 2000

Nketiah is an enigma. He's an old fashioned poacher, an instinctive penalty box finisher but the truth is his all round game is probably less than it needs to be for a place in a top eight side.

He is exactly what we tried to buy in Francis Jeffers, a fox-in-the-box. The trouble is we bought Jeffers to finish some of the bucketload of chances we missed in almost every game at that time. These days chances are few and far between.

That said, if Martinelli had banged in that hat-trick we would have been waxing lyrical about him.

Nketiah, as this moment, is a bit of a throwback to the likes of Clive Allen and Jermaine Defoe........great goalscorers but probably never really quite good enough to play for elite teams.

If you create chances for Nketiah inside the area he will finish a fair few of them but in the modern game finishing ability alone never seems quite enough.

It is a travesty that he will most likely leave for free, he's a £15m player all day long.

Interesting that you should mention Frannie Jeffers and “fox in the box”. That’s exactly what came into to my mind during the game and afterwards during the debate as to Nketiah’s future potential.

Your analysis resonates with me.

This is a good summary really. I do wonder if players like Gary Lineker & inzaghi would exist in the modern game, just existing in the penalty area isn’t good enough anymore especially if you are just playing with one up.

I agree with you both. I have the utmost respect for the views of DHD, but I think he grossly overrates Nketiah.

socrates, I also think you’re much closer to what we’re missing by him going for nothing next summer with £15m. Didn’t Rich say £25m? No chance.

Hi Soc - beg to differ on Defoe - he was a top striker. Nketiah is nowhere near his stature yet, though it may come - though in the shirt of another club by the looks of it. We can't keep them all?

Always felt Jeffers was a shame for us - made sense to buy him at the time as he was a young striker with obvious talent, but injury, and perhaps temperament, meant he never fulfilled his potential.

Hi Bernard, I said £20-25m player, but based on what we should have got if we’d sold him at the right time not with 6-12 months left on his deal.
Rhian Brewster went to Sheff Utd for £20m+, Dom Solanke went for £20m. Nketiah is better than both no doubt.

Sell Nketiah in non covid times with 3 years left on his deal and he should easily fetch £20-25m

Rich, you’ve used the silly price paid for Brewster before. Are you going to be using that for ever? But anyway, I think it’s debatable that Nketiah is better, certainly to the extent of you claiming ‘no doubt’. Nketiah has a better goals per game record than Brewster but I’m not convinced his all round game is better.

But looking at Solanke, his goals per game stats are way better than Nketiah’s if you insist on using that for Brewster, even with yesterday’s hat trick. So again I don’t it’s reasonable to claim that Nketish is ‘no doubt’ better than him. At the very least it’s debatable.

Sorry but had he been sold when he should have been, I think socrates’ £15m looks reasonable.

Agree with Bernard on the fee, but Also I have to say I think the whole slating the club thing when a player goes on a free transfer needs to be reconsidered these days. It’s happening more and more and is part of the modern game.

If the player won’t leave when a fair offer is made or renew his contract what are we supposed to do. I agree with Merson that Nketiah should sign a new contract and see how things pan out but the player probably has his agent in his ear.

Merson made a very decent point which was it’s all very well being a penalty box player and scoring goals at Arsenal getting service from saka and Ødegaard but go to Palace or Burnley when they won’t have the lions share of the possession and service and he could struggle.

I agree. He turned down the chance to go to Palace for, if my memory serves, £12m. That’s probably his level. But if he refuses to go, what can the club do? Hold a gun against his head and threaten to shoot if he doesn’t join them?

Well that would be one option Bernard, but in these days of softie snowflakes and hurt feelings it would probably lead to a bit of negative press for the club.

I confess its difficult to understand how one of our young prospects scores a hat-trick yet the focus seems mainly on his perceived shortcomings. Ah well. Chacon a son gout, as my old Nan used to holler.

On a more humdrum note, I just got Covid pinged. That’s not good. Apparently I was in close contact with someone who has tested positive. That’s a worry. The more reassuring news is that it was a week ago, presumably at the football, since when I’ve tested at least 4 times. 7 days to find me. World class track & trace, eh?

Palace offered us £12m with only 1 year left on his deal. With a proper protected contract he’s worth more than just £3m more.
What I’m going by is not what his value is for him per se what what the going rate is for young English goalscorers. I’m certain Nketiah will get a premier league club when/if he leaves on a free. Solanke and Brewster as far as I know are in the championship with no real interest from Prem clubs.
I could also throw in Ollie McBurnie who was sold for £20m, Alfie Mawson £20m, sam clucas £17m, Jordan Ibe £16m - all these players are championship level. There is enough precedent that if you have a young English/British player, particularly one who scores goals and is the england U21 record goalscorer, and you have the right/desperate buyer you will get fees that feel higher than what many would think is reasonable.
I think people would think £15m was reasonable for Nketiah but £250-25m was over priced - just as they would with all the other players I mention above.

If we sold Nketiah abroad then £15m, but to an English club I think we could have got £20-25m at the right time.