Newcastle are shit. Inter are manageable. Chelsea have a a very tricky transition offense. But their defense is absolutely shocking. If we can manage that dynamic, we are fine.

    teams with shitty defenses and great attacks scare me because our finishing is so poor we aren't built to take advantage of shitty defenses.

    Claudius Like @Clrnc said, if you're good enough, you're old enough. Not sure how you can look at what he's done in the limited opportunities he's had in PRESSURE packed conditions, both this weekend chasing a game and at Spurs defending the game, and think that we need to go overboard on easing him in. If that was the case then he should be playing with the youth teams.

    Arteta clearly thinks he's good enough and let Vieira leave as a result. I don't want to rush him in either, but at this point, he's shown he's got the quality so I think it would be good for his development to start introducing more minutes and different conditions than just coming in as a sub. At the very least, it will give us an idea of how ready he is for certain circumstances when we actually might need him with the congested fixture list that is being referenced above.

      Clrnc the development of the human body is not so straightforward. Children shouldn't have their careers compromised just because they're talented, nor should they be expected to have the requisite stamina and resilience of a more mature player. You have to consider these factors. You are old enough when you are old enough, and that's different for everyone.

          Coombs

          Yes but you shouldn’t baby them too much. You should play on merit and after that 20 min cameo on the weekend (following his MOM Carabo Cup performance) he deserves mins. Let’s not overthink it just because he’s young.

          Cesc, who looked weaker physically than Ethan at the same age, played at 17 in 2005/2006 no problem and didn’t look out of place with some of our legendary players at the time.

              At the risk of talking far too much about a 17 year old's body online, Nwaneri is already built pretty powerfully especially for his age. Look at him next to the rest of the team - who are all at least a few years older and all on the top of the curve for physicality in the current EPL. He does not look weak at all and has shown it already by riding challenges from grown men in the minutes we have seen. I do agree that you should be careful but this isn't a Patino scenario where he clearly was not physically ready - Ethan looks the part.

                samthegooner
                Agreed and he looks much more ready than someone like Vieria from 2 years ago, despite being older, looked like a kid.

                  Sicario2 - Tier 1 it's not about babying. It's about player health. They have information we don't, about muscle balance, coordination, skeletal maturity, etc. They also have endurance metrics and monitor growth and development as these factors rapidly change in a crucial period of this kid's life. I would love to see him start, for footballing reasons, but let's not pretend it's simple or that everyone is the same. I personally believe that Cesc aged rapidly, and I wouldn't be surprised if playing so much at a young age was part of the reason (could also have nothing to do with it, that's the point, we don't know).

                    Yep. Lamal is playing at Barcelona. If he's ready, he's ready. And Arteta says he's ready.

                      All I’m saying is this kid hasn’t played at this level of physical intensity before. We see veterans trying to play our football and dying of cramps. There’s nothing wrong with easing him in over a few weeks. The season is really long. The guy will play

                      Season long now is his chance for league minutes while half our midfield is on the comeback from injury. Bloody glad we have him, he looks like he might win a match for us in the upcoming weeks.

                      Not saying he needs to play ninety minutes, but I think the problem's more likely to be a lack of minutes over time, as it has been with others.

                        Burnwinter by the time Odegaard comes back, we will probably have played another 8-10 games. We are not short of opportunities for Nwaneri to eventually get some starts.

                          Sicario2 - Tier 1 The fitness standard of the Premier League in general, and of our team in particular, is much higher than 20 years ago. There is so much more running in the modern game – high-intensity pressing, tracking back, etc.

                            Are there any stats that back that up? I'd be curious to know. It's absolutely true that the journeyman Premier League footballer is fitter and more professional than 20 years ago but it'd be interesting to see how top teams like Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea today compare to 2005-ish when it comes to distance run in a match.

                              Dom you don’t need stats. Just go watch last week’s carling cup games. Many looked like men vs boys.

                                Quality of coaching and professionalism of footballers in England has improved considerably in the last ten years, but "players run a lot more these days" always sounded dubious to me. Top PL players in this era are averaging 10 - 12km per game (with some hitting 13km for certain matches) which is roughly the same as what players like Gerrard and Rooney were averaging over 15 years ago.

                                Prem games are less manic and back-and-forth these days if anything.

                                  I don't think there's any need to rush him right now. I would imagine he was licking his lips to be able to be able to come on in a game Arsenal were absolutely dominating on Saturday and help, finally, push a very ragged Leicester over the cliff. There's a world of difference between that game state and one you'd typically find from minute 1 of your average Premier League fixture.

                                  But what I think is super exciting is, not only was he trusted to come on and be that difference on Saturday, but he was that difference.

                                  Dom match goers said his lack of stamina was very apparent towards the end.