Arsenal: Arteta must bin £100k-p/w dud who had fewer touches than Raya
After Arsenal well and truly demolished PSV in the Champions League on Wednesday evening it looked as though the Gunners were back in the silky groove that had seen them dominate so much last season.
Indeed, that looked true during the opening half an hour of the north London derby on Sunday afternoon too.
Mikel Arteta's men came flying at Spurs who were forced to play through a rampant pressing unit. To their credit, Ange Postecoglou's men did well to navigate proceedings in that regard.
It wasn't enough to prevent them from going a goal down, however, with Bukayo Saka finding the net via wicket deflection off Cristian Romero.
That went down as an own goal before Saka would score in his own right from the penalty spot in the second half. That, however, wasn't enough for a win as Heung-min Son scored twice to ensure proceedings ended 2-2.
Arsenal were far from their free-flowing best. Skipper Martin Odegaard, fresh from a majestic performance in the Champions League a few days ago only recorded 18 passes at a woeful 64% success rate, while Jorginho, a half-time substitute for the injured Declan Rice, was robbed of possession in shambolic circumstances by James Maddison for Tottenham's second.
That said, the usually tireless Eddie Nketiah was perhaps one of the biggest party poopers on Sunday.
How did Nketiah play against Spurs?
The young striker has been an astute deputy for Gabriel Jesus throughout 2023.
The Brazilian sustained an injury at the World Cup last winter, a problem that ultimately saw him miss a few months. At the time, it was a worry for the Gunners, but upstepped Nketiah who scored against West Ham and Brighton immediately after the break before bagging twice, including a late winner against Manchester United in late January.
He started the new campaign vibrantly too, netting versus Nottingham Forest and Fulham, but with Jesus now fit and firing again, his performances have dwindled.
Against Everton eight days ago he was hauled off just after the hour mark and probably shouldn't have been given much more time than that yesterday.
Whether he'd have played but for Leandro Trossard's training injury is an interesting trail of thought, as Jesus was moved to the left-hand side after his European exploits, with Nketiah leading the line again.
However, after a timid showing, it was Jesus who was taken off in the second half, with the academy graduate somehow lasting the whole 100 minutes that were played.
Perhaps the most frustrating moment of Nketiah's afternoon was in the first half. Destiny Udogie's backpass flew past Micky van de Ven which left the Arsenal number 14 with a tight chance to score from.
He ignored Fabio Vieira who was racing towards the penalty spot and instead stuck an effort straight at Guglielmo Vicaro in the Tottenham net.
The £100k-per-week earner is usually accustomed to doing the dirty work but was largely anonymous throughout, making a mere six passes in 100 minutes on the field, and also registering just 23 touches of the ball. For context, even the Gunners' stopper, David Raya, had more say with the ball at his feet, taking 42 touches in total.
Described as "average" by Man United personality Mark Goldbridge, this was certainly a game to forget for Nketiah who was decidedly toothless and inept in the final third.
Usually such a vibrant poacher, he lacked the instinct to be in the right place at the right time, with his small influence on the game summed up by Arsenal's apparent lack of desire to put the ball into the area throughout injury time.
To make matters worse, the 24-year-old was perhaps lucky not to be sent off for a late challenge on Vicario as he flew through the Spurs 'keeper when the ball had already gone.
It's not often in the last 12 months that you could say Arsenal need to sign a new striker. Jesus was so promising in the early stages of term but if they are to persist with Nketiah, trouble will only brew in the final third.
Whether or not Trossard and Martinelli are fit for this week's fixtures, Nketiah must be ditched from the starting XI. His position is surely now Jesus' for the taking.