‘Gone off the boil’: Garth Crooks claims 23-year-old Arsenal player has just lost all his form
BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks has now claimed that Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah has lost all of his form.
The 23-year-old came in for criticism as Crooks named his Team of the Week after the latest round of Premier League fixtures.
The only Gunners star to make it into his line-up was Nketiah’s replacement Leandro Trossard.
The Belgian had a great game playing in the central attacking role, and thought he had a scored a wonder goal in the first half.
Unfortunately, it was ruled out by VAR after Ben White was adjudged to have fouled Danny Ward.
Crooks is worried about Nketiah’s form, although he did replace Trossard for the final 20 minutes as Arsenal looked to extend their lead.
The former England under-21 international has now failed to score in seven of his last eight league games.
After looking like the immediate solution to the loss of Gabriel Jesus to injury, he’s struggled to maintain that level of performance.
Crooks worried about Arsenal forward Nketiah’s form
Writing in this Team of the Week column, Crooks said: “Playing Leandro Trossard as an out-and-out striker is like placing a sticking plaster over a gaping wound.
“The Belgium international is not a natural centre-forward and, while his goal was brilliantly taken before VAR thought otherwise, Arsenal must get Eddie Nketiah – who admittedly has gone off the boil – back to form if they intend to keep a hand on the league title.”
Nketiah had big shoes to fill when he replaced Gabriel Jesus as Arsenal’s starting centre-forward after the World Cup.
He scored in each of his first two matches, and had clearly improved his link-up play as well.
His brace against Manchester United last month showed his potential, but his drop in form coincided with Arsenal dropping key points.
Gabby Agbonlahor claimed recently that Arsenal can’t win the title playing Nketiah up top.
Darren Bent claimed Nketiah needed to do better against Manchester City as the Gunners lost their top of the table clash.
Arsenal play Everton and Bournemouth in their next two league fixtures.
This could be the perfect opportunity for Nketiah to prove Crooks wrong and help Arsenal maintain their lead at the top of the league.
However, Trossard showed on Saturday that Mikel Arteta now has a strong alternative to the 23-year-old if required.
