Noni Madueke was handed a start by Mikel Arteta as Arsenal drew with Nottingham Forest this evening but like many others, failed to grab his chance.
Madueke was signed in the summer to take some of the workload off Bukayo Saka while also ensuring Saka keeps sharp and has pressure.
However, like many others in Arsenal blue at the City Ground, Madueke wasn’t in the game enough and he was eventually taken off just before the hour mark.
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Madueke will, of course, keep learning his craft under Mikel Arteta and will, no doubt, improve.
But he can also take onboard advice from former players too, with TNT Sport pundit and former Liverpool star Steven Gerrard pointing out one specific element.
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Being a winger in the modern game is hard work at times. Some managers enjoy their wingers going round the outside and getting crosses in, while others prefer their winger to cut inside.
For Madueke, it’s a case of reading the game and doing both when the game suits.
And the onlooking Steven Gerrard pointed out that for Madueke, it’s about getting that end product sorted earlier.
“Madueke is getting a lot of service out there, he’s really positive and aggressive,” Gerrard said at half-time.
“The space is there for him to attack at speed, he just needs to look at getting his cross or his end product off a bit earlier maybe.”
Noni Madueke’s performance against Nottingham Forest in numbers
In fairness to Noni Madueke, it wasn’t his worst performance in an Arsenal shirt.
As Gerrard notes, if he could have got his final decision sorted a bit quicker than we might have been looking at a completely different story for him and the game as a whole.
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In his 58 minutes on the pitch, Madueke was actually a threat and he did actually complete two dribbles, two key passes and produce five crosses in the game, a stat only bettered by Declan Rice.
Nevertheless, Bukayo Saka came on and produced six crosses in less than half the time and that, really, just shows how effective Saka can be.
Madueke can learn a lot but in the main, he is doing well enough and between them, he and Saka should contribute a lot between now and the season’s end.
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