Noni Madueke showed that Eberechi Eze might not be immediately guaranteed a starting spot at Arsenal after his showing in their 5-0 win over Leeds United.
A lot of the Arsenal focus from a fans’ perspective this weekend was the imminent arrival of Eze. The Englishman reportedly underwent his medical on Friday and his signing was announced 30 minutes before kick-off at the Emirates.
Although Eze thrives more as a No.10, Arsenal do not play in that system. Instead, he is likely to fight for the spot as the left winger. After all, he was the left No.10 at Crystal Palace.
But Arsenal rushing to get the deal done in time to make Eze available for Saturday’s visit of Leeds. So Madueke had a chance to show what he can do on the left wing.
And he performed well on his first competitive start for the Gunners. Despite not recording a goal or an assist, Madueke was a threat and showed signs of bedding in quickly at his new club.
Madueke’s role
From the off it was very clear what Madueke’s role in this game would be. He stayed very wide on the left, practically hugging the touchline looking to receive the ball. He wasn’t even part of Arsenal’s pressing trio. The only time Madueke really drifted inside was when Bukayo Saka had the ball, looking to crash the box and add another body alongside Viktor Gyokeres.
But in the opening 10 minutes, Saka hadn’t been on the ball much. In fact, 47% of Arsenal’s attacks had come down Madueke’s flank. And he had some good moments. In the opening few minutes Madueke had showed an understanding with Riccardo Calafiori, and a bit of flair with stepovers and a pass to the Italian. It didn’t lead to anything past that, but Madueke had done his bit. Overall, the pair exchanged six passes with each other.
Calafiori and Madueke weren’t always on the same wavelength, especially when the Italian was progressing with the ball in a more central area. But that’s not a negative against Madueke. And things will improve as Madueke grows more in this Arsenal team.
Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Madueke’s position changed. He was shifted over to the right wing to fill in for Bukayo Saka, who had to come off injured. Leandro Trossard replaced Saka, but was put in on the left wing.
Madueke’s role didn’t change, though. He stayed very wide and only got into the box to try attack crosses from the opposition wing. But his time on the right lasted just 10 minutes. With Arsenal 4-0 up, Mikel Arteta decided to give Madueke a rest and hand a Premier League debut to 15-year-old Max Dowman.
On the ball
During his 63 minutes on the pitch, Madueke had 30 touches, which was more than his other attacking teammates Saka and Gyokeres. But Madueke did play 10 more minutes than Saka.
Crossing was very much Madueke’s priority on the night, with four in total. That was more than any other Arsenal player at the time of his substitution. The first cross came in the opening stages but was too close to the goalkeeper, with Madueke failing to get enough whip. The second, also in the first half, was blocked.
He also managed two crosses in his 10 minutes on the right-hand side, which is truly his favoured flank. Even though he is left-footed, the English likes to cut in to get his crosses in. We saw it with his first cross on the right.
Madueke slowed play to face up against his marker, before beating him with stepovers and a quick turn of pace. That is starting to become a trademark move of Madueke’s. His cross was high but did find Trossard, who failed to fully connect with an attempted bicycle kick. But it was a moment created completely by Madueke doing what he does best.
Madueke created another chance early in the first half but that was for a long-range Odegaard effort which was blocked. It said less about Madueke’s creation abilities, but did show his early link up.
Overall, Madueke completed 72.7% of his passes in the final third and 82.6% of his overall passes. He also won one foul in the first half, almost forcing the defender to bring him down with an excellent first touch into space — capitalising on an error.
More to come
There was a moment in the first half that Madueke could have done better in. The Englishman received the ball on the edge of the box and held onto it before trying to play Gyokeres in. But his pass to the Swede was poor, ending the move.
But what made this poor pass so interesting is that Madueke passed in the first place. When he received the ball, the Englishman was in the perfect position to take a shot. His first touch even appeared to have set that up. It’s a shot he would have taken at Chelsea.
Only Cole Palmer (3.55) averaged more shots per 90 minutes for Chelsea in the Premier League last season than Madueke’s 3.52 among players with at least 500 minutes played. Madueke is yet to have a shot in his 95 minutes of Premier League action for Arsenal. But that will come, once Madueke feels like he is in a position to be a bit more selfish — as all good players do.